Research Rookies Student Profiles
Name: Austin Hale
Cohort: Sophomore/Transfer Research Rookie
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: West Chicago, Illinois
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Pradip Majumdar
Through mechanical engineering, Austin Hale is able to turn his hobby into a profession. Austin has always been a tinkerer who loved to take an object apart, figure out how it works, and reassemble it. He started tinkering at a very young age, and has gotten more audacious in his projects the older he gets. Austin has even disassembled most of his car, only to put it back together and make adjustments and improvements to it.
Austin would love to work for a car company after finishing his education, so that he can make car parts or whole cars. And his Research Rookies project is feeding right into his interests, by giving him the opportunity to work with car batteries. For his research, Austin is working with batteries and electric drive systems for hybrid vehicles. He is testing current systems by calculating the charge and discharge rates of the batteries under different conditions such as heat and cold, etc. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current batteries and electric drive systems, Austin’s project will help foster new ideas for compounds and systems that last longer and better than what is currently available.
When Austin Hale transferred to NIU, he was looking for a way to get involved on campus and in his field simultaneously because he commutes a total of two hours every day. Research Rookies provided him that opportunity. It is giving him valuable experience in his field, and teaching him about research methodology, while introducing him to like-minded and motivated students like himself. Austin is looking forward to this new experience, and cannot wait to see where it this takes him.
Austin on what being a Research Rookie means: “Being a Research Rookie means gaining vital experience in research in general, and in my field specifically. It also means I am making important and helpful connections with faculty members, and potentially people in my field as well.”