Dash Cotton was born and raised in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii. He is currently pursuing a major in Engineering Management at Gonzaga University. At Gonzaga, Dash serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society for Engineering Management. Upon graduation, he hopes to work towards a project management position at a civil engineering firm in Southern California. However, he hopes to someday return to Hawaii to continue his career. Outside of school, Dash is a executive board member for the Spokane Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity, where he held the positions of chapter secretary and recruitment chairman. In his leisure time, Dash enjoys surfing, skating, and hiking.
Home Island: Big Island
Institution when accepted: Gonzaga University
Akamai Project: Developing the DKIST Maintenance Management System
Project Site: Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) – Pukalani, Maui
Mentors: Chris Gedrites & Shawn Haar
Project Abstract:
The value of DKIST revolves around its ability to produce useable scientific data. Preventive maintenance minimizes potential downtime by addressing incipient failures, thereby optimizing the telescope’s utility. To meet these operational expectations, DKIST requires a comprehensive preventive maintenance program. Ideally, the program will help users avoid the frustrations that accompany component failure due to unorganized and inefficient maintenance. My project involves the extraction of relevant manufacturer maintenance guidelines, and the use of these guidelines to create a prioritized list of maintenance tasks. I accounted for estimated asset downtime due to failure and scheduled maintenance to calculate total downtime per year for each system. This enabled me to help determine how many technicians are needed to fulfill proper maintenance requirements while remaining in accordance with DKIST reliability specifications. Thus, limited personnel on the summit will not negatively impact the functionality of the telescope. Using Dropbox, I compiled relevant maintenance information (troubleshooting, access instructions, etc.) into folders corresponding to each system of the telescope. Preliminary (and incomplete) data shows that to achieve 14 days of downtime, 14 technicians working 8 hour shifts throughout the year would be required. Eventually the excel data will be transferred to a more user-friendly computerized maintenance management system where it will be continuously updated in accordance with current (and more realistic) time estimates.