News and Events

ASDL Signs CRDA with FAA Tech Center for UAS NAS Integartion Research, Visits Center Facilities

(11/21/2011) The Georgia Tech Research Corporation and the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) in support of research efforts conducted by ASDL researchers and graduate students on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) integration into the National Airspace System (NAS). This research, sponsored by the FAA’s Office of Systems Engineering and Safety, features systems engineering trade studies across various concepts of operations and technologies. The CRDA provides a mechanism that facilitates the exchange of information between parties and the provision of various FAA resources pursuant of this research.

Following the establishment of the CRDA, ASDL researchers toured the facilities at the FAA Technical Center in an official visit on November 18th, 2011. They were joined by FAA Office of Systems Engineering and Safety staff, and held various meetings with Technical Center researchers and specialists dedicated to UAS NAS integration.

ASDL researchers visit FAA Technical Center after signing CRDA for UAS NAS integration. From left to right:

• Francisco Estrada C. - Chief of Staff, Office of Systems Engineering and Safety
• Carleen A. Genna - Intergovernmental Affairs Liaison, FAA Wm. J. Hughes Technical Center
• Dimitri N. Mavris - Director, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
• Hernando Jimenez - Research Engineer, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
• James H. Williams - Director, Office of Systems Engineering & Safety, AJP-1
• Dr. Wilson N. Felder - Director, FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center, ACT-1
• Rick May - Management and Program Analyst, NextGen Advanced Concepts and Technical Development
• Kevin Carbajal - NASA Aeronautics Liaison to FAA
• Katherine Gatian - Graduate Research Assistant, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
• Nathan Knisely - Graduate Research Assistant, Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory

ASDL Announced AIAA Graduate Missile Design Competition Winners

(7/11/2011) The Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL) of the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering is proud to announce that a team of eight Aerospace Engineering graduate students was awarded first place in the 2010-2011 AIAA Graduate Missile Design competition, which is organized by the AIAA Missile Systems Technical Committee (MSTC). The team, led by Program Manager Scott Strong and Chief Engineer William Garrison, performed a complete design space exploration and conceptual design of a tactical missile system. This system was required to engage targets at ranges of at least 500 n.mi. in less than ten minutes demanding hypersonic flight speeds. The team analyzed design possibilities ranging from advanced air-breathing systems to traditional rocket configurations and determined that a three stage solid rocket ballistic missile was optimal. The final missile design, capable of launching from both naval ships and military aircraft, utilizes a boost-glide trajectory, carrying conventional payloads and reaching speeds in excess of Mach 6 upon impact. A total of three teams entered the competition, including Auburn University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Naval Post Graduate School. The team plans to present their results at the Joint Army, Navy, NASA, Air Force (JANNAF) conference held in Huntsville, AL later this year.

Advisors: Dr. Dimitri Mavris - Faculty Advisor

Rebecca Douglas - Team Advisor

Bradford Roberston - Student Advisor

Team Members: Jeremy Bennetch, Christopher Brenci, Grace Contino, Addison Dunn, William Garrison, Blaine Laughlin, Anthony Piplica, and Scott Strong

A special thanks to AE undergraduate Andrew Peterson for his contributions to the project.

Georgia Tech Team places third at the 2011 ONR/AUVSI RoboBoat Competition

(6/12/2011) Georgia Tech student team "Captain Planet" placed 3rd at the 2010-2011 AUVSI Foundation and ONR 4th International RoboBoat Competition held June 9-12 at the Founders Inn and Spa in Virginia Beach, VA. The RoboBoat Competition is a student robotics challenge in which teams race autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) of their own design through an aquatic obstacle course. Fifteen student teams competed in this year’s event. The participants included teams from US universities, as well as Taiwan and Indonesia. Admiral Carr addressed the teams and presented the winners with the awards at the dinner banquet on Sunday evening. The Georgia Tech Savannah Robotics team placed seventh. Click here to visit the official RoboBoat Competition website.

Dr. Kirby named FAA's Faculty of the Year

(April, 2011) Dr. Michelle Kirby was awarded the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Faculty of the Year award. Dr. Kirby received her award for being instrumental in research accomplished under PARTNER Project 30, Metrics for an Aviation CO2 standard. Project 30 supports the FAA's high-level objective: to improve air transportation's environmental performance. The award was presented at the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction's (PARTNER) April Advisory Board meeting in Washington, DC.

ASDL's 19th Annual External Advisory Board Review

(April, 2011) The 19th External Advisory Board (EAB) review was held on the 27th and 28th of April, 2011. This event highlighted and provided attendees with an overview of ASDL's capabilities and recent advances in complex system design and analysis techniques. The program featured an overview of various design "case studies," the so called "Grand Challenges," on April 27th followed by a review of this year's research portfolio on April 28th.

