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Aerospace Engineering

Program Overview 

Aerospace engineering is a challenging and exciting field that is engaged in the design of aircraft and space systems. The US aerospace industry is a world leader and one of the largest positive contributors to the US economy. WPI's Aerospace Engineering Program is well balanced to ensure that students develop strong technical competency in the fundamental principles of mathematics and basic science while obtaining a comprehensive education in aerospace engineering. The structure of the program broadens the student's educational scope and provides career opportunities in both aeronautics or astronautics related fields. The Aerospace Engineering Program at WPI is exemplary through its courses and senior Major Qualifying Projects (MQPs). Students gain hands on experience through the completion of an aerospace-related MQP and through laboratory work in courses. Experimental facilities available for course and projects in aerospace engineering include wind tunnels, vacuum chambers, and controls instrumentation. Modern computational laboratories are also available.

For more information about the Aerospace Engineering Program, contact Prof. Nikolaos Gatsonis

To request more information about WPI, or to apply for admission, visit the Admissions Web site.

News

2009 Aerospace Engineering MQP Awards

Congratulations to the following students for their success on Project Presentation Day, April 23, 2009:

WPI Provost's Award in Aerospace Engineering
Jeremy Chapman and Nathaniel Law
Project: Mechanical Autonomous Jellyfish
Advisor:  Michael Demetriou

Aerospace Engineering Program Award
Daniel Asselin, David Beavers and Stephan Jakubowski
Project: Investigation of Plasma Charging Effects
Advisor: John Blandino

AIAA Region I-NE Student Conference

On March 27 and 28, WPI hosted the 2009 Region I-NE Student Conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). This conference, hosted annually by one of the regional universities with active AIAA chapters, showcased work by students throughout the Northeast and provided an opportunity for students interested in aerospace to exchange ideas with each other and meet professionals from industry. Cash prizes were awarded by the AIAA for first, second, and third place winners in the categories of Undergraduate, Masters, and Team papers. The competition was supported by four oral presentation judges and seventeen technical paper judges from industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This year's conference included seventeen presentations from Clarkson, Cornell, Syracuse Universities, The New Jersey Institute of Technology and WPI. The meeting was kicked off on Friday with a welcome address from Prof. Art Heinricher, WPI Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and concluded on Saturday with an awards banquet. The keynote speaker was Dr. Al Sacco, a 1995 mission specialist on the space shuttle Columbia (STS-73) and former WPI professor. Of the nine prizes awarded, WPI student groups won second and third place in the team category. The two winning projects from WPI were: “Design Optimization of a Quad-Rotor Capable of Autonomous Flight,” advised by Prof. Demetriou, and “Design of Shape-Transforming Canopies for Parachutes,” advised by Prof. Olinger. This latter project was performed in collaboration with the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, MA. Both of these projects were Aerospace MQPs this year.

Masters:

First Prize:
“Characteristics of Metal Combustion from Constant Volume Explosion Experiments,” Priya Radhi Santhanam, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Second Prize:
“Bio-Inspired Bat Wing Design and Fabrication,” Richard Callahan, Cornell University
Third Prize:
“Aerodynamics of Opposing Jet Local Ventilation,” Chonghui Liu, Syracuse University

Team:

First Prize:
“Automated Pilot Control Assistance for a Micro-Scale Helicopter,” Jeff Hudson, Parker Evans, Collin Weber, Cornell University
Second prize:
“Design Optimization of a Quad-Rotor Capable of Autonomous Flight,” Paul Lindenfelzer, Antonio DiCesare, Kyle Gustafson, Tanvir Anjum, WPI
Third Prize:
“Design of Shape-Transforming Canopies for Parachutes,” Kyle Miller, Jeffrey Moffett, Casey Rogan, Amanda Pollack, WPI

Undergraduate:

First Prize:
“Application of Proportional-Integral-Derivative Control to a Supersonic Wind Tunnel,” Kristin Busa, Syracuse University
Second Prize:
“Experimental Evaluation of a Modified Weissinger Extended Lifting-Line Analysis,” Charles Daitch, Cornell University
Third Prize:
“High Speed Multipurpose ESTOL/VTOL Aircraft Design,” Jonathan Holla, Clarkson University

To see photos from the conference, please view this photo gallery or this photo album

NASA and NIA Announce Moon Design Team Competitors

NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) announced on 2/26/2009 the Moon Design Team Competitors.  The WPI undergraduate team led by Professor Blandino is one of the ten teams selected.  These undergraduate teams will compete against each other at the 2009 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (2009 RASC-AL) to be held in Cocoa Beach, Fla., June 1-4. For details visit RASCAL or Earthtimes.

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Last modified: April 28, 2009 13:26:09