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Inside this issue:

Winter 2010/2011 Edition

The Cutting Edge Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering Department Newsletter

Highly motivated: Team conducts experiments on zero-gravity flight

During the week of Sep-

tember 27 through October

1, Mechanical & Aerospace

Engineering Department

professors Dr. Daniel R.

Kirk and Dr. Hector M.

Gutierrez led a team of Flor-

ida Tech students to Hous-

ton, Texas, to fly experi-

ments on the ZeroG research

aircraft for the NASA Facili-

tated Access to the Space

Environment for Technology

(FAST) program. Out of 52

applicants for the program,

only 17 teams were selected,

of which 10 were university

teams, including Purdue,

Cornell and Stanford.

The research project was

dedicated to studying the

behavior of liquid dynamics

in reduced gravity to mimic

the behavior of rocket pro-

pellants in a space environ- Mechanical Engineering doctoral student Ran Zhou experiences weightlessness

aboard the ZeroG research aircraft for the NASA Facilitated Access to the Space

Environment for Technology program. Ran and other Florida Tech students con-

ducted a research project on the behavior of liquid dynamics in reduced gravity.

Zero-Gravity Research 1

AIAA Scholarship 2

ASME Scholarship 2

Yarosh-Wiles Scholarship 3

Dr. Lee receives NSF Grant 4

Professor named ‘the best’ 4

Alum works for Air Force 6

ASHRAE Student Chapter 7

ASME Student Chapter 7

Continued on Page 3 ...

Page 2 MAE Department Newsletter

Projects and Research

Florida Tech Part of New FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray

LaHood recently announced that the

Federal Aviation Administration has

selected New Mexico State University

in Las Cruces, NM, to lead a new Air

Transportation Center of Excellence

for Commercial Space Transportation.

The center is a partnership of acade-

mia, industry, and government, devel-

oped for the purpose of creating a

world-class consortium that will ad-

dress current and future challenges for

commercial space transportation.

Florida Institute of Technology is a

core university of the center. The Flor-

ida Center for Advanced Aero-

Propulsion, a partnership of Florida

universities, is also core to the center.

FCAAP-involved institutions include

University of Florida, Florida State

University and University of Central

Florida.

Other key supporters who will be

integral to the center’s success include:

Space Florida, the NASA Kennedy

Space Center, the NASA Glenn Re-

search Center, Virgin Galactic,

SpaceX, Qinetiq North America/

Analex, Florida Turbine Technologies,

the International Space University and

Starfighters.

“The Obama Administration is

committed to making sure the U.S.

remains the world leader in space de-

velopment and exploration,” said Sec-

retary LaHood. “This new center un-

derscores that commitment, and will

ensure that the commercial space com-

munity can meet our current and future

space transportation needs.”

The Obama Administration recently

released its new National Space Policy,

which recognizes opportunities and

advancements in commercial space

transportation and lays out specific

ways to use commercial capabilities.

“Commercial space flight is ready

to play a greater role in the nation’s

space program,” said FAA Administra-

tor Randy Babbitt. “Universities work-

ing with industry partners will fuel the

research necessary to help keep us in

the forefront of both technology and

safety in space.”

The research and development ef-

forts at the new center will include four

major research areas: space launch op-

erations and traffic management;

launch vehicle systems, payloads, tech-

nologies, and operations; commercial

human space flight; and space com-

merce (including space law, space in-

surance, space policy and space regula-

tion).

The FAA will enter into 50-50 cost-

sharing cooperative agreements to es-

tablish the partnerships, with plans to

invest at least $1 million per year for

the initial five years of the center’s op-

erations.

NMSU Las Cruces will lead a team

of colleges and universities throughout

the country. Other core universities

participating include: Stanford Univer-

sity, New Mexico Institute of Mining

and Technology, University of Colo-

rado at Boulder, and University of

Texas Medical Branch.

Congress authorized Air Transpor-

tation Centers of Excellence under the

Federal Aviation Administration Re-

search, Engineering and Development

Authorization Act of 1990. This legis-

lation enables the FAA to work with

universities and their industry part-

ners to conduct research in environ-

ment and aviation safety, and other

activities to assure a safe and effi-

cient air transportation system. With

the establishment of this center, re-

search will extend to cutting-edge

technologies and infrastructure for

private human spaceflight and orbital

debris mitigation.

The United States’ space program

has three sectors — civil, military

and commercial. The FAA’s Office

of Commercial Space Transportation

is responsible for licensing, regulat-

ing and promoting the commercial

sector space industry.

Since the office was created in

1984, the FAA has issued licenses

for more than 200 launches, has li-

censed the operation of eight FAA-

approved launch sites known as

spaceports, and has helped ensure

that no loss of life or serious injury

has been associated with these ef-

forts. For more information on

FAA’s commercial space transporta-

t ion act ivi t ies , visi t h t tp: / /

www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/

news_story.cfm?newsId=11559.

