Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

Angel Dong ’25
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Certificates: Architecture and Engineering,
East Asian Studies
INNOVATION AND A
NEW ENERGY FUTURE
PROJECT TITLE
Wind Tunnel Construction
and Experimentation on
Umbrella Forms
ORGANIZATION(S)
Creative and Resilient
Urban Engineering
(CRUE) and Structural
Health Monitoring
(SHM) Research Groups,
Department of Civil
and Environmental
Engineering, Princeton
University
LOCATION(S)
Princeton, New Jersey
MENTOR(S)
Maria Garlock,
Professor of Civil and
Environmental
Engineering, Princeton
University; Branko Glisic,
Professor of Civil and
Environmental
Engineering, Princeton
University; Antonio
Navarro-Manso,
Associate Professor,
University of Oviedo
My project aimed to develop kinetic structures
for coastal defense. These structures are
umbrellas with a hyperbolic paraboloid, saddlelike
shape, with a hinge to adjust it to different
angles. They can act as sources of shade when
upright in normal conditions but can be tilted to
act as a flood barrier in hazardous conditions. I
focused on testing these umbrella structures for
performance under wind using a wind tunnel
that we constructed. Then, I compared our
results to results obtained from the University of
Oviedo in Spain, where the same structure was
tested. I learned a lot about wind engineering
through my internship, as well as many new
skills including 3D modeling and printing,
the program MATLAB and how to operate
different power tools. I enjoyed the hands-on
construction experience and the conversations
we had working alongside our professors every
day. This experience has helped me be more
confident in applying for graduate school. It has
also convinced me to try participating in more
research during my time here at Princeton as an
undergraduate student.
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