I was developing an RF-powered ion thruster at university and through this process a lot of simulation was needed to see how the system would act with fluid systems as well as electrical systems. This meant running thermal FEA and CFD through different parts of the thruster. The hardest thing was not whether the thruster was structurally sound, or if the fluid would travel through the system effectively, but if the ionized plasma would act as we wanted it to.
This gave me the idea and wish that we had a software that could simulate the ion beam of our propellant acting within the system given electrical, mechanical, and fluid parameters. Through this project I will be working to create just this software. This would not only be useful to me through my development of a hall-effect thruster, but could be incredible useful to the aerospace industry.