Prof. German named "Most Valuable Professor" by 2011 Georgia Tech AE Seniors

(4/23/2011) Prof. German, ASDL's Co-Director, has been named the "Most Valuable Professor" of the School of Aerospace at Georgia Tech by the 2011 senior class. He received this distinguished award at the Sigma Gamma Tau Senior Banquet on Friday April 22, 2011.

Georgia Tech team wins 2010-2011 AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition

(4/17/2011) Georgia Tech student team “There Will Be Buzz” won first place in the 2010–2011 Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile Systems/AIAA Foundation Student Design/Build/Fly Competition, held April 15–17, at the Tucson International Modelplex Park Association (TIMPA) Airfield. A record high 71 teams from 68 universities and colleges, representing 25 states and 8 foreign nations, participated in this 15th annual installment of the competition. (Read the AIAA official announcement here.) The second team completed the mission with enough points to finish in second place. Unfortunately, their run was disqualified after the tail extension broke off upon landing. Congratulations to the two teams, and their faculty advisor, ASDL Research Engineer Carl Johnson, for developing two outstanding designs!

Georgia Tech Welcomes The Boeing Company CFO and President of Network and Space Systems

(4/8/2011) On Friday, April 8, 2011 Georgia Tech welcomed The Boeing Company. This event invited all undergraduate and graduate students who were either scholarship winners or participants in a Boeing sponsored research to their annual student recognition luncheon. We were privileged to have James A. Bell, the Boeing CFO present to the students along with Roger A. Krone the president of Network and Space Systems for The Boeing Company. The students were able to ask questions and interact with these officials on the various aspects of the company, learning the different paths they can take within the company.

ASDL Students Pass Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations - Spring 2011

(4/14/2011) ASDL is proud to announce that the following students have passed the PhD qualifying exams.

• Nicholas Molino
• Zohaib Mian
• Michael Ellis
• Annie Jones
• Charles Potter
• Daniel Garmendia

Congratulations to recent Rolls-Royce Undergraduate Scholarship and CASA Fellowship Recipients

(4/14/2011) It is with great pleasure that we announce the following students that have received the Rolls-Royce Undergraduate Scholarship.

• Mallory Lefland
• Joseph Mattingly
• Nicholas Picon

ASDL is very proud to announce Jeff Naro as the Rolls-Royce CASA Fellowship recipient.

FAA Officials - Southern Regional Office visit ASDL, Collaborative Partnership Launched

(3/11/2011) The ASDL and the FAA Southern Regional Office have launched a collaborative partnership supporting efforts for the integration of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). This partnership also supports the development of a state of the art NextGen Workroom by the NextGen and Flight Standards branches of the Southern Regional Office.

The collaborative effort with the FAA Southern Regional Office builds upon the existing relationship with the FAA Operations Planning, Systems Engineering & Safety office in Washington D.C. which has previously sponsored a systems engineering tradeoff study for the reduction of interference effects of wind turbines to air search RADARs, and currently supports a systems engineering tradeoff study on the integration of UAS into the NAS.

FAA Regional Administrator Douglas Murphy, Deputy Regional Administrator Pearlis Johnson, and various branch leaders of the Southern Regional Office visited the ASDL on March 11, 2011, where they met with ASDL director Dimitri Mavris and members of the ASDL research faculty at the Collaborative Design Environment (CoDE).

FAA Southern Regional Office leaders meet with ASDL director and research faculty, visit the Collaborative Design Environment. From left to right: Bruce LaCour, UAS ASI; Augie Casado, Deputy AFS Division Manager; Jennifer Mansour, ROC Ops Lead; Mike Wilson, UAS Program Lead; Prof. Dimitri Mavris, ASDL Director; Pearlis Johnson, Deputy Regional Administrator; Tom Walsh, NextGen Branch Manager; and DuRhunda Davenport-Willis, Space and Design Specialist. (Not in this picture: Douglas Murphy, Regional Administrator; and Jim Wiglesworth, Avionics SME)

FAA Southern Regional Office leaders experience 3-D stereoscopic visualization capabilities at the Collaborative Visualization Environment. From left to right: Mike Wilson, UAS Program Lead; Tom Walsh, NextGen Branch Manager; Bruce LaCour, UAS ASI; and Jim Wiglesworth, Inspector ADSB Avionics.

Congratulations to the Recent Boeing Scholarship Recipients

This year we received over 40 applicants to the Boeing Scholarship program, after extensive review we are proud to announce the following winners:

• David Dement
• Jennifer McDuffie
• Marie Lei Ysabel Acuna
• Sarah Markiewicz
• Lizabeth Sidlov
• Jeffrey McNabb
• William Piersol
• Tyler Anderson
• Christopher Richardson
• Tuure Pasto
• Jennifer Dowlings
• Eric Stuber