Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
IN SUMMER of 2005, 18-year-old David Smalling completed the construction a fully functional, self-sustaining jet engine from recycled parts. Recently, the past student of Campion College in Kingston told Outlook that this is just one stop on the way to what he hopes will be a career in scientific research.
Smalling, currently a student of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States, considers his main research interests to be nanotechnology (Nanoimprint Lithography and Carbon Nanotubes) and the use of recycled parts in constructing devices for energy conversions. Nanotechnology is the branch of science and engineering devoted to the design and production of extremely small electronic devices and circuits built from individual atoms and molecules. Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve studying and working with matter on an ultra-small scale. One nanometre is
one-millionth of a millimetre and a single human hair is around 80,000 nanometres in width.
Gas turbines
The young scientist is also very interested at the moment in gas turbines. David is also a mathematician (with a primary interest in combinatorics and number theory). As his mother states, "David is a true mathematician. His strength is math."
David Smalling is the son of Patricia Smalling, physical therapist and co-founder of the Clinic of Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy in Kingston. His father is Donald Smalling, lecturer in accounting at the University of the West Indies.
The construction of the self-sustaining jet engine came from their son's interest in recycled parts. David Smalling is committed to finding solutions to recycling and waste management in Jamaica.
The goal of the gas turbine project was to construct a reliable and self-sustaining gas turbine from totally recycled components.
According to David, "This essentially entails the creation of a means to deliver and ignite fuel into a custom made manifold, creating a high pressure oil delivery system for the turbocharger shaft and bearings and other related equipment necessary to safely and reliably convert the turbocharger into a self sustaining turbine."
The project comprised a truck turbocharger and a custom made manifold which he designed.
He explains; "Vehicle turbochargers work by harnessing the power of hot gases expanding out from the engine exhaust to turn a turbine which in turn drives a compressor through a common shaft.
"In order to convert a turbocharger into a self-sustaining turbine, all that is needed is to provide it with a source of hot gases from which the turbine section may be driven."
David designed a system to accurately control fuel flow by simply opening and closing a fuel injector about 100 times per second (100Hz) and varying the duration for which it is open relative to which it is closed.
The ignition system
For ignition of the turbine, an automotive spark plug was used. The spark plug was driven by a high voltage step-up assembly based on a transformer.
According to David, the reliability of the ignition system was astonishingly good, considering the transformer used was obtained from a scrapped microwave oven.
During week four of development, the blueprint for the combustion chamber was submitted to Metal Fabrication & Welding Ltd in Kingston and within five days the shell was ready.
"For the next few days I worked side by side with Metal Fabrication & Welding Ltd to tweak and modify various parameters such as the vacuum seals and compression fittings."
The first few tests were conducted at a private automotive facility after which the turbine was transported to the University of the West Indies where the combustion chamber was threaded to accommodate a standard automotive spark plug.
A component known as a 'flame holder' or 'flame tube' was also a consideration during the design process. A flame tube creates a region of intense combustion in the centre of the combustion chamber while protecting the outer walls.
These developments significantly improved the performance of the turbine, culminating in a test where the turbine achieved a near optimal air fuel ratio and a perfect blue flame.
The student's accomplishment was no surprise to his parents and teachers.
David Smalling has received numerous in-school awards in math, science and information technology.
In 2005, he was awarded a US$32,000 academic scholarship to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. The school is reputed to have the best undergraduate programme in aerospace engineering in the world.
Global initiative
In the United States, David's most recent research interest is 'ways of bridging the digital divide', a global initiative for making the Internet available to underdeveloped regions.
David Smalling sees himself in the future as a professor, since he enjoys "helping others on their road to academia".
Although some of his peers would consider him a 'nerd', Smalling has very wide interests outside of science, including Kung Fu which he did at the Chinese Benevolent Association in Kingston for five years.
He also enjoys playing chess, conducting thought experiments, doing computer programming (he is proficient in C, C++ and Java), and doing Sudoku Puzzles.
His pastimes also include hanging out with friends and going to parties. Currently, Smalling is on Embry Riddle's boating team, known as the Varsity Crew Team.
Outreach programmes
While at Campion College, he was involved in several outreach programmes including teaching students from St. Anne's School in downtown Kingston computer skills and mathematics. He also read for the blind at the Jamaica Association for the Blind in Kingston.
David was also involved in feeding programmes for the indigent. From time to time, he was called upon by his friends to help with mathematics too, and he was always available.
"I am very proud," his mother, Patricia Smalling says.
"I have watched him mature into a highly motivated individual one who is determined to make a contribution to science."
