Eric Sigg

Education
B.S. in Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Expected 2025

Current Projects

  1. Sub-aqueous wet granular material failure - In this project we are attempting to determine the failure mechanics of sub-aqueous granular materials. Materials over a certain grain size will fail conventionally, while materials with smaller grain sizes will fail by breaching, and will instead become suspended in the fluid. To study which materials exhibit each behavior, I have worked on designing and manufacturing a one meter long flume containing a pneumatically operated gate and a fluidization chamber.
  2. Underwater Weather - We have worked on creating an autonomous boat capable of taking samples of various parameters of the Schuylkill River at high positional resolution. I worked to analyze an acoustic backscatter sensor’s ability to detect particles of various sizes in the river. I have also worked on developing a winch system used for controlling the depth at which sensors take measurements in the river.
  3. Stress Controlled Rheometer - We are working to develop a rheometer capable of applying a constant stress to a material, and observing how the material changes in volume as it rearranges. I have worked on creating the design of the system used to run this experiment, along with manufacturing and assembling the system.
  4. Inclined Plane Rheometer - Involves the placing of granular materials on an inclined plane, which they are allowed to flow down. By observing the speed of the material as it flows down the plane at various angles and the thickness of the layer of particles flowing down the plane, the properties of the material can be found. I have worked on designing, manufacturing, and assembling the parts of this experiment, and collecting data for the experiment.

Publications

  • Towards Understanding Underwater Weather Events in Rivers Using Autonomous Surface Vehicles - www.doi.org/10.1109/OCEANS47191.2022.9977236

Contact Information