AEROSPACE ENGINEER ING AT M ICH IGAN

Contents

A View into the Future / 2 /

Pioneers oF innoVAtion / 6 /

our DePArtment toDAy / 11 /

the Future oF the FielD / 21 /

our nine Key initiAtiVes / 33 /

leADing the wAy / 51 /

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the Department of Aerospace engineering at the university of michigan has, since its inception,

been recognized as one of the leading members of the academic component of the aerospace

enterprise. throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Department’s entire educational and

research activities have been organized around advancing and teaching the essential elements

of the aerospace enterprise, and especially the evolving engineering issues associated with air

and space vehicles, vehicle systems, and their associated technologies.

today’s aerospace engineers may take for granted the accomplishments of the field thus far, but a hundred years

ago these things were the stuff of science fiction. As we look ahead we can imagine what future innovations may

bring — some of today’s science fiction will surely become fact. commercial high-speed flight will become

practical. unmanned vehicles will become increasingly important, and in some cases their design may be inspired

by biological flyers. safe and quiet vertical flight may enable direct air travel into city centers. Parts of the hub-and-

spoke travel system may be replaced by new point-to-point models. Air routes will open up new corners of the

world and pose new challenges to aircraft designers. satellite-based technologies will pervade our lives in ways we

cannot yet imagine.

to accomplish these and other innovations, aerospace

engineers will increasingly work in interdisciplinary

teams. international collaborations will be needed to

enable ambitious and expensive projects. the com-

plexity of aerospace systems may call for new modes

of analysis and design. software-based tools may

replace some of yesterday’s subject matter specialists.

Aerospace engineers, like those in other disciplines,

may move more frequently from one employer to

another. many will adopt entrepreneurial careers.

the aging u.s. population and the large federal and

state entitlements through social security, medicare,

and medicaid will likely have major implications for

support of university research and education. growing

concerns over energy and environmental sustainability

will drive basic research efforts, and aerospace

engineering will contribute to solutions such as better

wind turbines, advanced propulsion systems, and more

efficient aerodynamic designs.

while it is impossible to predict the precise future of

the aerospace enterprise a decade or two from now,

it is clear what changes a leading academic depart-

ment must make to remain at the forefront of this field.

in this document we envision the new challenges

and opportunities that the aerospace engineers of

tomorrow will face, and describe the key initiatives that

we have put in place at michigan to prepare our

graduates and our research endeavors to succeed in

this future.

tomorrow’s aerospace enterprise will continue to be a

pillar of the u.s. and world economies, in part because

of the broad impact that this field has on our society

and the continuing fascination it inspires in the most

innovative minds of each new generation. Along the

way, tomorrow’s aerospace engineering graduates from

michigan will continue to serve as leaders into this

future, making use of their strong backgrounds in the

science and technologies on which the future will be

founded, and the abilities that we have instilled in them

to think independently, critically, and creatively.

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François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Building, home of the Department of Aerospace engineering at the university of michigan.

Today’s aerospace engineers may take for granted the

accomplishments of the field thus far, but a hundred years ago

these things were the stuff of science fiction. As we look ahead

we can imagine what future innovations may bring — some of

today’s science fiction will surely become fact.

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the university of michigan started the

first collegiate aeronautics program in

the united states, in 1914, just 11

years after the wright brothers’ first

controlled, powered flights at Kitty

hawk. the first course was taught by Professor Felix

Pawlowski, a talented engineer who had been a

student of lucien marchis at the university of Paris in

the earliest aeronautics course given anywhere, and

went on to build his own airplane. since then, the

Department has graduated more than 4,000 aero-

nautical and aerospace engineers who have gone on

to distinguished careers in essentially all areas of the

aerospace enterprise, in related fields, in government,

and in academia. Five were astronauts who orbited the

earth. three went to the moon.

AerosPAce engineering At michigAn

the early years of the Department were filled with daring experimentation in balloons, gliders, and when available, powered airplanes, including a model “B” hydroplane built by the wright brothers.

the DePArtment’s most Prominent Alumni incluDe clArence “Kelly” Johnson, B.s.e. ‘32, m.s.e. ‘33, wiDely consiDereD one oF AmericA’s greAtest AircrAFt Designers. he went on to estABlish the legenDAry locKheeD sKunK worKs AnD creAteD AircrAFt such As the P-38, the F-104, the u-2, AnD the sr-71 (PictureD ABoVe).

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throughout its long history, the Department has been

an integral part of one of the nation’s great teaching

and research universities. the university of michigan

is among the most successful public educational

institutions, with a record of accomplishments that

can be matched by few. Formally a state university,

its founding in 1817 predates all but a handful of the

nation’s state universities, and since its inception it

has operated autonomously under the michigan

constitution. the result is an exceptional institution

that has provided leadership in higher education

throughout its history.

today, the Department of Aerospace engineering at

michigan continues its two-fold mission of providing its

students with a strong foundation in the technical

disciplines that comprise aerospace engineering, and

conducting leading-edge research that seeks to

expand the existing knowledge in the field. At the

same time, the efforts required to fulfill that mission

are changing. the demands of the aerospace industry

and the science and technology basis needed to meet

its needs are undergoing dramatic transformations.

Key components of these changes are described

herein.

Building on its history, the Department has undertaken

an in-depth assessment of these changes and

implemented the specific initiatives described in this

document to adapt to them. in doing so, Aerospace

engineering at michigan has positioned itself and its

graduates to continue to succeed, extending its long

history of excellence and success in its teaching and

research mission well into the next decade and beyond.

michigan Alumni ed white (left) and Jim mcDvitt (right) inside the gemini iV spacecraft

michigan alumnus, clarence “Kelly” Johnson

Felix Pawlowski, first professor of Aeronautics at michigan

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our grADuAtes incluDe FiVe AstronAuts who hAVe orBiteD the eArth. eD white (PictureD At leFt), mADe the First sPAcewAlK By An AmericAn, AnD three went to the moon. other michigAn AstronAuts incluDe JAcK lousmA, who commAnDeD sKylAB AnD PiloteD the thirD sPAce shuttle Flight; JAmes mcDiVitt, commAnDer oF APollo 9, AnD JAmes irwin AnD AlFreD worDen oF APollo 15.

