MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department
enews Vol 3, #3
November 2006
In this issue:
- Awards and Honors
- Comings and Goings
- Spheres on the Big Screen in Historic Broadcast
- BU Invites AA to "Future of Space Exploration" Symposium
- PARTNER Debuts E-Newsletter
- CDIO International Confab Call for Papers Extended
- Department Academic Calendar on the Web
1. AWARDS AND HONORS
Citing his "unique sustained contributions to a broad
range of pathbreaking aircraft designs (human powered and otherwise)
and for development of widely used aircraft design software," the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has elected Prof.
Mark Drela an AIAA Fellow. Professor Drela is the Aero-Astro Dept.'s
Terry J. Kohler Professor of Fluid Dynamics. Professor Jack Kerrebrock,
who nominated Prof. Drela for the distinction, has said of his colleague, "(his
projects) have the beauty that stems from perfect functionality,
and they were executed at an extraordinary level of precision using
design tools of his own development. The aerodynamic design tools
that he has developed have set a new standard of accuracy and usefulness
for the aeronautical industry and are widely used in the design of
commercial and military aircraft and their engines." In 1988,
Daedalus, a lightweight aircraft designed by Prof. Drela, set the
world distance record for human-powered flight by traveling 72.4
miles from Crete to the Greek island of Santorini. A profile of Prof.
Drela appeared in the 2005-06 issue of the department annual "Aero
Astro" and may be read online at http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/news/magazine/aeroastro-no3/2006drela.html.
The Fellow distinction is bestowed by AIAA and its board of directors
upon members who "have made notable and valuable contributions
to the arts, sciences, or technology thereof in aeronautics or astronautics."
Congratulations to Carl Nehme, a doctoral candidate in Prof. Missy
Cumming's Humans and Automation Lab, for winning the Student Paper
Competition at the 2006 UVS (Unmanned Vehicle Systems) Canada http://www.uvscanada.org/ Conference this month. Of all papers submitted, a review panel selects
only three for presentation at the conference. A single winning paper
is then selected on the basis of technical merit, the author's 30-minute
presentation at the conference, and the paper's direct relevance
to UVS applications. Carl's paper discussed a decision-making aid
he developed. His prize is an all-expense paid trip to a conference
in Paris next year.
2. COMINGS AND GOINGS
Be sure to say "au revoir" to Prof. Geoffrey Landis
who is leaving us at the end of classes in December to return to
his position at NASA Glenn Research Center where he is a member of
the Mars Exploration Rover science team and the science theme group.
He is also the technical lead for extended temperature solar cell
research, and principle investigator for the Robotic Exploration
of Venus Project. Prof. Landis is MIT's first Ronald E. McNair-NASA
Visiting Professor in Aeronautics. Landis is also an accomplished
science fiction author and a winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards.
The professorship is named in memory of Ron McNair, an MIT alumnus
and a NASA astronaut killed in the 1986 Challenger explosion. For
more on McNair and the professorship, visit http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/mcnair.html.
3. SPHERES ON THE BIG SCREEN IN HISTORIC
BROADCAST
Doctoral candidate Simon Nolet of the Space Systems Lab reports
that two weeks ago SPHERES, SSL's micro satellite project, made an
appearance in the premier high definition live broadcast made from
the International Space Station. " When touring the U.S. lab,
Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria took a SPHERE and briefly described
the testbed to the audience," Simon says. The broadcast was
not only HD - it appeared on a particularly large format - it was
shown on the large screen in New York's Times Square http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_698.html.
You can download the SPHERE's SSL clip of from the original footage
on the Spheres Web site: http://ssl.mit.edu/spheres/iss/SPHERES_on_ISS_Discovery_HD.wmv and you can read more about them at http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/news/magazine/aeroastro-no2/2005millerd.html.
4. BU INVITES AA TO "FUTURE OF SPACE EXPLORATION"
SYMP0SIUM
Boston University's Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range
Future invites the Aero-Astro Community to attend "The Future
Of Space Exploration: Solutions To Earthly Problems?"
symposium at BU, April 12-14, 2007. The symposium will "consider
scientific and technological issues resulting in discoveries such
as Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars and observational evidence
for dark energy. We will be interested in questions such as the viability
of space tourism, entertainment, colonization and resource mining
to solve problems on the Earth. We will discuss the need for, and
maturity of, alternative propulsion systems within the next 50 years.
We will debate the intriguing question of extraterrestrial intelligence,
the tantalizing possibility of biological evolutionary paths that
may be significantly different from those seen on the Earth and the
theological and social implications of such discoveries." It's
not inexpensive - $350 for students, $400 for others, but the participant
lineup is impressive.
http://www.bu.edu/pardee/events/conferences/2007/SPACE/MASTER/index.html
5. PARTNER DEBUTS E-NEWSLETTER
The Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions
Reduction, the aviation cooperative research organization headquartered
at MIT and directed by Prof. Ian Waitz, has launched an email newsletter
to inform interested individuals about its research projects and
activities. The first issue includes articles, and links to articles,
about a new initiative to study alternative fuels for commercial
aviation, release of a Joint Planning and Development Office/PARTNER
aviation climate workshop report. 2007 PARTNER student paper competition
details, and more. To subscribe to the PARTNER enews, visit http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/partner-news.
For information about the articles described here, visit http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/partner/news/index.html.
PARTNER, an FAA/NASA/Transport Canada-sponsored Center of Excellence,
fosters breakthrough technological, operational, policy, and workforce
advances for the betterment of mobility, economy, national security,
and the environment.
6. CDIO INTERNATIONAL CONFAB CALL FOR PAPERS
EXTENDED
Doris Brodeur lets everyone know that the 2007 International
CDIO Conference Call for Papers has been extended until December
11, 2006. The Conference will be held at MIT from June 11-14 and
will be attended by representatives of the 23 CDIO Initiative member
universities from around the world, as well as by others interested
in engineering education. Papers should address one or more of the
following: curriculum design for changing contexts, adaptations of
the CDIO Syllabus, teaching and learning in changing contexts, student
skill development/assessment, design-implement experiences, intro
courses' changing roles, implementing/sustaining CIDO program momentum,
engineering workspace design changes, enhancing CDIO program faculty
competence, and evaluating CDIO program impact. For details, visit
http://www.cdio.org/meetings/jun07mit/index.html.
7. DEPARTMENT ACADEMIC CALENDAR ON THE WEB
A reminder - the AA Department Academic calendar has been posted
on the AA Web site. In addition to holidays, it includes dates of
specific Aero-Astro importance for such activities as Qualifying
Exams, grades due and theses deadlines. Visit http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/news/index.html and go to "Calendar."
If you know of events, honors, activities, or other information
you'd like to see in the next issue of Aero-Astro enews, please send
to wlitant@mit.edu - we'd be
pleased to include it!
Past issues of the enews are posted at http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/news/enews/archives.html
