This week was an exciting one for Team MATR! On Tuesday, March 1st, they were able to visit Northrop Grumman’s(NG) Melbourne, Florida campus. Northrop Grumman engineering liaisons, Jessica McDaniel and Mary Alice Beck, were kind enough to set up tours of a few of the labs that were not fully classified, and provide insight into the kind of work they do at NG, including a hangar where work was being done on a G5 and E2 aircraft. Unfortunately, taking photos is not permitted in any area of their campus, so we are unable to share any of the cool stuff we were able to see. In addition to the tours, we were also given a presentations on modeling and simulation in the design process, as well as an overview of Northrop Grumman’s Turtle Tech project which Team MATR is supporting. It was great to hear how our work will fit in to their company and be used to help NG develop further technologies for conserving marine life. Following those presentations, Team MATR was able to present on their own project, communicating to the audience their design process, where they are at in the implementation phase, and how they will be conducting tests. Their liaisons were able to get the word out to other NG engineers who were able to attend our presentation, providing the team with a diverse and knowledgeable audience who were able to give some very helpful feedback. Overall the team is grateful for the experience NG was able to provide them with, and thanks everyone from NG who was able to contribute.

Since Tuesday, the team has gotten back to work on their implementations. The mechanical sub-team has been considering advice from NG engineers regarding potting the electronics in the enclosure, and has been making minor adjustments to their design. Electrical and Computer sub-teams are continuing work on system integration, focusing on microcontroller programming while waiting for their first PCB to arrive. Next week, Team MATR will be enjoying spring break, and also doing some preparations to ensure they will be ready to complete system integration soon after returning from break. Upon returning from the break, the team will have to work hard to complete full system integration and testing to ensure a working prototype will be delivered for their Final Design Review.