Grace Johnston

Preburner Injector element development and testing:

• Waterflow test isolated elements, characterize element testing results to aid in geometry refinement.
• Developed the testing procedure for technician handoff.
• Created Matlab script to process flow testing data.
• Created waterflow test procedure and fixturing for unified fuel and oxidized element testing.
• Progressed all testing hardware through fabrication for internal and external testing.

Full scale Preburner development:

• Held design for additive, fabrication, test, and assembly reviews for all Preburner components designed to optimize for flight and manufacturing.
• Managed all printing and fabrication actions to ensure components are completed on time.
• Created and maintained tracking and documentation tickets for all required actions to be taken on the Preburner piece parts and assembly with a focus on repeatability and traceability.
• Created testing and assembly tooling and work instructions. Ensured that build area and COTS parts were available within the required timeline.
• Aided in component coating development.
• Clearly documented and actioned non-conformances as they arose and provided feedback for rapid and effective iteration.

• Manufacturing production owner of LOx pumps and final engine assembly for the Rutherford engine.
• Responsible manufacturing engineer for assembly defect root cause investigation, correction, and prevention.
• Focused on continuous improvement including tooling and fixture implementation and development, testing procedure and rig upgrades, work instruction creation and refinement to ensure assembly clarity, accuracy, and verification.
• Managed MBOM updates dependent on the design BOM updates to ensure correct manufacturing product flow.
• Maintained a strong relationship with technicians to ensure there was full understanding of the assembly process, and that any defect could be easily detected and actioned.
• Worked efficiently with design RE's to ensure all manufacturing and flight requirements were met.
• Enforced LEAN manufacturing and 6-Sigma principals wherever possible to improve manufacturing efficiency.

• Designed fixtures to improve the assembly process and reinforce final product quality
• Worked with technicians to fully understand the processes and develop a thorough understanding of where improvements can be made
• Developed testing procedures and prototypes to optimize and ensure fixture geometry, fit, and usability during assembly
• Created drawings with preliminary GD&T and DFM/DFA considerations for optimal manufacturing
• Implemented fixtures to reduce subcomponent assembly time by 25% through FOD elimination.
• Created and updated work instructions for clarity, repeatability, and built-in quality
• Performed dimensional analyses to validate and qualify parts and processes
• Reworked components and update designs to ensure optimal manufacturability and usability.

• Demonstrated how to operate a hydraulic bandsaw and milling machine to make a puzzle out of steel, aluminum, and PVC plastic
• Demonstrated and explained safety habits to acknowledge when machining
• Discussed the logic behind different machining practices
• Answered student questions and diagnosed problems when necessary
• Created a process document that is now used by all the TAs for the class.

• Redesigned a slide switch on a multi-ammo mounted range finder to trigger each ammo more effectively and reliably
• Designed a fixture to test the slide switch and the accompanying REED switch circuit board to detect a defect in the slide switch or the circuit board before being built into the main unit
• Created a Defect Detection System to quantify qualitative defects in outsourced cast parts to save added value to each part
• Remodeled parts in SolidWorks that were originally created in Inventor without a drawing to have an easily workable feature tree
• Worked on the assembly line both testing and assembling.

• Created mathematical models to replicate the performance of these propellers using Excel
• Utilized Visual Basic to implement mathematical models into our propeller design and testing software
• Updated software interface for PropExpert to execute these mathematical models
• Used manual probing machines to measure propellers
• Designed parts for TrueProp equipment in SolidWorks and 3D printed them using Cura software and a Creality printer.