Alaina Gordon

Experience

• 

  Gator Motorsports

  Sept 2020 - Jun 2024

  • Managed 2 tractive sub-systems by facilitating weekly meetings, creating task distribution spreadsheets, establishing a knowledge transfer lecture series, coordinating new member onboarding activities, and communicating high level deadlines for battery pack and drivetrain lead engineers.• Designed and packaged an accumulator container to constrain 6 segment assemblies, an air-cooling system, and electrical hardware within a composite rear box, while utilizing simplified geometry and a 10-component design to improve ease and quality of manufacturing, as well as including key components like air-flow passage elements, sealing surfaces, and a dual-lid design for ease of pack servicing, safety from debris, and temperature control.• Designed a composite structure for the accumulator container to maintain rules-required strength and stiffness, with a 42% weight reduction from an equivalent aluminum structure, and a 19% weight reduction from the previous season, validated through 3-point-bend, perimeter shear, and coupon testing. Show less • Managed a team of cockpit engineers by establishing system goals, holding meetings, organizing a budget, and creating a design and manufacturing schedule for a formula style race car.• Communicated with 9 other systems to effectively integrate a seatback, steering system, clutch system, and pedal tray within the chassis.• Manufactured 10+ fixtures and system components on manual metal mills and lathes, as well as by operating a CNC Milling Machine through utilization of HSMWorks CAM.-----F23 Season (2022-2023)-----• Performed ergonomic testing to record a range of driver preferences from 5th percentile female to 95th percentile male regarding seat, pedal, and steering positions, within packaging and rules constraints.-----F22 Season (2021-2022)-----• Presented Cockpit design, manufacturing, and validation at FSAE Michigan competition as part of a 3rd place team finish for vehicle design, and a 3rd place finish in the competition overall (out of 80+ teams internationally).• Performed analytical structural analysis on the steering column using stress and stiffness calculations as well as ANSYS simulations to determine material types, wall thicknesses, and compliance, reducing the weight of the system component by 14%.• Reduced weight of the gas pedal assembly design by 15% while ensuring structural integrity through shear and bending stress calculations as well as ANSYS finite element analysis. Show less

  • Tractive System Manager (& Treasurer)

    Jun 2023 - Jun 2024

  • Cockpit / Ergonomics Lead

    May 2021 - Jun 2023

  • Ergonomics Engineer

    Sept 2020 - May 2021
• 

  Northrop Grumman

  May 2023 - Jul 2023

  Vehicle Engineering Intern - Thermal Analysis

  • Created thermal map for the structural analysis team of a frame of interest.• Analyzed thermal effects of subsystems during hot day conditions at chosen flight point.• Utilized Thermal Desktop and ANSYS SpaceClaim to prepare geometry and determine frame temperatures.• Performed radiation hand calculations to validate model and determine radiation heat flow between subsystem components and frame.

• 

  Tesla

  May 2024 - Aug 2024

  Battery Engineering Intern - Technical Program Management