AEM Update Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Winter 2014 Visiting Fulbright Scholar Reflects on Experience
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AEM Update Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Winter 2014 Visiting Fulbright Scholar Reflects on Experience Visiting Fulbright Scholar Bela Distinguished McKnight University Professor Gary Balas. “We Takarics joined the University’s De- are always looking to advance our research and see this as a partment of Aerospace Engineering great opportunity to do so. The department has had a strong and Mechanics in December 2013. connection with the Hungarian Academy of Science. We truly Working as a Research Associate, benefit from the exchange of scholars between our two institu- Takarics’ interests include reduced tions. ” order modeling with a focus on aeroservoelastic vehicles and how their models vary across the flight envelope, and the application of Only three months into his stay, Takarics is highly motivated a Tensor Product model based control design to aeroservoelastic ve- by the work he has accomplished, claiming that his research hicles. Now three months into his five-month stay, Takarics says his is on the “fast track in terms of development” and expressing experience thus far has been “absolutely amazing.” interest in extending his stay for an additional four months. When asked what is attributing to this success, Takarics Prior to applying for the Fulbright Scholar explains that working in the laboratory and Program, Takarics received a Masters in Me- Since joining the AEM collaborating with other researchers has been chanical Engineering and a PhD in Control team, my research has been incredibly helpful. Theory from Budapest University of Technolo- “ gy and Economics. In 2010 he began working on the fast track in terms of “In Hungary, theoretical research can be as a Research Fellow to develop a robust and development. discovered and then lay dormant for some multi-objective control and observer design – Bela Takarics, time,” Takarics elaborates. “Here, our results based on Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) Visitng Fulbright” Scholar & are tested in practical applications and find models and Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI) AEM Reserach Associate their way to academic and industrial networks at the Computer and Automation Research throughout the world; thereby contributing to Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. a global understanding of the subject matter.” “The University of Minnesota Department of Aerospace Engineering Moving forward, Takarics looks forward to devoting himself to and Mechanics has one of the top research departments working in his research and becoming integrated into the global network my research field and I was motivated to advance my work among of researchers working with linear, parameter-varying control the professionals here,” says Takarics. theory and aerospace applications around the world. Further- more, he is eager to establish roots with the University and After connecting with AEM Professor Gary Balas through Professor become a collaborator between AEM and his home institute. József Bokor, Scientific Director of his home institute, the two wrote ### and submitted the application to the Fulbright committee in Hun- The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 as a highly gary. The selection process is highly competitive and the criterion for competitive, merit-based grant program with the intention Fulbright candidates includes high academic achievement, a com- of “[increasing] mutual understanding between people of the pelling project proposal, demonstrated leadership potential, and an United States and other countries through the exchange of eagerness to interact with the host community abroad. persons, knowledge, and skills.” Today, the Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious awards programs in the world, “Given his vast skill set and devoted approach to his studies it only providing approximately 1,000 grants to over 155 countries. made sense to welcome him to our team of researchers,” explains College of Science and Engineering | Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics | www.aem.umn.edu Chairman’s Corner Dear Friends and Colleagues, graduate students. Semester After a busy fall and (long) winter Our seniors have impressed us with another fall semester of for the department, we welcome successful senior design projects. Overviews of this year’s proj- in spring with many successes and ects can be seen on page 4. Some design groups have contin- Review honors for our students, faculty, ued their design work this semester and several are preparing and alumni. Before sharing these their designs for various competitions. We wish them the best I want to express my thanks to of luck and will be updating our website with their progress. Professor Gary Balas, who recently stepped down as Head for personal reasons. All of us -- We have awarded the 2013-2014 scholarships from the students, faculty and alumni -- have benefitted from Gary’s Department, made possible through generous donations and leadership and from his tenacity and vision in making the endowments. These scholarships enable us to award some of Akerman Hall renovation a reality. our outstanding students and recognize and award their com- mitment and attention to their studies and research. A full Some success stories from our faculty include Professor Ellen list of these awards can be found on our website at www.aem. Longmire’s election to Vice Chair of the American Physi- umn.edu/alumni/. cal Society Division of Fluid Dynamics for 2013-2014. