Taking Flight
The summer of 2012 I lived in Ames, Iowa for several months and took flying lessons from a family friend, ultimately earning my private pilots license. I am currently VFR certified and hope to work towards an IFR rating in the near future. The majority of my initial flying was in untowered airspace in a Cessna 172. In 2018 I flew the first commercially available all-electric aircraft in the US, a Pipistrel Alpha.
After a haitus focusing on other personal projects, I eventually decided to regain my currency and get back into flying more regularly. Now, I fly a Piper PA28-140 Cherokee out of the Compton Airport and like to travel around the LA area and explore new airports and airspace.
Playing with Plastic
A few years ago a friend gave me an unopened, build-it yourself 3D printer that had been collecting dust in his garage. It was an Anet A8, and he informed me immediately that I would need to update the frame to extruded aluminum, among several other recommended modifications. Of course, those modifications could be aided by some cleverly designed 3D printed parts.
Thus started a mild obsession with making changes to my new favorite machine. I have printed mounts, brackets, cable chains, wall hooks, hinges, and pieces of the printer enclosure itself to name a few. The printer runs on an Octoprint server hosted on a Raspberry Pi so that prints can be controlled via a networked internet browser. A connected camera and LED strip lighting allow remote monitoring and timelapse videos.
Drum Major & Trumpet TA
I began playing the trumpet at 10 years old. While a student at the University of Southern California, I joined the Trojan Marching Band.
I held many leadership positions while in band, including having the honor of leading the 300+ person orginization as the Drum Major. The Drum Major is the most visible student leader on campus, tasked with carrying the sword at football games and stabbing the field before directing the band's pregame performance.
TMB Leadership Timeline:
Homebrew Enthusiast
Beer has been brewed in my family for generations. As a direct descendant of the man that opened the first brewery in Minnesota, Yoerg's Beer, I have always felt that brewing beer was a great hobby to keep me connected to my roots.
Brewing beer at home is a very engineering-centric endeavour as well. While fermenting the beer must remain at a constant temperature to avoid producing off-flavors, and after brewing it must be cooled quickly for the same reason. These challenges necessitate creative solutions and I enjoy the hands-on task of building those solutions. I hope to build a keg refrigerator soon to further improve the quality of my beer.