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today, the Department of Aerospace

engineering at michigan is a vibrant

place. over the past two years we

have added six new faculty members

to our ranks, representing a quarter

of our total faculty. All are assistant or associate

professors, who have brought with them fresh expertise

that has added to our Department’s strength in specific

strategic areas that we have targeted for development

and growth. we currently have searches underway

for new faculty members to continue our growth in

strategic areas. Among our faculty are fifteen Fellows

of major professional societies. eleven are associate

editors or editors-in-chief of leading archival technical

journals. many others serve on key national and

international panels and in various leadership positions

in their field.

we are also an integral part of an exceptionally strong

college of engineering, consisting of eleven top-ten

ranked and five top-three ranked academic depart-

ments. together they contribute to an environment of

unsurpassed intellectual challenge and excitement that

is at the same time collegial and conducive to learning.

our faculty has a high level of enthusiasm, accessibility,

and a strong dedication to excellence in teaching and

research at both the undergraduate and graduate

levels.

leADing, reseArching, teAching

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stuDents

enrollments in our Department are strong at all levels.

we currently have more than 350 sophomore, junior,

and senior undergraduate students in Aerospace

engineering, of whom over 40% come from outside the

state of michigan and nearly 10% come from outside the

u.s. to study in our Department. A sequential graduate/

undergraduate studies (sgus) option encourages our

best aerospace engineering undergraduates to advance

to master’s degree studies in Aerospace engineering.

we have a long tradition of drawing some of the best

students from the u.s. and around the world into our

master’s and doctoral programs. our Department today

has more than 160 graduate students, the majority of

whom are u.s. citizens. they hold numerous national

science Foundation, Department of Defense,

Department of education, and other national fellow-

ships. Aerospace engineering at michigan has in recent

years graduated about 120 Bse students, 60 ms

students, and 20 PhD students annually. metrics for

student satisfaction throughout the program are high.

teAching

our Department places an exceptionally strong

emphasis on excellence in the teaching component of

its mission. All our faculty teach, and all courses are

taught by faculty — teaching assistants hold additional

office hours and provide other assistance to students,

but they do not teach our courses. three among the

Department’s faculty hold Arthur F. thurnau

Professorships, a university honor for the highest

accomplishments in teaching.

the course catalog is rich in required and elective course

offerings at all degree levels. in our undergraduate

program, students choose at least four upper-level

technical elective courses and two general electives,

allowing them to specialize or broaden their aerospace

engineering education. in our graduate programs,

extracurricular team projects, hardware exposure, and hands-on experiences are critical components to complement in-class teaching to help prepare future engineering talent.

Freshman level eng 100 student blimp project.

the PrinciPAl FeAture oF Both our unDergrADuAte AnD grADuAte ProgrAms is the strong emPhAsis PlAceD on unDerstAnDing how to thinK, leArn, AnD ADAPt. the resulting ABility to incorPorAte new theoreticAl DiscoVeries AnD technologicAl ADVAnces Allows michigAn grADuAtes to grow AnD ADAPt rAPiDly As the AerosPAce FielD eVolVes.

the university of michigan student space systems Fabrication laboratory (s3Fl) is a student group that provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to gain experience in real world, hands-on, space systems projects.

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students can pursue either the master of science in

engineering (m.s.e.) or the master of engineering

(m.eng.) degree. those continuing to the doctoral

program take additional courses beyond their master’s

degree. our curriculum at all degree levels undergoes

continuous revision and renewal, with courses being

developed that reflect changes in aerospace engineering.

reseArch

top students from around the u.s. and the world have

long been attracted to graduate studies at michigan, in

part because of the breadth and quality of the research

being done across all major technical disciplines of the

field. our research portfolio is distinguished by a strong

and sustained focus on fundamental research questions.

in recent years, research addressing engineering

systems and applications has extended beyond the

traditional boundaries of aerospace engineering

sciences, and allowed us to contribute to such contem-

porary topics as energy, environmental sustainability,

homeland defense, and large-scale computing. much

of our research is organized around developing,

sustaining, and improving our internationally recognized

work in computational aerospace sciences.

Major Collaborative Research Centers

our Department is home to several major research

centers in which broader groups of faculty and students

collaborate within the Department and with other

departments and organizations. currently, these major

collaborative research centers include:

• The Constellation University Institutes Program,

part of nAsA’s constellation Program efforts to

return to the moon. in this second five-year phase,

we are leading nearly a quarter of more than 50

research efforts among 20 universities. our research

focuses on thrust chamber assemblies, propellant

storage and delivery, reentry aerothermodynamics,

and structures and materials for extreme

environments.

• TheMichigan-AFRL-Boeing Collaborative Center for

Aeronautical Sciences, a research effort addressing

high-speed flight and micro-air vehicles. our

computational and experimental research targets

high-speed flows and shocks, shock-boundary layer

interactions, plasma flows, aerothermodynamics,

flapping wing aerodynamics, fluid-structure interac-

tions, and dielectric barrier actuators.

Since its inception, our Department’s mission has been to provide

students with a solid foundation in aerospace engineering, and

to advance the existing state of knowledge in the field through

leading edge research.

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•TheMichigan-AFRL Collaborative Center in Control

Science addresses control of large numbers of

unmanned semi-autonomous fixed- or rotary-wing

craft or ground vehicles for such roles as persistent

urban intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

it also explores controllability of air-breathing

hypersonic vehicles using models that account for

strong interactions between aerodynamics, airframe

elasticity, control effector deformations, heat

transfer, and the propulsion system.

•TheAir Force Office of Scientific Research

Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative to

develop biologically-inspired, anisotropic, flexible

nAsA’s ikhana, a civil version of the Predator B unmanned aircraft.

wings for optimal flapping flight of micro air vehicles.

Anisotropic structures as found in natural flyer

wings provide biological guidance for the research,

including passive shape control for lift enhancement.

•The Center for Radiative Shock Hydrodynamics, a

large-scale research effort at michigan with partici-

pation by the Department, to advance computing

and simulation. it uses large-scale computations to

advance predictive science by understanding

uncertainties and their sources in simulation results

and to improve predictive capabilities in complex

systems.

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• The Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence, in

which michigan, along with our partner universities,

is one of two Army centers of excellence for Vertical

lift research. work at michigan is focused on

barrier issues in vertical lift technology, including

active flaps and microflaps for reduced rotor

vibration and noise, and active blades for vibration

and noise reduction.

• The DARPA Flying Fish Program, a longer-term

effort to develop an ocean environmental monitoring

buoy. Flying Fish is a robotic pelican-inspired

electric-powered vehicle designed to drift at sea and

take flight autonomously when needed to maintain

its watch circle. sea trials have demonstrated fully

autonomous take off, climb, cruise, descent, and

landing of a vehicle that is much smaller than the

ocean’s surface wave environment.

• TheGeneral Electric Aircraft Engines University

Strategic Alliance Program, part of a long-term

strategic alliance that involves universities from

around the world. our research is directed at

improving the revolutionary ge-tAPs lean premixed,

prevaporized combustor, which promises to

significantly reduce emissions of nitric oxide and

carbon monoxide from the new genx engines.

• TheGeneral Motors Collaborative Research

Laboratory for Smart Materials and Structures

involves research on smart material maturity, smart

device technologies, and mechamatronic system

design methodologies. results are applicable to

smart pumps and fuel injectors, smart latches and

locks, and smart air flow control devices for aero-

dynamic performance.

