Students Get Hands-On Engineering Experience Building a 3D-Printed Cyclotron

Team-building exercises might conjure images of trust falls and escape rooms for many, but the National Society of Black Engineers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering is taking teamwork to the next level by building a working, 3D-printed cyclotron.

Cyclotrons, sometimes called “atom smashers,” use electromagnetic fields to accelerate atomic particles to high energy levels. Cyclotrons have many uses, from making new discoveries about atomic particles to producing the radioisotopes used in medicine. The UCLA students are building a working model of a cyclotron that will use electromagnetic fields to accelerate small metal balls instead of particles.

“The idea is to build something that involves students from several different fields of engineering,” said project leader Isaiah Mills Terry, a third-year astrophysics major and data science minor with a passion for space exploration. “We’re learning how to work as a team while also reinforcing some of the concepts we’re learning in our classes.”

Mechanical and civil engineering students are using computer-aided design, or CAD, software to design the ring-shaped tube of the cyclotron that will eventually be 3D printed. Electrical engineering students are designing and creating the solenoids and circuitry required to generate electromagnetic current. And computer science students are writing the programs that will tell the device how to function.

“I wanted to create something that I thought would combine multiple disciplines, and also sounded pretty cool,” Terry said. “I first started to get the idea for a particle accelerator during a demonstration in my Physics 1C class that showed how easy it is to create a magnetic field by running an electric current through a coil of copper wire. I wondered if you could use that current in a circular motion to create an accelerator. I found some tips online from someone who has done this before, but otherwise, we’re starting from scratch.”

About 10 to 15 future engineers are participating in the project, which is still in its early stages and should be completed by the end of the academic year.

Civil engineering major Rania Gomaa-Mersal said that the project has allowed her to learn Fusion360, 3D modeling software widely used in the engineering industry. First-year engineering student Kayleen Speller said that she was on the fence about switching from mechanical to electrical engineering and the project convinced her to make the switch.

Constine Jack, a second-year computer science major who leads the software team, said he expects to acquire skills and practical experience that will help first- and second- year students learn more about programming and look good on their resumes.

“Every single interview I’ve been in, the first question they ask me is, how do you work in a group? Explain to me a collaborative project you worked on?” Jack said. “This is an essential skill you need to have if you want to get a job, and doing it early in your college education is the best way to get that experience.”

The undergraduates aren’t going it alone, though. Selasi Etchey, who received his master’s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA last June and now works for Apple, is acting as an advisor and mentor.

“I think it’s novel and cool to get this kind of real-world engineering experience as a first- or second-year student that a lot of graduate students don’t even have, and I enjoy helping them,” Etchey said.

The project is funded through a combination of university grants from the Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity, sponsorships and contributions from student organizations like NSBE, raised through its annual Spark campaign.