WORCESTER —For Worcester Polytechnic Institute PhD candidate Regan Krizan, scientific research recently came with a rush of adrenaline—and a few stomach drops.
On Oct. 28, Krizan, a student in WPI’s Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, conducted a materials science experiment while flying aboard a parabolic flight over Bordeaux, France—the kind of flight often nicknamed the “vomit comet.”
The flight repeatedly climbed and dove at 45-degree angles, creating 22-second intervals of weightlessness at the peak of each parabola.
“I always wanted to be an astronaut growing up and this is about as close as I can get,” Krizan said in the university’s announcement. “I am very excited that I had this opportunity so early in my research career. Microgravity makes isolating thermophysical properties of a liquid sample possible, and these conditions can only be met on the International Space Station or on a parabolic flight.”
Krizan was joined by her faculty advisor, Assistant Research Professor of Mechanical & Materials Engineering Gwendolyn Bracker, who accompanied her to France. Bracker monitored the experiment from the ground as Krizan worked on board.
Their project, developed in partnership with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), examined what happens when metal melts in zero gravity.
Using an on-board electromagnetic levitator — a device that uses electrical currents to suspend a sample midair — Krizan studied how an iron-copper alloy separates into two distinct liquids when melted, much like oil and water.
The experiment produced high-speed video and temperature data to help the researchers better understand fluid flow. Insights from that work could eventually improve models used to simulate how liquids move and solidify, which play a key role in manufacturing processes such as mold casting and 3D printing.
Krizan’s experiment was one of more than a dozen aboard the European Space Agency’s parabolic flight, which gives researchers access to short bursts of microgravity that can’t be replicated on Earth.
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