FAcilities

nearly all of our Department is housed in the François-

Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Building, containing 91,000

square feet of modern classrooms, research laborato-

ries, and support space. Being located in one building

greatly facilitates a collaborative atmosphere and strong

intellectual climate among our faculty and students.

highly-dedicated clerical and technical staff assist in

our teaching and research missions by helping to meet

students needs and maintain our instructional and

laboratory facilities.

Diagnostics and prediction of flow fields in advanced gas turbine combustors.

our Missionour goal is to provide internationally recognized

leadership in aerospace engineering education and

research by being a place that:

• Educatesstudentswhoarewidelyknownfor

exceptional strength in technical fundamentals

across all aerospace disciplines, who are cognizant

of modern aerospace technologies, and who are

sought after by top graduate schools and by

aerospace and related industries worldwide

• Offersavarietyofexcellentdegreeprograms

satisfying the needs of a diverse body of students,

with graduates who are of exceptionally high value

to aerospace and related industries worldwide

• Supportsvibrantandhighlyrecognizedresearch

programs that serve the educational goals of its

undergraduate and graduate degree programs, that

make major contributions to the knowledge base in

aerospace sciences and technology, and that are

turned to by industry, government, and academia

• Createsanenvironmentofunsurpassedintellectual

challenge and excitement that at the same time is

collegial and conducive to higher learning

• Recognizesthataerospaceengineeringcomprises

disciplines and technologies that are distinct in the

manner of their integration and application and must

be taught accordingly

• Takesfulladvantageoftheunparalleledbreadthof

knowledge, technology, facilities, and resources of

one of the largest and most highly regarded

universities worldwide, the university of michigan

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new chAllenges, new oPPortunities

In the aerospace enterprise, the second century of flight will demand agility, flexibility, and innovation from

those who will chart the future of the field. we look ahead to the next decade and beyond to anticipate the

changes that academic departments must make to adapt themselves for the future, and to continue serving

at the leading edge of this field. our goal has been to assess how our teaching and research missions can

be best positioned to ensure the continued success of our Department and our graduates.

here we identify key challenges that will influence aerospace engineering over the next two decades. rather than

making speculative predictions or assertions about which technical topic will become the next major focus of our

field, we have based our vision of the future on a rational, anticipatory, and forward-looking assessment of the

changes that will occur in the aerospace enterprise. in the next section, we describe the nine key initiatives that we

have implemented at michigan to position ourselves to respond effectively to these new challenges and to take

advantage of the new opportunities they present.

left and center: michigan is a leading university in electric propulsion research. right: our ongoing effort in cavitation investigation is aimed at improving liquid rocket propulsion design.

one worlD: growing internAtionAlizAtion

the engineering profession as a whole — aerospace

engineering more than many other disciplines —

is rapidly becoming a global enterprise. markets for

aerospace products have traditionally been inter-

national, but now the profession itself is attracting

bright minds from all over the world.

many countries already have substantial technical

capabilities in aerospace engineering, and many others

are seeking to build their capabilities. emerging

economies increasingly regard aerospace engineering

as having the capacity to make significant contributions

to their gross Domestic Product (gDP). some are

establishing the education infrastructure to promote

these new capabilities. the contributions these nations

make to the aerospace industry do more than lower

labor costs; they are helping to advance the field. in

many cases, these talented, new workforces rival those

in the u.s., europe, and elsewhere.

tomorrow’s aerospace engineers will need to interact

with this global enterprise. this will require a broader

cultural awareness than has traditionally been the case

for most engineers. For many it will mean greater

international contacts and collaborations. some may

see extended assignments to expatriate positions,

where they will work with engineers having substantially

different backgrounds. Professional advancement in

aerospace engineering will increasingly depend on the

ability to succeed in such international contexts.

reDeFining the engineer

many analysis and design functions traditionally

associated with aerospace engineering are being

transformed into “packaged” software. today’s

commercial software offers substantial coupled

multi-physics simulation capabilities. examples include:

finite-element analysis software for thermo-mechanical

modeling, computational fluid dynamics tools for fluid

flow analyses, and computer-aided design software for

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Advanced carbon fiber textiles will be a key enabler for future aerospace and other engineering structures.

hexagonal honeycomb made from superelastic shape memory alloy corrugated strips will enable the development of adaptive aerospace systems.

solid modeling and fabrication, and computer software

for flight simulation and flight control design.

companies that formerly needed dozens of experi-

enced engineers for these functions can now achieve

similar results more quickly with a far smaller staff.

consulting houses can make these capabilities widely

available even to smaller companies on an as-needed

basis.

All engineers will still need to learn the underlying

principles. however, as classical engineering functions

become more commoditized, successful engineers

will need a deeper understanding of system-level

problems. they will require backgrounds in analyses-

of-alternatives, balanced optimization, and similar

higher-level analysis approaches. the pedagogical

changes needed to accommodate this shift go beyond

traditional curricular revisions. they may require us to

fundamentally rethink the skill set that defines an

aerospace engineer.

innoVAtion, inVention, AnD Venture cAPitAl

major engineering companies once kept substantial

in-house research and development staff, but costs

have changed this model. today, these firms acquire

the innovations they need by buying up small entre-

preneurial companies built around researching and

developing specific technology solutions.

in effect, large companies today buy the technologies

they need, pushing part of the cost and risk of develop-

ing them onto smaller entrepreneurial companies. the

growth of small Business innovative research (sBir)

programs over the past two decades has provided a

tremendous boost for early-stage technology develop-

ment in the private sector. this has accelerated the

move toward reliance on such companies as a main

development path for new technologies.

universities often provide the basic research that

launches and drives these small companies. many

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Autonomous flight vehicles investigating collaborative control. u-m’s Flying Fish capable of take-off/landing on water.

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small companies build on the stream of basic research

generated at universities, creating new opportunities for

targeted synergy. tomorrow’s students will need a

deeper understanding of entrepreneurship, intellectual

property issues, and other aspects of the modern

technology development path.

going green

even before the rapid rise in the cost of petroleum-

derived fuels, there has been strong emphasis on

making aerospace systems use less energy and create

a smaller impact on the environment. the importance of

fuel efficiency is well known in the commercial airline

market, where fuel costs today account for more than

30% of total airline operating costs. even in the defense

sector, fuel efficiency matters greatly. in 2003, the Air

Force’s fuel bill was $2.5 billion; by 2006 it had jumped

to over $6 billion despite substantially lower fuel

consumption. every $10 increase in the barrel price of

fuel costs the Air Force $0.6 billion more in annual fuel

costs.

the possibility of some type of carbon tax in the

foreseeable future drives airlines to look for possible

new sources of fuels, such as biomass-to-liquid

processes and even plant and algae-derived biofuels,

that can provide lower life-cycle co2 emissions.

improved energy efficiency and reduced carbon

emissions can come in less obvious ways as well.

lighter-weight structures and aerodynamic improve-

ments such as winglets can significantly reduce fuel

consumption.