The FAA has established eight

other centers of excellence, focusing

on air cabin environment, noise and

emissions mitigation, airport pave-

ment technology, operations re-

search, advanced materials, aircraft

structures, airworthiness assurance,

and general aviation.

For more information about the

FAA Centers of Excellence program,

visit the web page at http://

www.faa.gov/go/coe.

Download a .pdf copy of this newsletter and more on the Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering section of the College of Engineering Website: http://coe.fit.edu/mae

Page 3 Winter 2010/2011 Edition

Scholarship Recipients

Florida Institute of Technol-

ogy student David Becknell has

been selected to receive the

American Institute of Aeronau-

tics and Astronautics (AIAA)

Foundation Senior Scholarship

for the 2010-11 school year.

“This is the living of a child-

hood dream,” said David, a self-

described “non-traditional” stu-

dent who moved his wife and

daughter to Florida from Co-

lumbia, S.C., to attend Florida

Tech with the help of a Phi

Theta Kappa Honor Society

Scholarship. “Originally, I gave

up going to school to help raise

my brother when I was 15.”

David, who left a job at the

American Red Cross when he

hit a professional “brick wall”

five years ago, worked full-time

and attended school full-time

prior to making the move to

Scholarship helps Aerospace Engineering student fulfill l ifelong dream

Aerospace Engineering student David Becknell conducts research on one

of several Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department projects.

David was awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astro-

nautics Foundation Senior Scholarship for the 2010-11 school year.

Members of the Florida

Tech student chapter of ASH-

RAE (the American Society of

Heating, Refrigerating and Air-

Conditioning Engineers) joined

Spacecoast ASHRAE to con-

gratulate Nick Avery, the re-

cipient of the first Yarosh-Wiles

Scholarship.

Named for mechanical engi-

neering pioneers Marvin

Yarosh, founding member of

Spacecoast ASHRAE, and Jack

Wiles, one of the earliest mem-

bers of the Canaveral Section of

ASME and the Cape Canaveral

Technical Society, the endowed

scholarship was created through

Top: David Poetker, left, immediate past-president of Spacecoast ASHRAE,

and Dr. Pei-feng Hsu, Department Head of Florida Tech’s Mechanical &

Aerospace Engineering Department, congratulate Mechanical Engineering

student Nick Avery, the first recipient of the Yarosh-Wiles Scholarship.

Spacecoast ASHRAE chooses first Yarosh-Wiles Scholarship recipient

a joint effort from Spacecoast

ASHRAE and Canaveral Sec-

tion of ASME.

ASHRAE president Kevin

Messer and past president

David Poetker congratulated

Nick Avery, and pledged to

continue fundraising so that

someday, the endowment will

generate two scholarships per

year.

Nick, who is also president

of the ASHRAE student chap-

ter, outlined the ambitious plans

of this year's chapter. For more

information about ASHRAE

activities, or joining the local

chapter, can contact Nick Avery

at navery@my.fit.edu.

Florida as a transfer student from Midlands

Technical College in Columbia.

“I had reached the top of where I could go

(working for the Red Cross). I had the intention

of going to the University of South Carolina to

major in mechanical engineering when I got a

letter from (Florida Tech) that I tossed aside,”

David said. “My wife opened it up and said I

ought to have a look at it. I got the Phi Theta

Kappa Scholarship, and after a

long discussion, my wife and I

decided to move here (to Mel-

bourne) with no jobs. We’ve

been living on faith.”

The AIAA Foundation

awards 30 undergraduate student

scholarships ranging from

$2,000 to $2,500 each year to

student members who are sopho-

mores, juniors and seniors.

David is a junior in the Aero-

space Engineering program and a

member of two honor societies:

Phi Theta Kappa and Tau Beta

Pi, an engineering honor society.

David has worked for Stephanie

Hopper in the machine shop, Dr.

James Brenner in the nanotech-

nology lab, and is currently

working for Dr. Daniel Kirk as a

research assistant for mechanical

and aerospace engineering pro-

jects on campus while maintain-

ing his academic standing.

Page 4 MAE Department Newsletter

tational experiment or physical

measurement, a careful characteriza-

tion of the evolution of uncertainties

is essential in many scientific and

engineering problems. But, the cur-

rent existing techniques, such as the

Monte Carlo method, require exten-

sive computational loads, and they

cannot be applied for complex dy-

namic systems.

The proposed interdisciplinary

research unifies computational geo-

metric mechanics, geometric numeri-

cal integration, and non-commutative

harmonic analysis in applied mathe-

matics with stochastic dynamics the-

ory in engineering, to obtain mesh-

free, coordinate-free methods for the

numerically stable long-time propa-

gation of uncertainties. Due to the

structure-preserving properties of the

proposed approaches, they will be

particularly useful for non-trivial,

aggressive maneuvers of complex

dynamic systems. These represent

significant advances over current

computational methods that are re-

stricted to moderate trajectories, sim-

ple dynamic properties, and short

propagation times.

