The featured student this week is Landen McDonald, a mechanical engineering major from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who worked for Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Oak Ridge.
McDonald worked on the instrument development team in the Neutron Science Division at ORNL, where he worked on a number of experiments and projects at both the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). His most involved assignment while working at ORNL has been as the lead engineer on the “High Resolution Validation of New Generation Turbulent Flow Models Using Neutron Beams and Laser Fluorescence in Cryogenic Helium” Experiment (a.k.a. The Turbulence Experiment). This experiment has now run for three cycles on the LARMOR beam line (CG-4B) at HFIR, which is the newest experimental beam line at the facility.
When describing the benefits of his co-op, McDonald says, “Without a doubt, the most valuable thing that I have gained from this internship has been leadership experience. With The Turbulence Experiment, my boss had very high expectations for me and believed that I should be the lead. After nearly seven months on this project, I can honestly say that this has been the most rewarding experience of my life, and I will take the lessons that I have learned from this job with me for the rest of my life.”