Aerospace engineering will play a major role in the

broader quest for alternative energy and environmental

sustainability. Advanced wind turbines rely on aero-

dynamic improvements and stronger lightweight

structures for much of their performance. Photovoltaics,

fuel processors, and fuel cells for hydrogen or hydro-

carbon fuels also involve aerospace-related

technologies.

Aerospace engineering will play a major role in the broader quest

for alternative energy and environmental sustainability.

the next-generation 737-700 sports Blended winglets, which enhance range and fuel efficiency while lowering engine maintenance costs and noise. copyright © Boeing

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AirPlAnes, rocKets AnD BeyonD

Aerospace engineering has always gone beyond

airplanes and rockets, and many of tomorrow’s

technology emphases will be in areas not traditionally

associated with aerospace engineering. commercial

aircraft will see advances in such areas as lightweight

composite structures, more efficient and quiet clean-

burning engines, and blended wing-body designs.

however, these improvements will come as much from

in-flight system monitoring, model-based adaptation,

and advanced network-enabled operations. in defense,

engineers are shifting emphasis on higher-performance

air vehicle platforms to their payloads. the F-22,

designed 25 years ago, achieved its air superiority with

supercruise and high-agility thrust vectoring; today the

F-35 is placing greater emphasis on such functions as

data fusion and electronic attack.

in the future we may see small unmanned vehicles,

perhaps inspired by biological flyers. groups of robotic

or semi-autonomous fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and

ground vehicles may operate over large areas, provid-

ing persistent, cooperative, networked sensing and

communication relays for intelligence, surveillance, and

reconnaissance.

Aerospace engineers have always worked on the

system as a whole as well as its parts, but in the future

they will need a broader education to accomplish this.

Academic departments must integrate traditional core

aerospace disciplines with nontraditional subject areas.

increAse in comPleX ADAPtiVe AerosPAce systems

engineering systems today, and aerospace systems in

particular, are becoming more complex and adaptive.

complexity itself is not new in aerospace engineering;

the space shuttle has over a million individual parts,

and modern flight control software typically has about

two million lines of code. however, the addition of high

levels of adaptability and reconfigurability, such as by

coupling reconfigurable control effectors with an

integrated vehicle health monitoring system, is creating

a new category of “complex adaptive aerospace

systems.”

Future air and space vehicles will take full advantage

of this functionality. Failure or degradation in one or

more parts of the system will be compensated by

automatically reconfiguring the control software. the

reconfiguration is adaptive because it does not simply

follow predetermined rules for a limited set of failure

modes. instead, the system experiments with itself to

gauge its degraded state and determine how to

maximize its remaining functionality.

such systems create new challenges not only in their

design, but in their reliability. the number of possible

system states can make direct verification and

validation approaches impractical, requiring more

probabilistic approaches and adaptive concepts foreign

to most engineers. Future engineers will need technical

backgrounds in basic aspects of such systems and their

underlying theoretical concepts.

Aerospace engineers have always worked on the system as

a whole as well as its parts, but in the future they will need a

broader education to accomplish this. Academic departments

must integrate traditional core aerospace disciplines with

nontraditional subject areas./

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engineering As A new “liBerAl Arts” Degree

our technology-oriented society is convincing a

growing number of students to choose engineering as

a “safe” degree. For many who believe they can handle

the mathematics and science but are not sure what

their life goals are, engineering is becoming a popular

option.

many elementary and high school students are

becoming exposed to engineering at an early age.

state education standards have mandated engineering

contents in massachusetts since 2001, in new Jersey

since 2004, and in texas since 2007. intel’s

“engineering is elementary” curriculum is already being

used in more than 900 K-12 schools, up from just five

in 2003. more than 2,200 middle and high schools now

use engineering courses from “Project lead the way.”

many of these students will choose aerospace engi-

neering as their major. yet unlike the students of

previous generations, many lack the fundamental

intuition or understanding of the engineering that goes

into the mechanical, computing, or electrical systems

they use daily.

engineering students in the next decade will be

substantially different from past engineering students.

they may come to the field with different passions, skill

levels, and drive. we may increasingly see students

who are “just kicking the tires” and who may have no

intention of making their career in engineering after

graduation.

rising sociAl costs AnD Diminishing FeDerAl suPPort

the aging u.s. population and the large government

entitlements through social security, medicare, and

medicaid have begun an unprecedented drain on

federal and state budgets that will only worsen over the

next two decades. the first of 77 million retiring “baby

boomers” born between 1946 and 1964 became

eligible for social security benefits in January 2008.

their numbers will grow at a rate of 4 million per year

through 2026, and they will continue to draw entitle-

ment benefits through 2050.

the congressional Budget office has calculated that

the cost of these benefits will grow from 8.4% of gross

Domestic Product (gDP) today to 14.5% by 2030, and

18.6% by 2050. By comparison, the entire federal

budget today is just 20% of gDP. By 2049, these

benefits would consume every federal program except

interest on the federal debt. even with proposed

reductions in entitlement benefits, the looming budget

pressures will be immense. europe and Japan face

similar situations.

this will strain the federal government’s ability to support

research and development, including basic research in

academia. the impact on the academic profession is

largely underappreciated. the major supporters of

research programs in aerospace engineering have been

nAsA, the Department of Defense, the Department of

energy, and the national science Foundation. their

combined research and development totals are just

under $111 billion. the basic research components that

fund most university research are about $30 billion.

while federal reductions in basic research spending will

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affect all fields, aerospace engineering faces greater

hardship over the next two decades, because of its

greater reliance on federal funding.

meeting society’s neeDs

Federal research spending over the next two decades

will be directed toward meeting societal needs in areas

such as health care, energy efficiency, alternative

energy, environmental sustainability, and homeland

security. several of these hold significant opportunities

for aerospace engineering. other areas, such as

expanded low-cost air transport and improved air traffic

control systems, have obvious aerospace content and

are likely to see growth.

earth observation systems to monitor effects such as

urban growth, deforestation, and water management

will become more important as environmental

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sustainability needs grow. these may include pilotless

aircraft and other unmanned aerial systems, as well as

satellite systems.

other satellites for telecommunications, spaceborne

intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and other

applications ranging from low-earth orbits up to

geosynchronous orbits may also become increased

priorities. Associated technologies to reduce launch

costs, decrease failures associated with launches or

orbit insertions, and increase on-orbit reliability will

become more important.

Aerospace engineering will be called on to help our

society meet these new challenges. the engineers we

graduate and the research endeavors we undertake will

need to be positioned to successfully address these

needs.

engineers of today and tomorrow will need to make technological advances while ensuring that societal and environmental needs are being met.

• Providegreateropportunitiesforstudentsto

participate in substantive international exchanges

and internships

• Reduce“commodity”subjectmatterincourses;

increase education in system-level analysis-of-

alternatives concepts

• Bringfurthernontraditionalsystems-relatedcontent

into the curriculum

• Enableabroaderanddeeperunderstandingof

entrepreneurship and its role in the aerospace field

• Accommodateabroaderspectrumofdifferent

types of students, including those who lack natural

engineering intuition

• Adjusttoloomingdecreasesinfederalresearch

funding and shifts in federal research priorities

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9t

he challenges we have identified in this document have implications for the academic

component of the aerospace enterprise. they represent new opportunities for those academic

departments that are prepared to adapt to these changes to stay positioned as leaders in

this field.

