I joined the aero design team at U.D. in the fall of 2017 and helped design the first version of a solar powered electric airplane for long endurance applications. Our design included a camera for surveillance applications and a data logger with an intelligent flight control system for pattern holds and other pilot hands off or autonomous functions. Our spring 2018 semester was spent building and modifying the plane until its maiden flight. Unfortunately the landing of the maiden flight damaged the wing more significantly than we realized and the wing failed under typical loading during the competition flight. Load testing before each flight and spare wings will have to be used in the future to prevent this type of error from reoccurring. Below are some images and videos of the plane and its flights.
Category: Design
Lights and Sounds
Drummer for Son Lux
The Silicon Valley of China.
A glimpse into the hardware giant that is the city of Shenzhen and how it came to be.
Quadcopter (will update as I go)
Recently I have become interested in flight/aerodynamics and while my schooling is oriented in mechanical design, it doesn’t really delve into this realm of knowledge or design of aerodynamics, unless I Continue reading
Inspiring Music and Production
The way they use the buildings acoustics in this video to alter how much her voice reverberates in and out is amazing.
Competition Is Not About Secrets
On June 12th of this year, Elon Musk released a statement from Tesla Motors explaining that they will not pursue lawsuits against anyone, who in good faith, want to use any of their patents. This company is flipping the Continue reading
Creativity Outlets
Lately I have been having a hard time expressing my creativity in a trackable way. I have not mixed audio consistently for about 3 months so my attention has been focused mainly on photography and videography. I have sort of hijacked my Instagram account and turned it into a feed for some of my favorite photos. I really dig Instagram for this use. I realize its probably a little annoying for my friends since Instagram is widely used as a social media platform centered on photography. However, the artistic community on Instagram and the company itself are very different. Take a look at the Instagram Blog, its not a collection of posts about selfies or pictures of cats. Its a collection of posts by a company thats focused on art.
Now I am not ignoring the fact that the platform of Instagram is mainly used for social media. However, I have chosen to do something different with my account. Learning the balance between trying to be a professional photographer and shoving it in my friends and followers faces and the opposite of that in being a photography enthusiast and being able to share some of my photos with my friends has been an interesting thing to figure out. You just cant bleed the feed. Thats what Tumblr’s for. So basically, if you want to see some occasional photos of the places I’m at and the things I’m doing, check out my Instagram, If you want to see all of my photos, check out my Tumblr.
I cant promise that all of my stuff will be amazing or even good but I want people to see them and to give me some feedback. I want to be a better artist and think about art with a larger perspective and in a larger spectrum. That cannot happen if I am not creating things and putting them out there for honest feedback.
Science and Art
This is a really interesting perspective on art and science. For me, it has opened up a new spectrum of thought on the two fields.
Gregg Stock – Strymon
Interview: Strymon Co-Founder Gregg Stock
Gregg Stock is the Senior Analog Engineer and Co-Founder of a company that makes digital effects units for guitar and general music use. This interview, done by Daft Paragon, is a pretty cool insight into some of how he approaches the discussion of analog vs. digital audio processing in the music world and obviously in the design world. These types of people are incredibly motivating to me because as a musician and electronics tinkerer, I some times get caught up in these paradoxes that revolve around what “should be” and I end up losing sight of what “can be” with my projects. The truth is, if Gregg Stock thinks that digital will soon be harder and harder to distinguish from analog, then ignoring coding and DSP processing projects is probably a bad call.
SouthBrook Easter 2014 Video and Storytelling
SouthBrook has always done a few special things for their easter services and since I’ve been a part of the team I’ve had the opportunity to be there the week before these services for all of the fun, non Continue reading
Scale of Space
A couple of years ago I came across a Bill Nye video Continue reading
Desk out of Plywood
I don’t build things often but when my friend said she needed a desk for her new apartment I jumped at the opportunity to use my dads work shop and my limited but eager skill set to make a solid piece of furniture for her new place.
TV Stand
I built a stand for my TV. For cheap. (Bad Pics)
So a couple of months ago when I moved into my new apartment I bought a huge TV for really cheap. Its a 60″ and it literally weighs 90 pounds. It didn’t come with a stand… Most TV stands that are designed to accommodate such a mass are pretty expensive, especially the ones that look good enough to be worth buying. I opted to build my own based off of an idea I had to make my own mount for the TV as well. What I came up with was a credenza of plywood and galvanized piping that does a pretty good job of holding my TV in place. Continue reading
MICHAEL MONGIN 