PROJECTS / EIGHT CONNECTED WORLDS
Small experiments. Clear controls. Illustrative models.
Each experiment: what it shows, what to try, what to learn.
I co-authored a hydrogen tri-generation study for an Oasis-class cruise ship. Our seven-day model met roughly 61 MW peak demand, using about 240 tonnes of hydrogen. Explore the architecture below—not a replay of the paper’s solver.
Read our paper ↗Starts at the assumed first departure, day 1 at 18:00. 312 t = the paper’s ≈240 t voyage + 30% reserve. Departure times and hotel profiles are illustrative; no boil-off model. Changing tank capacity takes effect on restart.
CRUISE SHIP / FIG. 1 + §2.2
Scroll the schematic sideways ↔
1× wall clock. Red holds time and stores. Pause stops dispatch; Hold motion only stops graphics.
Figure 1 uses a combined exhaust line and calls the unit “H₂ boiler.” The text distinguishes moist cathode exhaust → EHX (§2.5) from residual anode hydrogen → catalytic burner (§2.7); this clarified view keeps those streams separate. Heat-recovery duties and burner heat serve thermal loads and buffer the 45 GJ store. Heat links represent energy, not a single shared air/water pipe.
Paper: 4 MW catalytic burner, 95% HHV efficiency; 45 GJ storage. This reduced model uses an HHV conservation ledger and LHV electrical efficiency. Exhaust/coolant heat split (35/65), fixed losses and 300 kWh buffer are documented assumptions. Full sources / limitations ↗
45 GJ assumed. Fitted loads; digitized curves. Steady-state plant; ideal storage endurance, not a validated storage transient.
Paper ↗I co-authored the FCV Vanguard demonstration paper: 217 nautical miles over nine months in 2024. We mapped component energy flows and measured an average powertrain efficiency of 35% HHV (41% LHV). Test the hybrid architecture below.
Read our paper ↗FCV VANGUARD / FIGURE 2
Scroll the schematic sideways ↔
1× wall clock. Red holds time and stores. Pause stops dispatch; Hold motion only stops graphics.
Architecture follows Figure 2 of the Vanguard paper, using the actual figure from your article copy. Paper values: 23 kWh battery, 9.7 kg / 700 bar H₂ storage, 250 kW propulsion, two modules; the text describes 85 kW automotive ratings and up to 100 kW per module with water cooling. Commands are independently editable; an enabled module has a 30 kW minimum, as described in the paper. This manual sandbox does not reproduce the vessel controller.
Assumed DC/DC efficiency 97%, 12 V converter 92%, high-voltage auxiliaries 3 kW, battery one-way efficiency 95%, SOC window 10–90%. Fuel-cell conversion efficiency is a user assumption, not a fitted performance map. Positive battery power assists; negative power charges. Tank depletion and storage limits constrain delivered shaft power. Run accelerates 30× for up to 15 model minutes. Reset restores 60% battery charge and 9.7 kg of fuel. No speed, range or telemetry claim.
One connected story: the fuel-cell layers, my ATLAS fabrication work, and the working cell.
Relative thicknesses are exaggerated to keep coatings visible; not dimensional CAD. Gaskets sit around the perimeter; microporous layers are grouped with the GDLs.
Platinum-on-carbon catalyst sites split hydrogen into protons and electrons.
TYPICAL TARGET · ONE ELECTRODE 0.30 mg Pt/cm²5 × 5 cm · 25 cm² · 7.5 mg Pt deposited.Also demonstrated: 0.60 mg Pt/cm² (15 mg Pt over 25 cm²).Adjustable loading—not limited to these examples.
Pass 4/4 Loading 0.30 mg Pt cm−2 CV 1.2 %
ATLAS-coated electrode literature electrode
| Series | Current density / A cm⁻² | Voltage / V |
|---|---|---|
| ATLAS | 0.01 | 0.800 |
| ATLAS | 0.02 | 0.750 |
| ATLAS | 0.05 | 0.700 |
| ATLAS | 0.10 | 0.650 |
| ATLAS | 0.20 | 0.600 |
| ATLAS | 0.30 | 0.555 |
| ATLAS | 0.40 | 0.505 |
| ATLAS | 0.52 | 0.455 |
| Literature | 0.02 | 0.800 |
| Literature | 0.06 | 0.700 |
| Literature | 0.16 | 0.650 |
| Literature | 0.26 | 0.600 |
| Literature | 0.40 | 0.550 |
| Literature | 0.53 | 0.500 |
Approximate poster samples, not raw data. Comparisons interpolate only within 0.02–0.52 A/cm². Shading is not uncertainty.
