Mission to Mars
Heidi Williams
Electrical engineering seniors Martin Chuang, Frances Quinn Hare, and Beeta Modarressi are working with NASA/Ames Research Center to design a portable, battery-operated, and wirelessly controlled potentiostat to be used in conjunction with a biological fuel cell that may, one day, be sent to Mars. A potentiostat is an electrical circuit used to perform measurements in electrochemistry. NASA utilizes the potentiostat to monitor how well a battery can maintain a certain amount of voltage for a particular amount of time. The project grew out of Modarressi's internship at NASA/Ames Research Center, where she works as part of the Bio-electrochemical Systems Team under the direction of mentor, John A. Hogan, Ph.D. "I knew they needed a less expensive and lightweight version of the potentiostat that is currently used in the lab, so I suggested our team take this on with the help of funding from Dr. Hogan," she said.
Two of the biggest challenges for the team are not only minimizing signal noise for more accurate measurements, but also delivering a user-friendly device so that anyone is able to use it. Modarressi has been focusing on the hardware design of the device while Hare addresses functionality and Chuang, who is double-majoring in electrical and computer science and engineering, does the programming.
For now, the team has a working prototype using a one-on-one connection between a single potentiostat and a receiver. They hope future teams will take up their work, adding to the hardware and proper casing of the device so that multiple units can be used together on a mission to Mars.