Newsletter of the VKI Alumni Association VKI 60 Anniversary
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Newsletter of the VKI Alumni Association ISSUE 19, APRIL 2016 In This Issue: From the Editors? ................................ 1 Alumni dinner in San Diego...................... 11 A year at VKI: 2014-2015 ........................ 2 Interview with Peter Falatyn, DC 1987 ........... 12 A Network for Helping Recent VKI Graduates Supersonic Fighters and the Learjet – TvK in a new VKI-AA support action .................. 5 post-war Switzerland ........................ 15 “. a small piece of VKI’s spirit has been flowing through the cables of one of the biggest super- Interview with Gary Johnson, DC 1975 .......... 21 computers in the world.”...................... 6 The VKI-AA 2016 Research Travel Grants ........ 24 Experiences as Visiting Professor at Chinese Uni- versities ...................................... 7 Celebration of VKI’s 60th Anniversary ............ 25 From the Editors? something you absolutely disliked in one of the previous newsletters? Do you rate VKI-AA newsletters as SPAM or are you looking forward to receiving the next issue? Do you miss a specific column in the newsletter? Do you save newsletters on your PC? Do you even print newslet- ters? Do you know that you can download any or all of the 19 newsletters on the VKI-AA website? When was the last time you visited the VKI-AA website? When did by HANS-PETER DICKMANN, DC 1987 you last visit the official VKI website? Did you like what AND EDITOR,EUROPE you saw or read? Are you acquainted with the current AND JOHN WENDT,FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE VKI VKI-AA board member(s) of your chapter/country? Will AND EDITOR,NORTH AMERICA you take part in the 60th anniversary celebration at VKI in October? Was it stressful/tiring/boring to read a Let- hy is there a question mark at the end of the ti- ter from the Editors with all these questions? We look tle? Maybe some – or even many – of you know forward to your answers! Wthe novel “The interrogative Mood – A Novel?” by Padget Powell. It is a novel entirely written with ques- tions inspiring the reader to think about the answers. It inspired us to do it the same way here. In case one or more of the following questions inspires you to contact th us with ideas, positive or negative criticism or contribu- VKI 60 Anniversary tions for future newsletters – we will be happy to be con- tacted: answers are welcome! In what order do you read the newsletter? Is there an order at all? What do you CELEBRATION ON think about the Letter from the Editors? Would you miss FRIDAY OCTOBER 14, 2016 it if we skip it in the future? Did you already find a “lost sheep” from your DC/RM program via an interview read Mark this date on your calendar in the newsletter? Would you give an interview in one of the future newsletters? Did you like a previous newslet- now! ter so much that you forwarded it to a classmate? Do you think it was worthwhile to register as a VKI-AA member SEE THE LAST PAGE FOR DETAILS because you receive the newsletter periodically? What is your favorite column in the newsletters? Was there Newsletter of the VKI Alumni Association A year at VKI: 2014-2015 them received the PhD degree: Francesco Baldani (Royal Military Academy, Belgium and Université de Valenci- ennes, France), Stefano D’Angelo (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecole Polytechnique, Belgium), Leandro Dan- tas de Santana (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Bel- gium), Lamberto D’Elle Elce (Université de Liège, Bel- gium), Jesús Garicano Mena (Université Libre de Brux- elles, Ecole Polytechnique, Belgium), Guillaume Grossir by CHRISTELLE DEBEER,COMMUNICATIONS,WEB & (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecole Polytechnique, Bel- PUBLICATIONS, gium), Jorge Pinho (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecole AND JEAN MUYLAERT, VKI DIRECTOR Polytechnique, Belgium) and Jérôme Sans (Université Catholique de Louvain, Ecole Polytechnique, Belgium). his contribution aims at presenting a brief overview Many PhD candidates are funded by prestigious PhD of the past academic year at the von Karman In- grants such as those provided by the Belgian agencies Tstitute. In 2014-2015, the number of participants FNRS-FRIA, FWO-IWT, the French CIFRE and the Euro- to the academic programmes, lecture series and sym- pean Union ERC and Marie-Curie programs. posia reached 823. The Research Master (former Diploma Course), PhD, Applied Research Orientation and post- The Applied Research Orientation programme at the doctoral programmes participation remained at the same post-graduate level was attended by 15 engineers for level as during the previous year, while the attendance to periods ranging from one to four months. Eight post- the short training program decreased slightly. The sym- doctoral researchers were enrolled in the Advanced posia and other similar events still constituted an attrac- Programme in Applied Research for a period of eight tive activity at VKI. months. Seven Research Associates and two Visiting Sci- This year was unfortunately marked by the demise entists have participated actively in funded research and on October 27, 2015 of Professor Jean-Pierre Contzen, training programmes for periods ranging from one to Chairman of the VKI Board of Directors since 2005. Dr. twelve months. 