ZONTA - DISTRICT 11
CONFERENCE 2015
Lin Li
Amelia Earhart Fellow 2015
Outline
• About me
• My personal experience as a graduate student studying aerospace
engineering
• My research
• Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship
About me
• Born in Baoding, China
• Only child
• Childhood life
• Hung out with all my friends after
school (fishing, flying kites, playing
ping-pong …)
• Raised by grandparents
• Moved to bigger city for better
education
• Came to America
• Santa Barbara City College
• California Institute of Technology
• Georgia Institute of Technology
Baoding, China
Tianjin, China
My experience in Aerospace Engineering
• Aerospace engineering, a field where women are largely
underrepresented
• Georgia Tech women to men: 1 to 5
• It is difficult to be taken seriously by your male peers. Some may
refuse to work in a group with females
• There aren’t enough female role models that girls can look up to
• My philosophy
• “Never say can’t”
• Choose a major that you are passionate about
• Bring a different perspective and skill sets to the male-dominated field
• Keeping the group focused
• Organizing goals and tasks to meet the deadlines
• Paying more attention to the details
My research
• Background
• "To explore strange new worlds,
to seek out new life and new
civilizations, to boldly go where
no man has gone before.“ – Star
Trek
• Learning how other planets are
formed helps us to learn about
the Earth, even the entire solar
system
• Exploring other planets
• How to leave the Earth?
• How to travel in the space?
• How to land safely on the planet?
• Entry, Descent, Landing (EDL)
SLS heavy-lift
- 70 mT into LEO
- 10% more thrust than
Saturn V
Crew Transfer Vehicle &
Cargo Vehicle
Hypersonic Inflatable
Aerodynamic
Decelerator/ SRP System
My research
• EDL challenges on Mars
• Mars atmosphere – thick enough to create
substantial heating, but not sufficiently low
terminal descent velocity
• About 100 times thinner than Earth’s & 95% CO2
• A surface environment of complex rocks,
craters, dust
• Touchdown system, ground sensors
• Past successful landed missions
• Viking-1976, Mars Pathfinder-1997, Mars
Exploration Rovers-2004, Phoenix-2008,
Mars Science Laboratory-2012
• Current EDL technology limit
• Largest rover landed on Mars – 1 mt
• Rigid aeroshell + parachute system
My research
• Future EDL technologies for high
mass Mars missions
• Supersonic retro-propulsion system
• Air breathing retro-propulsion
system
• Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic
Decelerators/ Supersonic Inflatable
Aerodynamic Decelerators
My research
• Research summary
• System study of IAD configurations to tailor design parameters to a specific
mission
• Developing novel configurations to introduce asymmetry and lift
• Developing new photogrammetry data reduction techniques to analyze
motion during ground testing
Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship
• Feel good that women are being recognized and encouraged to
pursue aerospace engineering
• Provide me an opportunity to meet other inspiring women
• Support me to continue pursuing my dreams in the field of
aerospace engineering
• Not only provided funds for my education but also created a
networking environment that fostered new friendships and
mentorships
• Provide a platform for me to support future female students in
aerospace engineering
Big thanks to
Governor Pati
Ms. Adams
and
Zonta – District 11
for inviting me to the
conference
Information to include in the talk
• What the Zonta AE fellowship mean to you
• Describe your experience as one of the top students in your area of
science
• a little about your research