Lee was born and raised in Honolulu. He graduated from Kaimuki High School in 2010 with a strong interest in pursuing a STEM career. In Spring 2013, he completed his AS degree in Pre-Engineering at Kapi‘olani CC, and is now attending UH Manoa for his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, fishing, swimming, and spending time with his friends and family.
Home Island: Oahu
High School: Kaimuki High School
Institute when accepted: University of Hawaii Manoa
Akamai Project: CCC Isolation Mount
Project Site: Gemini Observatory
Mentor: Chas Cavedoni
When an instrument is excited due to motion of machinery, it produces vibrations that can cause dysfunctional behavior in machines, and that cause components to break down over time. This requires time and money to repair. The motivation for this project is to construct a test assembly vibration mount that can predict information to help the telescope achieve the highest quality image as possible. A closed-cycle cooler (CCC) mount is used to cool instruments to cryogenic temperatures, which causes the instrument and telescope to produce vibration energy which would degrade quality of the image. Since standard commercial mounts are manufactured to operate at an inertial load of 30 lb of a closed-cycle cooler, an overload of weight subjected from a vacuum pull-in force at approx. 400 lb could easily cause standard commercial parts to break. The problem with standard parts is caused because not all isolation mounts can operate in all orientations with respect to gravity. With redesigning a new vibration isolation mount assembly, we could examine different components, such as donut-shaped elastomers that could be able to withstand vacuum pull-in forces. Elastomers are one of the most efficient ways to isolate vibrations from systems, but understanding the modulus of elasticity at high compressive loads would be critical for properly designing an isolator. In this project, we report the understanding, development, and early test results of a prototype CCC isolation mount incorporating donut-shaped elastomers to determine the compressive elasticity and stiffness of a rubber material.