Polar snow photochemistry, and hybrid rocket propulsion

An innovative liquid core waveguide (LCW) assembly has been designed and developed for use in a commercial spectrophotometer in order to measure very low absorbance values for both ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. This LCW has been used to measure the light absorption of melted polar snow samples, in an effort to understand the photochemical capacity of the snow pack and to begin to unravel the complex nature of snow chemistry and air-snow transport. Further studies, which specifically examined hydrogen peroxide photoformation on Arctic snow grains, shows that the photochemical recovery of key chromophores that are consumed by photolysis, may be as important as air transport into the snow. Under an entirely separate area of research, a hybrid rocket propulsion system has been fully designed and prepared for manufacturing for the University of California, Davis. The design process was successfully used as an educational tool for undergraduate students whom were interested in rocket propulsion, as they were given the responsibility to design a safe and easy to use rocket test stand from the ground up.