Aerospace Engineering professor awarded National Science Foundation grant

Professor Spotlight

Dr. Taeyoung Lee, assistant pro-

fessor for the Mechanical & Aero-

space Engineering Department, re-

ceived a research grant from the Di-

vision of Civil, Mechanical, and

Manufacturing Innovation at the Na-

tional Science Foundation. The pro-

p o s e d r e s e a r c h , t i t l e d

“Computational Geometric Uncer-

tainty Propagation for Hamiltonian

Systems on a Lie Group,” addresses

fundamental properties of dynamic

systems, namely, how uncertainties

are propagated along nonlinear flows

of a complex system.

A mathematical model of dy-

namic systems must account for a

certain level of uncertainties, which

can arise from multiple sources, such

as un-modeled dynamics, parametric

uncertainty, and uncertainty in initial

conditions. As they cannot be com-

pletely eliminated from any compu-

Dr. Fleming chosen as MAE Department’s ‘Best Teacher’

Download a .pdf copy of this newsletter and more on the Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering section of the College of Engineering Website: http://coe.fit.edu/mae

(From left) Dr. David

Fleming, Phil Salois, Dan

Markey and Juan Aven-

dano, student chapter

2009-10 presidents of

ASME, ASHRAE, and AIAA,

respectively.

On April 23, 2010, during the annual

ASME banquet, Mechanical & Aerospace sen-

ior and junior students recognized Dr. David

Fleming as the best teacher in the Department.

His dedication, passion, and desire to teach

made him one of the students’ favorite profes-

sors. This award came from the initiative of Dr.

Hsu to hear students’ opinions. With the help

of AIAA, ASHRAE, and ASME, the Mechani-

cal & Aerospace Engineering Department

asked for the input of every junior and senior

student. After the votes came in, Dr. Fleming

was chosen as best teacher, followed closely by

Dr. Daniel Kirk and Dr. Mark Archambault.

Dr. Taeyoung Lee

Page 5 Winter 2010/2011 Edition

Projects and Research

Download a .pdf copy of this newsletter and more on the Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering section of the College of Engineering Website: http://coe.fit.edu/mae

ment, Dr. Kirk said.

“We were highly successful

in collecting valuable data,

which will be used by scientists

and engineers at NASA and

commercial companies to

benchmark and validate numeri-

cal models of liquid sloshing

inside of rocket propellant tanks

in micro-gravity,” he said.

The team, which was the

largest college group present,

consisted of four undergraduate

students and one Ph.D. student:

Brittany Essink (AE, class of

2012); Torin Crandall (AE,

class of 2012); Richard Schul-

man (AE, class of 2012); David

Becknell (AE, class of 2012);

and Ran Zhou (ME, doctoral

student to defend Ph.D. in De-

cember).

“Hector and I are very ex-

cited about providing a truly

unique experience for some of

our very best students to fly in

zero-gravity and to be part of a

cutting-edge research program,”

Dr. Kirk said. “We would like

to use this success as an exam-

ple to showcase Florida Tech’s

unique opportunities, both in

research as well as world-class

educational experiences, to po-

tential students.”

Highly motivated: Team conducts experiments on zero-gravity flight

… Continued from Page 1

Top: (From left) Richard Schulman,

Dr. Daniel Kirk, Ran Zhou, Dr. Hector

Gutierrez, Torin Crandall, Brittany

Essink and David Becknell repre-

sented Florida Institute of Technol-

ogy’s Department of Mechanical &

Aerospace Engineering at the NASA

Facilitated Access to the Space Envi-

ronment for Technology program’s

ZeroG flight in Houston, Texas.

Right: Aerospace Engineering

student Brittany Essink experiences

weightlessness while participating in

a research project dedicated to

studying the behavior of liquid

dynamics in reduced gravity to mimic

the behavior of rocket propellants in

a space environment.

Alumni and Student News

These Receive Suites provide in-

telligence, UAV feeds (video and

imagery), maps, weather fore-

casts, and operational orders to

our nation’s combat forces in gar-

rison, in transit, and deployed

within global combat zones.

Mandy is currently working on

developing the follow-on Receive

Suites to replace those currently

fielded, as well as a lightweight,

portable version to maintain re-

ceive capabilities within a fraction

of the traditional footprint.

Mandy Rohrbach graduated

from Florida Institute of Technol-

ogy’s Mechanical & Aerospace En-

gineering Department with a bache-

lor’s degree in Aerospace Engineer-

ing in May of 2008.

She now works as a civilian for

the United States Air Force as the

chief engineer for Global Broadcast

Service (GBS) Receive Suites.