Accordingly, the Department of Aerospace engineering at michigan, along with the college of

engineering and the university, has recently implemented nine key initiatives to prepare our Department and its

graduates to continue to succeed over the next decade and beyond in aerospace engineering.

PrePAring For tomorrow

Advanced battery for future air and ground vehicles.

Beyond our existing research focus areas noted earlier,

our Department has further identified the major

research thrusts listed below. each builds on strengths

already in the Department, and is being developed

through strategic targeted hires and larger collaborative

research efforts. they bring together teams of faculty

and student researchers to address key technical

issues in these areas.

these Departmental research thrusts and those that

span more broadly across the college and university

help place our research focus in areas that will be key

to the next two decades in aerospace engineering.

Computational Aerosciences

computer-aided analysis and design tools are routinely

used to simulate and predict component and subsys-

tem performance, allowing dramatic reductions in the

need for costly and time-consuming physical testing.

Further advances in computational aero-

sciences will allow entire aerospace vehicles to be

reliably designed in virtual environments. Development

of the numerical methods and software tools to

accomplish this plays a critical role throughout the

aerospace enterprise and will continue to be a major

research area over the next two decades.

1eXPAnDeD DePArtmentAl reseArch thrusts

our Department already has a strong reputation in

many key aspects of computational aerosciences. we

are expanding our activities in this area, building on

numerous on-going research efforts that involve federal

agencies and industry partners.

we plan to broaden our expertise and strong record in

advancing alternative numerical techniques such as

adaptive cartesian grid methods, discontinuous

galerkin methods, Dsmc and hybrid Dsmc/continuum

techniques, and simulation-based design optimization

and sensitivity evaluations. experiments will provide

insights and data to guide development of physical

models and improved numerical techniques. Data

assimilation techniques will also be addressed to

effectively utilize data generated from computationally-

intensive methods, merging data with models to give

more useful estimates than can be obtained by either

one alone.

Advanced computational aerodynamics utilizing cartesian grid and local adaptation to achieve desirable accuracy while alleviating cost for mesh generation.

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Vortex flow structures associated with a flapping wing during a stroke.

Unmanned Flight Vehicles

unmanned flight vehicles are being rapidly developed

and deployed. today these are primarily used for

defense, but evolving civil airspace regulations will allow

broader uses of unmanned flight vehicles. such

vehicles range from high-altitude long-endurance

platforms with sizes measured in tens of meters and

endurances measured in days or even years, to micro

air vehicles a few centimeters in size that are designed

for several minutes of operation.

our Department has recently developed strong

programs in both large and small unmanned flight

vehicles, which we will grow over the next two

decades. A substantial portion of our research focuses

on cooperative control of potentially large numbers of

such semi- or fully-autonomous vehicles, coordinating

their motion to provide persistent real-time services,

autonomous fault management, and strategic-level

decision making. our ongoing low-speed micro air

vehicle research is also addressing biologically-inspired,

anisotropic flexible wings for optimal flapping flight.

research is utilizing insights gained from biological

flight, while focusing on hovering and forward-flight

modes of micro air vehicles, with an emphasis on the

intrinsically unsteady environment due to wind gusts

and flapping motions.

in the future, we will address a wide range of essential

technical issues associated with aerodynamics,

propulsion, structures, and control of individual

unmanned vehicles, as well as collaborative control of

multiple vehicles and even large swarms of such

platforms.

Space Systems

our Department has a portfolio of space systems

research that we will cultivate further. we have played a

central role in nAsA’s 10-year, two-phase constellation

university institutes Program (cuiP), a consortium of

approximately twenty universities in the u.s. addressing

key technical challenges in nAsA’s moon-mars /

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exploration endeavors. our research includes investi-

gations of flow, mixing, and combustion in chemical

rocket engines, propellant delivery systems, reentry

aerothermodynamics, and hot structures and materials

for extreme environments.

we have one of the most comprehensive and

advanced spacecraft propulsion research groups at

any academic institution in the world, focusing on

electric propulsion development and engine-spacecraft

interaction studies, as well as hypersonic vehicle

concepts for space access and reentry. this includes

development of computational models and highly-

coupled, control-oriented concepts for air-breathing

hypersonic vehicles.

small satellite systems and satellite constellations are

another research area that we have targeted for growth

and where we will build on our existing strengths.

research topics include: integration of advanced

space sensors, computational algorithms and soft-

ware, constellation setup and operations, as well as

low-cost command and control processes that take

advantage of multi-element worldwide ground systems.

we hAVe one oF the most comPrehensiVe AnD ADVAnceD sPAcecrAFt ProPulsion reseArch grouPs At Any AcADemic institution in the worlD, Focusing on electric ProPulsion DeVeloPment AnD engine-sPAcecrAFt interAction stuDies, As well As hyPersonic Vehicle concePts For sPAce Access AnD reentry.

high-resolution flow field measurements of shock wave interactions with a turbulent boundary layer.

recently, the Department has hired six new faculty members, representing nearly 25% growth in faculty size. All

are either assistant or associate professors and hold 100% appointments in the Department. more critically, each

of these new faculty members, as noted below, brings strong expertise to enhance one or more of our expanded

research thrust areas. we also have ongoing searches to add several more new faculty members to further enrich

our teaching and research portfolios.

Assoc. Prof. Ella Atkins

Professor Atkins’ research is on task and motion

planning algorithms for autonomous systems under

various sources of uncertainties. this includes flight

planning and guidance, autonomous unmanned air

vehicle mission planning and adaptation, and human-

robot collaboration.

Asst. Prof. James Cutler

Professor cutler’s research interests include the

development of distributed space vehicles optimized for

complex missions, advanced spacecraft software, the

“robust” use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware for

satellite systems, and the development of global ground

station networking technologies. he has taught satellite

design, and developed small satellite systems and

robust ground station networks, including regular space

and near-space flights.

Asst. Prof. Krzysztof Fidkowski

Professor Fidkowski works on computational methods,

including a triangular cut-cell adaptive method to allow

high-order discretizations of the compressible navier-

stokes equations. he previously developed a new

2strAtegic new AerosPAce FAculty hires

multigrid solver for the discontinuous galerkin finite

element method.

Asst. Prof. Anouck Girard

Professor girard’s research is in nonlinear control and

systems engineering. her work applies to control of

swarms of autonomous small and micro air vehicles

and/or ground robots that operate in formation. she

works with hybrid, distributed, and embedded systems.

Asst. Prof. Matthias Ihme

Professor ihme works on computational modeling of

reacting flows, radiation, emissions, and combustion-

generated noise. he uses direct and large-eddy

simulations for turbulent reactive flows, mixing, and

aeroacoustics, and has made advances in flamelet

progress variable methods.

