Patrick plays and referees soccer. He also enjoys computer games, animation, robots, and building rockets. He'd like to pursue a career in aeroscience. "I have always been interested in aerodynamics and there are still so many unanswered questions," he says.
Patrick says his father, a biochemist, is his mentor. "I have always enjoyed listening to him speak about science."
Patrick's interest in aerodynamics and the current importance of renewable energy sources led him to study wind turbines. He contacted a Dutch researcher working on turbulators, which are small strips designed to create a little bit of turbulence at the surface of an airfoil to eliminate premature separation of the airflow. Patrick learned that zigzag-shaped turbulators might be more effective than rectangular ones and that airplane wings have riblets on them for this reason. He decided to see which was more effective.
Patrick built a wind tunnel and a rotor. The rotor had two blades with zero angle of attack. He created six turbulators of equal surface area but with different texture and shape combinations involving sandpaper and riblets cut in zigzag and rectangular shapes. He tested each turbulator on the rotating rotor three times for three minutes each. The voltage generated was recorded with Venier probe equipment. Patrick found that the riblet/zigzag turbulator consistently improved rotor performance the most.
