Ori Algave | Aerospace Engineering Portfolio

Engineering Portfolio

Projects I have worked on.

Each project includes what I worked on, the tools I used, my role, and what I took away from it.

Swamp Launch Rocket Design and CFD

CAD-modeled rocket prepared for wind tunnel testing on a rod fixture — Rocket model prepared for wind tunnel testing to compare physical results with ANSYS CFD data.

Run ANSYS Fluent simulations for the Swamp Launch IREC competition vehicle and build the rocket model in CAD. I also helped document the simulation process for different Mach ranges, including physics setup, boundary-layer values, drag calculations, and which equations to use for each case.

Role

Rocket CFD and CAD contributor

Impact

Helped connect the rocket CAD model, ANSYS simulation workflow, and wind tunnel test setup so the team could compare predicted drag with physical testing.

SolidWorksANSYS FluentCFDMeshingWind tunnel testingTechnical documentation

View project

Design/Build/Fly Aircraft Work

Carbon fiber fuselage and structure of a VTOL aircraft for Design Build Fly — Carbon fiber fuselage and structure from the VTOL aircraft I helped manufacture for Design/Build/Fly.

Helped manufacture Prototype 1 and the carbon fiber fuselage structure for Gator Design/Build/Fly. I also used XFLR5 to study the aerodynamics of Prototype 1, a standard aircraft layout with one nose wheel and two rear wheels.

Role

Airframe, manufacturing, and aero analysis contributor

Impact

Worked across both analysis and build work: checking aerodynamic behavior in XFLR5, helping fabricate aircraft structure, and connecting design choices to real manufacturing and flight constraints.

XFLR5Aerodynamic analysisCADCarbon fiber fabricationPositive moldingTeam design reviews

View project

FASt Lab Robotic Fish Research

Hydrofoil setup mounted on a load cell in a FASt Lab water tunnel — Hydrofoil setup mounted on a load cell in a water tunnel to measure drag.

Contributed to research on robotic fish systems, experimental hardware, and fluid-structure interaction. This included water tunnel work with a hydrofoil mounted on a load cell to measure drag, plus CAD work for an adapter and fin used in water tunnel testing.

Role

Undergraduate research contributor

Impact

Built research experience in experimental fluids, instrumentation, drag measurement, CAD test hardware, and mechanical setups for water tunnel experiments.

Experimental fluidsWater tunnelLoad cell testingCADInstrumentationData analysisRapid prototyping

View project Learn more about FASt Lab

Modular Desktop Wind Tunnel

Designed, analyzed, and fabricated a modular desktop wind tunnel with nozzle, diffuser, and test-section geometry refined through 80+ hours of SolidWorks CAD.

Role

Designer and builder

Impact

Built a small test platform for lift experiments and flow visualization based on aerodynamic literature.

SolidWorksAerodynamicsCAD iterationFabricationFlow visualization

View project View Report

Aircraft Engine Classification via Custom Machine Learning in MATLAB

MATLAB 3D K-means cluster visualization for aircraft engine classification — K-means cluster visualization using aircraft engine performance data, including max speed, rate of climb, and gross weight.

Built a MATLAB pipeline to clean aircraft performance data, engineer features, normalize weighted metrics, cluster engines with K-means, and classify aircraft engine types.

Role

Sole developer

Impact

Created a working classification workflow and evaluated it with a training confusion matrix that reached 86.16% accuracy.

MATLABK-means clusteringConfusion matrixData cleaningFeature engineering3D visualization

View project

Project note

Swamp Launch Rocket Design and CFD

SolidWorks CAD model of the Swamp Launch IREC competition rocket — Competition rocket CAD for Swamp Launch, used as the basis for CFD and wind tunnel test planning.

ANSYS Fluent wall Y-plus contour and drag output for the Swamp Launch rocket CFD model — ANSYS Fluent run showing wall Y-plus contours and drag output while checking the Swamp Launch IREC competition vehicle.

ANSYS Fluent mesh refinement around the Swamp Launch rocket CFD geometry — Mesh refinement and boundary-layer setup around the rocket geometry before running cases at different Mach ranges.

Takeaway: Helped connect the rocket CAD model, ANSYS simulation workflow, and wind tunnel test setup so the team could compare predicted drag with physical testing.

Project note

Design/Build/Fly Aircraft Work

Ori holding Prototype 1 of a Design Build Fly aircraft — Holding Prototype 1 of a DBF aircraft I helped manufacture and build using positive carbon fiber molding for the fuselage.

XFLR5 aerodynamic flow visualization for Gator Design Build Fly Prototype 1 — XFLR5 aerodynamic analysis for Prototype 1, including lift, induced drag, viscous drag, surface velocity, and stream visualization.

XFLR5 pressure and downwash visualization for Gator Design Build Fly Prototype 1 — Prototype 1 analysis in XFLR5 for a standard aircraft layout with one wheel in the front and two wheels in the back.

Takeaway: Worked across both analysis and build work: checking aerodynamic behavior in XFLR5, helping fabricate aircraft structure, and connecting design choices to real manufacturing and flight constraints.

Project note

FASt Lab Robotic Fish Research

CAD model of a fin and adapter designed for FASt Lab water tunnel testing — Adapter and fin CAD designed for water tunnel testing in FASt Lab research.

Fin geometry for the water tunnel setup, modeled to support experimental testing.

CAD close-up of the adapter designed for FASt Lab water tunnel testing — Adapter detail used to connect the test hardware for water tunnel experiments.

Takeaway: Built research experience in experimental fluids, instrumentation, drag measurement, CAD test hardware, and mechanical setups for water tunnel experiments.

Learn more about FASt Lab

Project note

Modular Desktop Wind Tunnel

Designed, analyzed, and fabricated a modular desktop wind tunnel with nozzle, diffuser, and test-section geometry refined through 80+ hours of SolidWorks CAD.

Takeaway: Built a small test platform for lift experiments and flow visualization based on aerodynamic literature.

View Report

Project note

Aircraft Engine Classification via Custom Machine Learning in MATLAB

MATLAB command window showing aircraft engine classification confusion matrix and training accuracy — Training confusion matrix from the MATLAB classifier, with an 86.16% training accuracy across jet, piston, and propjet classes.

Built a MATLAB pipeline to clean aircraft performance data, engineer features, normalize weighted metrics, cluster engines with K-means, and classify aircraft engine types.

Takeaway: Created a working classification workflow and evaluated it with a training confusion matrix that reached 86.16% accuracy.