My name is Wesley James Steiner. I am currently in my senior year and will be graduating in Spring 2024 with two bachelor’s degrees: one degree in physics, another in astronomy, and a minor in mathematics. I joined the Ratner Research Group in May 2023. I have learned many valuable skills from this research experience. Soldering, circuit design, and CAD are some of the important skills I have developed.

My responsibilities in the lab include tasks such as developing a nano-fuel stability apparatus to better quantify agglomeration and settling rates of nano-fuels, creating nano-fuel colloidal suspensions for testing in the nano-fuel stability setup, and performing data analysis on nano-fuel micro-puffing and micro-explosions. My future goals include working in the aerospace industry, then pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace engineering.