Asst. Prof. Veera Sundararaghavan

Professor sundararaghavan’s research is on multi-scale

computations for material design and optimization.

he uses finite element homogenization, molecular

dynamics, ab initio simulations, and statistical

mechanics approaches, and has developed adaptive

reduced-order optimization methods.

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the Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) has

been extraordinarily generous in supporting our

Department over the years. to help further advance our

teaching and research missions, the Association has

recently pledged an additional $4 million to endow the

François-Xavier Bagnoud Fellowships, as well as the

research and educational initiatives in the Department.

this brings the Association FXB’s total support to $13

million. Part of this support has been directed toward

establishing the François-Xavier Bagnoud Flight Vehicle

Institute.

the Institute is an integral part of our Department,

focusing on research and educational topics motivated

3 the FXB Flight Vehicle institute

by flight vehicles in an educational setting. it helps to

advance the strategic areas we have identified for

growth. through the FXB Flight Vehicle Institute,

faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students work

together to advance the state-of-the-art in flight vehicle

research and teaching. extracurricular projects at the

undergraduate level are being promoted. the Institute

will sponsor workshops, issue scholarly reports and

papers, and serve as a catalyst in the academic

community. the Institute also helps establish inter-

national as well as industrial collaborative activities,

including guest lecturers, visiting researchers, and

students.

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students gather for a photo with Aerospace engineering alumnus Jim mcDivitt (the commander of Apollo 9) in the Atrium of the FXB Building.

in response to the growing need for energy conversion and storage technologies, the university of michigan has

established the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute (MMPEI) with $11 million in building renovation and

an additional $9 million in initial funding. our Department participates in this new initiative, and several members of

our faculty are involved in research supporting mmPei goals.

major thrusts of the Institute include energy conversion, storage and utilization, carbon-neutral energy sources,

energy policy, and economic and societal impacts of energy usage. it coordinates research across the university in

areas such as solar power, hydrogen technology, fuel cells, nuclear energy, battery research, and low power

electronics.

it brings together michigan’s energy research activities to achieve maximum impact. mmPei serves as a resource

to assist in developing funding and attracting faculty, managing facilities, engaging industry and providing a focal

point on energy research, policy, and education. it also established several new chaired faculty positions, and

several new graduate fellowships in energy.

this new energy institute gives our aerospace engineering students greater opportunities to learn about energy

issues and to become directly involved in research to help solve energy-related problems.

4A new mAJor energy initiAtiVe

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This new energy institute gives our aerospace engineering

students greater opportunities to learn about energy issues and to

become directly involved in research to help solve energy-related

problems.

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in response to the growing concerns around environ-

mental issues, the graham Foundation and the

university have recently created a new $10.5 million

Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute (GESI) to

develop solutions to complex environmental sustain-

ability issues, recognizing the need for balance between

societal needs and social responsibilities. our

Department is a participant in this new sustainability

institute, and several members of our faculty are

involved in research that supports the gesi mission.

the Institute’s goals are to increase the university’s

multidisciplinary research and education in environmen-

tal sustainability and position michigan as a global

leader in this field. the Graham Environmental

Sustainability Institute facilitates collaborative research

on environmental sustainability through financial and

administrative support. it leverages the university’s

5 A new enVironmentAl sustAinABility center

research and academic efforts, encourages innovative

academic programs that explore the complexities of

environmental sustainability, and emphasizes relation-

ships between ecosystems. the Institute also educates

communities and policy makers on how to economi-

cally and effectively achieve environmental sustainability.

the Institute is focused on areas of research where

knowledge is critical to reaching the goal of environ-

mental sustainability. these include energy, biodiversity

and global change, freshwater and marine resources,

sustainable infrastructure, human health and environ-

ment, and environmental policymaking.

through this new institute, undergraduate and graduate

students at michigan have greater access to opportuni-

ties for learning about environmental sustainability and

for becoming involved in research to address related

issues.

multi-scale simulation methods are providing important new insights into tailored materials that can provide environmentally-friendly performance benefits.

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in response to the growing internationalization of

aerospace and other engineering disciplines, a new

International Minor for Engineers program has recently

been instituted and made available to undergraduates

in Aerospace engineering at michigan. the college of

engineering and the Department have also expanded

strategic partnerships with leading universities overseas

to facilitate student exchanges. the International

Programs in Engineering office has expanded its role in

connecting students with companies abroad seeking

engineering interns.

the minor seeks to prepare our engineering graduates to

succeed in a global society. it facilitates work in multina-

tional teams, creating products for a global marketplace,

and solving problems across national borders and

cultures. the minor officially recognizes not just foreign

language proficiency, but also understanding of other

cultures, study of engineering in a global context, and the

experience of living and working abroad.

the 17-20 credit-hour engineering degree minor

requires four semesters of college-level foreign lan-

guage study, two courses on non-u.s. cultures or

societies, one course in business, humanities, or social

sciences with a comparative or global perspective, an

international engineering seminar that teaches global

trends in engineering and business as well as strategies

for working in multinational teams, and also requires at

least six weeks of study, work, research, or organized

volunteer work abroad.

6A new internAtionAl minor For engineers

this minor expands an existing global engineering

program that allowed students to add an international

component to their engineering education. the new

International Minor for Engineers increases the

requirements and acknowledges these with a formal

degree minor certification.

our students participating in the Paris Air show (above) and the university of michigan/shanghai Jiao tong university Joint institute summer Program (below).

in light of the importance that entrepreneurship has for technology development, the college of engineering has

recently established a new Center for Entrepreneurship with $1 million in initial funding.

this new center is developing an entrepreneurship certificate program for engineering students taking courses in

innovation and business from professors or members of the broader entrepreneurial community. it also provides

grants for students to pursue their ideas, and connects current students with alumni from the college of

engineering who work in the start-up community. the Center simplifies and clarifies student intellectual property

transfer, and advises the new entrepreneurship-focused engineering student group “mPowered.”

the Center is the latest initiative in a broad effort to further facilitate student entrepreneurship. it coordinates with

michigan’s existing Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, part of the ross school of Business, to include

business courses in the engineering curriculum. this helps students bridge the gap between inventor and venture

capitalist.

the Center for Entrepreneurship increases the ability of aerospace engineering students at michigan to get

first-hand experience in entrepreneurial processes and the role that entrepreneurism plays in the aerospace

enterprise.