68 students from 39 universities in 9 Hervé Consigny from ONERA replaces him as acting countries attended the Short Training Programme. On chairman until the election of a new chairman. average, each student remained for 12 weeks. Nine Lec- To our great satisfaction Greece contributes again to ture Series (one NATO-STO LS included) were held at the international budget of the VKI funding system af- VKI with a total external attendance of 293 participants ter an interruption of 14 years. Romania also became a for an average of 33 attendees per course. new partner of the VKI academic programmes. As a re- sult VKI welcomed students from both countries. In total Changes in the faculty 38 students attended the Research Master in Fluid Dy- namics (former Diploma Course). The 59th graduation The most important changes occurred in the Turbo- ceremony of this Research Master took place at the von machinery and Propulsion department. Prof. Guillermo Karman Institute on the 3rd of July 2015. The Theodore Paniagua, DC 1997, PhD 2002, left in October 2014 af- von Kármán Prize was awarded to two graduates: Elis- ter nine years in the faculty, having been offered an As- savet Boufidi (Greece) and Federico Bariselli (Italy) with sociate Professorship position at Purdue University, USA, their projects respectively entitled: “Time-resolved ve- with the possibility to set up there a new turbine labo- locity measurements in the wake of a low-pressure tur- ratory. To maintain the links with VKI, Guillermo was bine blade, at low Reynolds and high Mach number” nominated Adjunct Professor. Professor Jean-François and “Development of gas-surface interaction models for Brouckaert, DC 1995, PhD 2002, faculty member from DSMC (Direct Simulation Monte Carlo) methods”. Fer- 2006 to 2014, left VKI only one month later, having nando Miró Miró (Spain) was awarded the Belgian Gov- been offered the position of Project Officer for the Eu- ernment Prize. His project was related to the numer- ropean Clean Sky project (a Public Private Partnership ical study of the stability of a hypersonic boundary between the European Commission and the European layer in the presence of blowing. The Prince Alexan- aeronautics industry managing about 1 billion e of re- dre of Belgium Award for the Best Presentation, pre- search contracts). To compensate for the departure of sented by Princess Léa de Belgique, was awarded to these two faculty members, Sergio Lavagnoli, DC 2008, James Braun (Belgium) for his project on “Characteri- PhD 2013, and Fabrizio Fontaneto, DC 2010, PhD 2014, zation of complex multi-physics flow in rotating detona- were appointed in April 2015 as new Assistant Profes- tion engines”. The Excellence in Experimental Research sors. In September 2015, Professor Tom Verstraete took was awarded to Charline Fouchier (France), while the a two-year leave of absence, having accepted a presti- Excellence in Numerical Research was awarded to Va- gious Marie-Currie fellowship at Queen Mary University leria Andreoli (Italy). The Doctoral Programme counted of London in the department of Professor Jens-Dominik 57 participants decreasing from 62 last year. Eight of Mueller, DC 1990 and PhD 1995. Association of the Alumni of the von Karman Institute - 2 - Chaussée de Waterloo 72, 1640 Rhode-Saint-Genèse, Belgium m www.vki-alumni.org v +32-2-35 99 600 B [email protected] Newsletter of the VKI Alumni Association IXV, a success story For many years, training and research in the Aerospace and Aeronautics department were carried out for flight vehicles in applications ranging from low speed to the hypersonic regime. A significant experimental and numerical research activity on the aerothermodynamics of space vehicles entry into planetary atmospheres was supported by ESA, EC and AFOSR related to NATO-STO programmes. Since 2005, ESA developed the Interme- Sergio Lavagnoli diate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV). This program aims at consolidating Europe’s autonomous position in the strategic field of atmospheric re-entry for applications ranging from future ambitious space transportation to exploration. On 11 February 2015, the IXV completed its mission and flew a flawless re-entry and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just west of the Galapagos Islands. A numbers of key technologies for re-entry maneuvers are integrated in the vehicle’s project. The von Karman In- stitute was actively involved in the establishment of the aerothermodynamic database (ATDB) and more specif- Fabrizio Fontaneto ically in the design of the Thermal Protection System (TPS). The turbomachinery department continues to bene- fit from the benevolent lecturing of the retired profes- sors Frans Breugelmans, Claus Sieverding and René Van den Braembussche. Contacts have also been taken with the “Ecole Centrale de Lyon – Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d’Acoustique” (Profs Isabelle Trbinjac and Dr.