UCI project ↗Hydrogen in. Electrons out. Water follows.
Illustrative kinetics and hydration. Particle motion and dimensions exaggerated. Model parameters do not represent ATLAS measurements.
Transport model ↗I have started boiling research with Professor Yoonjin Won.
BOILING / LIQUID CONTACT
Correlation-based illustration. Predicted CHF: 319 kW/m². Not a safe operating limit.
Same constant-property water case as the previous model: inlet 320 K, atmospheric saturation, 200 μm channel gap, 0.4 mm hydraulic diameter, 27.68 mm path and 99.7 kg/m²/s mass flux. Qu–Mudawar CHF and Davis–Anderson boiling incipience determine the displayed boundaries. Morphology is illustrative, not CFD. Qu–Mudawar source ↗
The candidate locations in my California green-ammonia study. Compare placeholder resource shapes until the measured profiles are ready.
Solar
Normalized to 1 MW total installed capacity. Mixed cases use equal installed solar/wind capacity—not the paper’s optimized mix. Values are synthetic, not forecasts or reported capacity factors.
MOJ-PV: Mojave Desert; SAC-PV: Sacramento Valley; TEH-LW: Tehachapi Pass; ALT-LW: Altamont Pass; MEN-OW: offshore Mendocino; SC-MIX: Mojave + Tehachapi; NC-MIX: Sacramento + Altamont. Names follow my manuscript. Curves use deterministic seasonal/diurnal patterns with bounded wind fluctuations; no measured meteorological input, transmission losses, storage, economics or actual ammonia production is implied.
Explore reactivity, particles and power.
NUCLEAR REACTOR OPERATOR IN TRAININGThermal reference: 250 kW, not plant telemetry.
Hypothetical load-equivalent only. The UCI research reactor does not generate household electricity.
Educational equivalence only: the UCI research reactor does not supply household electricity. 250 kW thermal reference × model-relative power; 33% hypothetical conversion; 1 kW per home assumed. UCI reactor reference ↗
Orange fast neutrons slow in the moderator; cyan/green tracks show lower-energy neutrons. Select one to trace its descendants.
Insert to absorb more neutrons. The solid rods follow the rate-limited model; the outline marks your request.
Position is an illustrative mapping of reactivity, not calibrated rod worth or an operating instruction. A model trip drives the rods in.
These are radioactive fission-product populations, not water tanks. Higher fill means more precursors available to release delayed neutrons.
Dashed level: equilibrium population at reference power. T½ = time for half a group to decay. The flow below represents delayed-neutron release.
Period: time for an exponential factor-e change (≈2.72×). Positive = growth; negative = decay; ∞ = steady.
Recent power trend · last two model minutes · logarithmic scale
01 · WITHDRAWING THE SHIM BANK TO 60 STEPS
Teaching models only. Particle animation is not neutron transport. No spatial kinetics, xenon or temperature feedback. Not operating guidance.
Background ↗A real prototype. A simple sequence.
OMELETTE BOT / REAL PROTOTYPE
Warm the cooking surface.
Sequence illustration—not validated cooking time, temperature, or food-safety guidance.
Images extracted from the user-provided OmeletteBot_Pitch_Deck REV 1(1).pptx, slides 3–4. The deck describes ingredient selection, one-button operation, cooking and serving. It lists both 60-second and 90-second times, so this page does not assert a verified cycle duration. No fundraising figures or private speaker notes are published.
Student-led interfaces, engineering representation, and public conversations about energy.
WEBREG HACKATHON / STUDENT-LED
Finalist selection weighting. Organized by me and two UCI friends.
Judges included the UCI provost, engineering dean, vice provost for teaching and learning, a Siemens vice president, and others. Roles refer to the event, not current office-holders. Event figures are my account.
Helped oversee student-organization grants; advocated for engineering space and funding. July 2022–June 2023.
Grant total is my account, not a figure independently verified in the linked legislation.
My headcount-reporting bylaw · R58-120 ↗Co-authored resolution · R58-22 ↗Quoted as Engineering Senator in coverage of UCI’s proposed hydrogen-blending demonstration.
Energy research. Public responsibility.
Coverage by Brooke Staggs / Southern California News Group, March 2023; reproduced in UCI’s faculty review, Exhibit D.
Read the coverage in UCI’s report ↗