7 A new engineering entrePreneurism center

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to further expand our students’ backgrounds beyond

traditional engineering analyses, our Department has

been enhancing its curriculum and encouraging student

involvement in extracurricular design-build-test

opportunities. we offer a highly successful first-year

engineering course that combines an introduction to

engineering with design-build-test projects. students

design a mars surveillance blimp that they then test via

earth-scaled models. they learn by direct experience

and immersion in systems engineering issues. the

course has been supported in part by Boeing and

lockheed martin, as well as the national science

Foundation, the Air Force research laboratory, and the

Department of energy.

our students are highly engaged in extracurricular

design-build-test activities involving collaborative

teams. Aerospace engineering student teams include

the human Powered helicopter team, the michigan

mars rover team, the AeroDesign/mFly team, the

student space systems Fabrication laboratory, the Jet

engine club, the model Airplane club, and the

michigan Aeronautical science Association (mAsA).

to increase opportunities for collaborative student team

design projects, the college has recently completed a

$3 million renovation of the Walter E. Wilson Student

Team Project Center, located adjacent to our

Department. this 10,000 square-foot center provides a

modern collaborative environment and team work-

spaces for design, assembly, machining, and electron-

ics. the Wilson Center allows student teams to

experience the practical application of engineering

theories as well as hands-on development and

fabrication in a team environment.

8eXPAnDeD curriculum AnD Design oPPortunities

Active student team activities include low gravity, flight-ready equipment and solar cars.

the university has begun a $30 million Interdisciplinary Junior Faculty Initiative to add 100 new junior tenure-track

faculty positions in areas that advance interdisciplinary teaching and research. these new positions are created

with the goal of recruiting scholars whose work crosses boundaries and opens new pathways, or for cluster hires

that bring scholars from different fields together to explore significant questions or address complex problems. the

program is enhancing the university’s ability to engage emerging research opportunities.

A total of 25 new junior faculty have been hired under this initiative in 2008, the first year of the program, and three

of these are in engineering. their research will be in data mining, learning, and discovery using massive datasets;

energy storage, and global change.

over the next four years, the remaining 75 positions in this initial phase of the program will be similarly filled with

junior tenure-track faculty working in interdisciplinary areas that address some of the most important teaching and

research opportunities for the future.

9 100-FAculty interDisciPlinAry hiring initiAtiVe

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eXPAnDeD DePArtmentAl reseArch thrusts

strAtegic new AerosPAce FAculty hires

the FXB Flight Vehicle institute

A new mAJor energy initiAtiVe

A new enVironmentAl sustAinABility center

A new internAtionAl minor For engineers

A new engineering entrePreneurism center

eXPAnDeD curriculum AnD Design oPPortunities

100-FAculty interDisciPlinAry hiring initiAtiVe

internAtionAlizAtion

reDeFining engineering

innoVAtion & inVention

enVironmentAl sustAinABility

AircrAFt Design

AerosPAce systems

eng As liBerAl Arts Degree

rising costs, DiminisheD suPPort

societAl neeDs

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rising costs, DiminisheD suPPort

societAl neeDs

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ince its inception, the Department of Aerospace engineering at the university of michigan has

been recognized as one of the leading members of the academic component in the aerospace

enterprise. today, as throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Department’s educational and

research activities are organized around advancing the technical disciplines needed to address

engineering issues associated with air and space vehicles, vehicle systems, and related

technologies. this includes a strategically balanced representation in the Department’s research areas and in its

curriculum of aerodynamics and propulsion, solid mechanics and structures, flight dynamics and control, and

design of hardware and software in ways that prepare our students to become future leaders in this field.

the michigan-designed uAV “endurance” recently broke the record for fuel-cell powered flight. it flew for 10 hours, 15 minutes and 4 seconds on october 30th, 2008 in milan, mi.

As outlined in the preceding pages, our Department is

exceedingly well-positioned for the future. we have a

growing professoriate faculty of highly-recognized

individuals working in a collaborative and vibrant

intellectual climate, and strong enrollments of highly-

qualified students at both the undergraduate and

graduate levels. we have an excellent and highly

modern curriculum that is deep in its course offerings

and meets the needs of tomorrow’s aerospace

engineers. we have a strong research position that

successfully balances our traditional focus on

fundamental research questions with additional

efforts addressing engineering systems and

applications research in some of today’s and

tomorrow’s most imperative topics.

in preparing for the next decade and beyond, our

Department takes an anticipatory and forward-looking

approach. rather than making speculative predictions

or simplistic assertions about which technical topic will

become the next major focus of our field, we instead

base our assessment of the future on identifying some

of the key elements that will influence the aerospace

enterprise over the next two decades. All of these will

have important impacts on this field, and will most likely

have implications on the future.

the resulting changes that these factors will produce

represent fresh challenges and opportunities for

academic departments that understand the forces

driving them, their nature and extent, and the implica-

tions they have across the aerospace enterprise. the

opportunities they present are available to those who

are prepared to be properly positioned for the next two

decades in this field.

the Department of Aerospace engineering at michigan

is ready for the future. we have implemented — in a set

of closely coordinated steps with the college of

engineering and the university — the key initiatives

described herein to position ourselves and our

graduates to succeed. with these strategic moves,

aerospace engineering graduates from michigan will

continue to lead the way into the future by building on

strong backgrounds in science and technology

reflected in our research and teaching, and in our

determination to think independently, critically, and

creatively.

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curiosity and enthusiasm are two critical factors that characterize michigan aerospace engineers.

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Tomorrow’s aerospace engineering graduates from Michigan will

continue to serve as leaders into the future, making use of their

strong backgrounds in the science and technologies on which

the future will be founded, and the abilities that we have instilled in

them to think independently, critically, and creatively.

our faculty members are inspired, driven, and dedicated to the dual teaching and research missions on which the

Department is based. many are recognized leaders in their fields of expertise; their research areas span the most

important contemporary aspects of aerospace engineering.

Ella M. Atkins, Associate Professor. individual and

collaborative air and space systems, fault-tolerant flight

management, uAV/mAV applications.

Luis P. Bernal, Associate Professor. Fluid mechanics,

aerodynamics, turbulent shear flow, whole-field flow

measurement, microgravity fluid physics.

Dennis S. Bernstein, Professor. linear and nonlinear

systems, identification, optimal, robust and adaptive

control.

Iain D. Boyd, Professor. electric propulsion, hyperson-

ics, micro-scale flows, computation of nonequilibrium

gas and plasma dynamics.

Carlos E. S. Cesnik, Professor. Aeroelasticity, active

vibration and noise reduction, structural health monitor-

ing, transducer design, signal processing.

James W. Cutler, Assistant Professor. small satellites,

space systems, ground stations, engineering design,

system engineering.

Werner J.A. Dahm, Professor. turbulence, turbulent

flows, mixing, combustion, flow and combustion

modeling, propulsion, aerodynamics, defense science.

James F. Driscoll, Professor. turbulent combustion,

nitric oxide reduction, supersonic combustion, scram-

jets, rocket combustion, laser diagnostics.

Krzysztof Fidkowski, Assistant Professor.

computational fluid dynamics, higher-order discretiza-

tions, discontinuous galerkin methods, fluid dynamics.

Peretz P. Friedmann, Professor. rotary and fixed wing

aeroelasticity, aerothermoelasticity, multidisciplinary

optimization, micro air vehicles.

