Daniel Massimino

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Hello! I’m Daniel, a PhD student at MIT in Mechanical Engineering. I am currently working in the Fabrication Integrated Design Lab (FIDL). I am investigating using glass additive manufacturing as a building material in partnership with Evenline Inc.  

I am broadly interested in the development of new construction materials. This interest stems from the combination of my BS in Civil Engineering from Columbia University, five years as a Boeing manufacturing engineer at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, and my current studies as a mechanical engineer.






Moon BRICCS: Moon blocks using regolith isru for corbelled construction of sustainable shielding


2024 • Conference Paper


Building on the Moon BRICCS class project, we published our concept in IEEE Aerospace. The team analyzed the energy required for alternative forming processes for lunar radiation shielding using in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The work focuses on leveraging corbelling, a historical construction method, to generate protective radiation shells using glass regolith masonry units. The masonry units are formed using a molten pressed glass process. As part of the paper, I cast a model glass brick using kiln casting.
Rendering of final concept for lunar base showing radiation protection structure.
Cast glass model of masonry unit made in the MIT Glass Lab using lost wax kiln casting techniques.
Model of corbelled structure (left) and cross-section view (right) with inflatable habitat located inside. Rendering courtesy of Juan Salazar and Mikita Klimenta.
Energy analysis of different masonry unit manufacturing technologies. 
Diagram of masonry unit pressed glass fabrication process. A gob of glass is sent into the mold and then pressed to crease the trough that is later filled with loose regolith.

Conference: IEEE Aerospace


Contributions:
Energy analysis, concept generation, historical research, manufacturing process development, structural analysis.


Team: 
Lanie McKinney, Palak B Patel, Daniel Massimino, Annika Thomas, Juan Salazar, Mikita Klimenka, George Lordos, Cody Paige, Skylar Tibbits, Dava Newman


Paper: link
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