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has also honored In closing, I want to thank all of you who have generously Ryan S. Elliott, AEM Associate Professor and Russell Penrose donated your time, money, and talents to support the AEM Faculty Fellow, as a recipient of the 2014 Thomas J.R. Hughes department. Your contributions Young Investigator Award. Professor Ellad B. Tadmor and are valuable in our research and former postdoctoral associate Dr. Woo Kyun Kim’s ground- teaching efforts, both of which breaking paper on “Entropically Stabilized Dislocations” will allow us provide an outstanding be featured in the prestigious Physical Review Letters journal. education to our undergraduate and graduate students. We very The Aerospace Systems group has been joined for the rest of much appreciate it. the academic year by Fulbright Scholar Bela Takarics from the Computer and Automation Research Institute at the Hungar- Professor Perry Leo ian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Takarics will be working as a Department Head and Director Prof. Perry Leo Research Associate with Professors Balas and Seiler and their of Graduate Studies Department Head AEM Program Highlights In the fall, AEM made several big changes to its graduate Masters of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (MAEM) program, the first being a new initiative to evaluate and assess degree and replaced it with a Plan C option Masters of Sci- graduate programs on quality metrics. Current faculty and ence degree. Years ago, the MAEM degree was introduced graduate students identified the following learning outcomes primarily for people in industry who wanted to get a Masters as primary focus areas: (1) knowledge and scholarship; (2) degree without doing a research project. While the degree was intellectual curiosity; (3) communication skills; and (4) ability well used in the past, last year only one student was enrolled to work in a group/team. Success at these outcomes will lead in the MAEM program, while 28 were in the MS program. to the measurable goals of research productivity and jobs. Faculty and students agreed that these outcomes are relevant For undergraduates, AEM hosted the New Majors Welcome for students pursuing either an M.S. Event on Feb. 11th, in the Akerman or Ph.D. degree, and for students who Hangar. Students had an opportunity find either academic or non-academic to learn more about the program and jobs. meet AEM faculty. The event included 20 students admitted for May of 2013 The Department has also received and 40 students admitted for January approval to drop the coursework only of 2014. 1 DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS a l u m n i 2014 Living Legends Reception Honors Ballooning Pioneer Donald Piccard On February 6th, legendary balloonist and former UMN stu- organizing of the first balloon races. Together, they were the first dent, Donald Piccard, was honored with an appointment into the to fly the English Channel in a hot-air balloon and went on to U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame at the Living Legends Reception, establish Piccard Balloons, which was among the first manufac- hosted by Target Corporation Flight Services. turers of hot air balloons. Piccard contributed much to the sport of hot-air ballooning, including the innovative use of plastic and Much of the shape and form of hot-air ballooning today is the Mylar materials. direct result of Piccard’s enthusiasm and vision for ballooning. As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, Piccard made Coming from a family of legendary balloonists, Piccard was no the first post- World War II free flight in 1947 with a captured stranger to reaching new heights. Essentially born into ballooning, Japanese balloon. A year later he organized the first balloon club Piccard was exposed to such great innovators as Ed Hill, Henry in the United States, the Balloon Club of America. Ford and Orville Wright at a young age. Furthermore, his parents began enlisting him as a crew member for their renown balloon- By the 1960s he and his partner, Ed Yost, were instrumental in ing expeditions at the ripe age of seven. getting hot-air ballooning recognized as a serious sport with the His father, Jean, became involved in ballooning during World War I and dedicated his life to the study and improvement of high-altitude ballooning. In 1936, he joined the University of Minnesota faculty, teaching courses in stratosphere flight prob- lems, doing research, and conducting many pioneer balloon flights. Jeannette, Piccard’s mother, was the pilot of the famous family ballooning voyages. She managed to accumulate a slew of firsts for women in the industry, including becoming the first licensed woman balloonist in the world and the first woman to fly to the edge of space -- a women’s altitude record that she held for nearly three decades.