Alec D. Gallimore, Professor. experimental plasma

physics, plasma probes, microwave and optical

diagnostics, electric propulsion, space propulsion.

Anouck R. Girard, Assistant Professor. nonlinear

systems, hybrid systems, embedded systems,

cooperative control, unmanned vehicles.

W. Matthias Ihme, Assistant Professor. turbulent

reactive flows, large eddy simulation, flamelet modeling,

scalar mixing, aeroacoustics.

Pierre T. Kabamba, Professor. control theory, dynam-

ics, modeling robustness, sampled-data systems,

guidance, navigation, process control.

N. Harris McClamroch, Professor. nonlinear dynamics

and control, geometric mechanics, feedback control,

optimization, estimation.

Elaine S. Oran, Adjunct Professor. computational fluid

dynamics, computational combustion, rarified gas flow,

fluid and particle dynamics, astrophysics.

Kenneth G. Powell, Professor. computational fluid

dynamics, aerodynamics, numerical methods for

plasmas, computational space physics.

Philip L. Roe, Professor. computational fluid dynamics,

gasdynamics, nonequilibrium flow, hypersonics,

magnetohydrodynamics, electromagnetics.

John A. Shaw, Associate Professor. mechanics of

adaptive materials and structures, instabilities and

thermomechanical behavior of solids, experimental

mechanics.

Daniel J. Scheeres, Adjunct Professor. Astrodynamics,

orbital mechanics, asteroid and comet science,

navigation and control, space science.

Wei Shyy, Professor and chair. computational fluid

dynamics, micro air vehicles, bio-inspired flight, biofluid

dynamics, thermofluid systems.

Timothy B. Smith, lecturer. experimental plasma

physics, atomic spectroscopy, laser diagnostics,

electric propulsion, space propulsion.

Veera Sundararaghavan, Assistant Professor.

computational mechanics, multi-scale modeling,

atomistic simulations, optimization, high performance

computing.

Nicolas Triantafyllidis, Professor. continuum mechan-

ics, micromechanics, structural stability, geomechanics,

magneto-electro-mechanical coupling in solids.

Bram van Leer, Professor. computational fluid dynam-

ics, fluid dynamics, numerical analysis, compressible

flow, hyperbolic partial differential equations.

Anthony M. Waas, Professor. composite structures,

structural stability, biologically inspired materials,

nanocomposites, engineered materials.

Peter D. Washabaugh, Associate Professor.

experimental solid mechanics, fracture mechanics,

instrumentation, non-destructive testing, optimization.

Charla K. Wise, Adjunct Professor. Vice President of

technology – environment, safety and health,

lockheed martin corporation.

Margaret S. Wooldridge, Professor (mechanical

engineering). combustion, reburn and co-firing

technologies, reaction kinetics, aerosol sampling

and transport, optical diagnostics.

Thomas H. Zurbuchen, Professor (Atmospheric,

oceanic, and space sciences). space flight hardware,

space particle detectors, heliosphere plasma

composition, solar wind, interstellar gas and dust.

Photo creDits:cover: the eagle nebula as seen with the spitzer space telescope. image: courtesy nAsA/JPl-caltech/ institut d’Astrophysique spatiale.

Page 3: Photo: Jupiterimages.com.

Page 6: the wright Brothers first heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 7: this look-down view of nAsA’s sr-71A aircraft shows the Blackbird on the ramp at the Dryden Flight research center, edwards, california, with rogers Dry lake in the background. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 8: Astronauts ed white and James mcDivitt inside the gemini iV spacecraft. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 9: on June 3, 1965 edward h. white ii became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go, effectively setting himself adrift in the zero gravity of space. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 10-11: Arctic tern (sterna paradisaea) in flight. Photo: Darrell gulin/riser/getty images.

Page 14: workers position the tail cone on the space shuttle Discovery in preparation for its return to nAsA’s Kennedy space center in Florida. Photo: courtesy nAsA

Page 16: Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 18-19: sts-96 shuttle mission imagery. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 20: technicians inspect the sub-scale X-48B Blended wing Body concept demonstrator in the full-scale wind tunnel at nAsA’s langley research center. Photo courtesy: nAsA.

Page 24: Photo: Jupiterimages.com.

Page 25: Photo: copyright © Boeing.

Page 27: lockheed martin F-35 lightning ii in flight. Photo: courtesy lockheed martin.

Page 30-31: row of wind turbines. Photo: Don Klumpp/ iconica/getty images.

Page 33: (lower right image) nAsA’s marshall space Flight center (msFc) and university scientists from the national space science and technology center (nsstc) in huntsville, Alabama, are watching the sun in an effort to better predict space weather - blasts of particles and magnetic fields from the sun that impact the magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble around the earth. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 36: space shuttle launch, cape canaveral, Florida. Photo: Jupiterimages.com.

Page 42: space station orbiting around earth. Photo: world Perspectives/stock image collection/Jupiterimages.

Page 49: A diversified mission of astronomy, commercial space research and international space station preparation gets under way as the space shuttle columbia climbs into orbit from launch Pad 39B at 2:55:47 p.m. est, nov. 19, 1996. Photo: courtesy nAsA.

Page 50: the F-22 raptor in flight. Photo: Jupiterimages.com.

Page 54-55: this wide-field image of the eagle nebula was taken at the national science Foundation’s 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak with the noAo mosaic ccD camera. image: courtesy nAsA / t.A.rector (university of Alaska Anchorage, nrAo/Aui/nsF and noAo/AurA and B.A.wolpa.

Regents of the UniveRsity Julia Donovan Darlow, Ann Arbor; Laurence B. Deitch, Bingham farms; Denise ilitch, Bingham farms; olivia P. Maynard, goodrich; Andrea fischer newman, Ann Arbor; Andrew C. Richner, grosse Pointe Park; s. Martin taylor, grosse Pointe farms; Katherine e. White, Ann Arbor; Mary sue Coleman, ex officio

nonDisCRiMinAtion PoLiCy notiCe the University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including title iX of the education Amendments of 1972 and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. the University of Michigan is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or vietnam-era veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the senior Director for institutional equity and title iX/section 504 Coordinator, office of institutional equity, 2072 Administrative services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, tty 734-647-1388. for other University of Michigan information call 734-764-1817.

MMD 080568

Department of Aerospace engineeringthe University of Michigan3054 françois-Xavier Bagnoud Building1320 Beal Avenue Ann Arbor, Mi 48109-2140

aerospace.engin.umich.edu

graduate Program: Denise Phelps, graduate student services CoordinatorPhone: (734) 615-4406 or (734) 764-3311dphelps@umich.edu

Undergraduate Program: Linda Weiss, Undergraduate student services CoordinatorPhone: (734) 764-3310lweiss@umich.edu

this report was printed with vegetable-based inks on recycled paper stock with 30 percent post-consumer fiber, and is certified to forest stewardship Council (fsC) standards.

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aerospace.engin.umich.edu