GBS provides worldwide, high-

capacity, one-way transmission of

video and data to GBS Receive

Suites from Department of Defense

and commercial satellites.

Florida Tech alum works as civi l ian for United States Air Force

Page 6 MAE Department Newsletter

Mandy Rohrbach

Mechanical Engineering student awarded ASME Scholarship

Cessna 441.

More than $100,000 in academic scholarships is awarded

annually to ASME Student Members who are enrolled in an

ABET-accredited, or substantially equivalent, engineering

degree program. The program is a collaboration between the

ASME Center for Education and the ASME Foundation. In

2009, 35 students were awarded scholarships in amounts

ranging from $1,500 to $10,000.

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engi-

neering student Carolina Penteado was recently

awarded the ASME Foundation Scholarship for 2010

-11.

Carolina Penteado was born and raised in Brazil,

where she attended the American School of Campi-

nas and graduated with a dual diploma in 2007. She

then moved to Florida, where she is currently a sen-

ior at Florida Tech seeking her bachelor’s degree in

Mechanical Engineering. She was recently accepted

to Florida Tech’s Fast Track program, and will pur-

sue a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with

a specialization in Structures and Materials in order

to fulfill her lifelong dream of working in the com-

mercial aviation industry. Carolina currently holds a

4.0 GPA, which has earned her a spot on the Dean’s

List since her first semester at Florida Tech. Along

with Tau Beta Pi, she is also a member of Phi Eta

Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi. In 2009, she was pre-

sented with the Outstanding Student Award: Sopho-

more in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and

in 2010, she received a Distinguished Student

Scholar award. Her passion for aircraft has led her to

get involved with an aerospace capstone project, in

which she is leading a team that is working in con-

junction with Royal Atlantic Aviation to study the

Carolina Penteado

Winter 2010/2011 Edition

Society Updates

Page 7

Download a .pdf copy of this newsletter and more on the Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering section of the College of Engineering Website: http://coe.fit.edu/mae

ASME Florida Tech Chapter

On Tuesday, October 19, Florida Tech’s Student

Chapter of ASME hosted a free tour offering an up-close-

and-personal look at the machinery that makes it possible

for everyday bowling! Participants also enjoyed two

hours of free bowling, complimented by pizza and drinks.

On Friday, October 22, ASME also hosted a Pro-

Engineer Solids Modeling Competition. Contest winners

were chosen based on proper use of dimensions, design

intent, technique and completion in the fastest time. The

winners were: Devin Peck, first place; Darren Levine,

second place; Mark Nanney, third place; and Thilina Fer-

nando, fourth place. Winners received a free movie ticket

to Cinema World.

To join ASME, contact Phillip Salois at psa-

lois@my.fit.edu or Christina Lucas at clucas@my.fit.edu.

ASHRAE Florida Tech Chapter

the Link building. The project is expected to save at least

$492,000 per year in utilities for Florida Tech. The sys-

tem is state-of-the-art and takes advantage of every op-

portunity to save energy.

Florida Tech ASHRAE plans to make an impact right

here on campus first. We hope to analyze energy con-

sumption on campus buildings and find solutions. ASH-

RAE also plans to be a renewable energy leader on cam-

pus. We are currently looking into recycling a satellite

dish into a solar oven for our campus to use at events.

Our branch works closely with the Spacecoast ASH-

RAE Chapter, which hosts monthly meetings. Interested

students can find more information at our OrgSync Page

at ht tps: / /orgsync.com/8313/chapter or at

www.ASHRAE.org.

The student branch of the American Society for Heat-

ing, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers

(ASHRAE) is up and running at Florida Tech. ASH-

RAE’s purpose is to promote a sustainable world. What

most people don’t realize is that the best way to attack the

energy crisis is through building design. In the United

States alone, buildings consume 72 percent of the elec-

tricity and cause 39 percent of the CO2 emissions. ASH-

RAE is about advancing the science of HVAC&R, while

integrating renewable energy and architecture. Net Zero

Energy designs are the future of housing and commercial

buildings.

This year, ASHRAE started off by hosting a tour of

the new chilled water A/C system being installed behind

Florida Tech’s Student Chapter of ASME recently toured a bowling alley to get a be-

hind-the-scenes look at the mechanics of bowling.

Please make checks payable to: Florida Institute of Technology.

Please add “MAE Endowment” on the memo line.

Mail your donation to:

Florida Institute of Technology MAE Department 150 W. University Blvd. Melbourne, FL 32901

This newsletter was designed/edited by:This newsletter was designed/edited by:

Jennifer Nessmith,

MAE Administrative Secretary

Additional editing done by:Additional editing done by:

Vicki Borton, MAE Office Coordinator

*Send any questions/comments to:

jnessmith@fit.edu

Your feedback is appreciated!

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