 Hi, I'm Dr. Andy Judge, an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at Fairfield University and an engineering manager at ASML. ASML is the most important tech company you've probably never heard of. All of the world's top chip makers are our customers. We make the big machines that make small chips, providing all the hardware, software, and services to mass produce patterns on silicon. The work ASML does, it's a key ingredient to making chips more powerful, cheaper, more energy efficient, and more ubiquitous. Over the past seven years, I've been working with student teams at Fairfield University on projects ranging from supporting good applications to green energy to real-world engineering applications tied to technical challenges at ASML, which has led to hiring numerous students to ASML as a direct result of their project work at Fairfield. The need for this project arose from a few of my colleagues, including Vahini Ganesan, Low Baker, and Jose Carballo, working on passive damping systems. ASML has always pushed into boundaries of technology in many areas, including advanced dynamics and methods to reduce disturbances, such as vibration. One method of reducing the effect of such noise is through the use of eddy currents. You may be familiar with eddy currents if you're ever gone rock climbing and use it in audible air, which slows down your drop, allowing you to safely return to the ground from large heights or catch you if you fall. These devices use permanent magnets coupled with a conductor. When the conductor moves through the magnetic field or the magnets move past the conductor, it creates what is called eddy currents, which converts the kinetic energy ultimately into heat. For our machines, as opposed to preventing the fall of a climber, we need to mitigate the effect of vibration on our systems, which needs to be accurate in some aspects to the fractions of an atom. One of the challenges in our applications is the vibrations we have are very small, less distance than the size of standard magnets, making eddy current damping not feasible in this case. However, if we can multiply that distance to provide a larger travel range enough that the conductor can pass by multiple magnets, it becomes possible. My name is John Callanen, and I'm a senior at Fairfield University. I'm studying mechanical engineering with a minor in math. For this project, my team members, including Emma Godfrey, Turitana Takata, and Rob Gunn-Fientini, developed a proof of concept system to study the effectiveness of travel multipliers coupled with eddy current dampers. This involved gathering the specifications and requirements of the system, starting with the cost and safety, which is a part of any engineering effort, as well as specifics to the application, such as the volume, the amount of damping required, ASML's unique clean room requirements, and many others. From there, we brainstormed on potential architectures that might work. Using engineering tools such as a design decision matrix, we determined which concepts would be down selected for future work. For example, an early idea for a gear-based system was disqualified due to its technical concerns with the large effect friction would play into the system, as well as challenges reducing the concept to practice. After reviewing the design choices with ASML and our instructor, the team decided to pursue a test device on a linear track to study the basics of eddy currents and passive damping, as well as a lever-based system as a potential proof of concept for the specific application. The team started first with the first-order equations, which were performed to help us predict the effectiveness of the system and to provide input for important factors in the design. We also performed finite element analysis to study effects difficult to quantify with standard equations, such as the magnetic flux density and the magnetic field throughout the system. Concurrently with the analysis phases, we used computer-aided design to develop our test systems, and from there we started the build process, including 3D printing key components for the assembly. We also completed a robust test plan, ensuring the objectives of the test were clearly understood and that the test could be repeated by anyone skilled in the art that would have an interest in continuing our research. In the spring term, we ran into challenges, of course, given some current world events, but continued working remotely with students in various locations, providing key deliverables and overcoming the obstacles that they faced. At the completion of this project, we will have shown the potential for eddy current damping and small travel distances, as well as delivered test devices to prove the concept's feasibility. So John, why this project? This project specifically was an opportunity to get applicable experience with the engineering design process and the ability to work on a real project for an industry leader in the area, which is, of course, ASML. So what did you learn, you know, both technically and in terms of working with teams? I was able to learn a lot about the engineering process and kind of the what it takes to go from an initial concept to physically building hardware. Of course, we learned about the specific technical areas of the project, including magnetics, computer design, finite element analysis, and other tools like that. We were able also to work in teams, which is an important part of the experience, and about how project scheduling, teamwork, communication, leadership, and other important qualities are necessary to make sure that you bring out the best and you get the most out of all the resources you have available to you. So your team went virtual during the second term. Describe the challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Yeah, I mean, of course, there were challenges in communication. We were stable, still able to meet online and follow up with each team member regularly to ensure that they were meeting some of the expectations that we were setting. And it was a good experience to learn how to manage teams that can't always meet in person, which I'm sure you face at a large global company like ASML, of course. So, John, what does a drink bird mean to your application? How'd that fit with your project? Yeah, so the drink bird was kind of the initial model that we decided looked like our project. So our project is a lever arm, one side shorter and one side longer, that is able to take small movements at the short end and transfer them into larger movements at the end of the lever. That allows us to multiply the distance of a vibration. So instead of a very small distance up to a millimeter, we would be able to magnify that in order to more effectively enact eddy current damping on the ends of it. We decided that it looked like a drink bird. So our prototype is affectionately known as the drink bird model. So your second prototype was much improved from your first one. What did you, what were some of the issues with your first prototype? What did you learn? How did you develop a better product for your second time around? Yeah, our first prototype was in practice what we were looking for. But after printing it out and figuring out the elements of it that didn't perform as we needed them to, it was interesting to then go into the second design iteration with ideas for shortcomings that might have been present in our first project that we needed to correct. For example, the distance between the conductors and the magnets is a very important factor to control for in eddy current damping. And our initial design had increased distance and a variable distance in between the magnets and the conductors. Our second iteration design we were able to get rid of that variable distance and prevent anything from coming in between the two surfaces, which we think will greatly increase our effectiveness. So John, one final question. How did this project tie to the Jesuit mission at Fairfield University? Throughout this project we learned how engineering can positively impact the world in terms of improving existent technology and creating new ones. It also spoke to the importance for engineers to be able to master more than just the technical skills of the trade. Especially as we move virtually, the ability to communicate and coordinate became much easier based on the skills that Jesuit education would provide. Hey John, sounds like you learned a lot. Thanks to you and your team for a great project and awesome job. Thank you very much, Professor. Thank you again.