MIT Aeronautics and
Astronautics Department
enews Vol 4, #4
February 2008
In this issue:
- Honors and Recognition
- Comings and Goings
- Nano-Engineered Composites Research Featured in
BBC Documentary
- PARTNER Alt. Fuels Project Focus of Globe Business
Section
- X Prize Comes to MIT
- AA Students Spend Month on "Mars"
- Space Systems Lab Works with Alum Astronaut During
ISS Project
- LAI "Metrics for Enterprise Transformation" Workshop
- Science Club for Girls Seeks Rocket Team Mentors
- Updated Aero-Astro Chemical Hygiene Plan Available
for Download
1. HONORS AND RECOGNITION
Professor Hamsa Balakrishnan has received an NSF CAREER award for
her proposal "Practical Algorithms for Next Generation Air Transportation
Systems." The award was through the Electrical, Communications,
and Cyber Systems Division under the Power, Controls and Adaptive
Networks program. Hamsa says, "The core insight in this proposal
is that by analyzing the large amounts of weather and airline data,
we can use weather forecasts to determine schedules that are robust
to uncertainty, design market-based mechanisms that manage airline
competition for scarce resources, and incorporate environmental considerations
into our optimization framework."
Professor Nancy Leveson is one of this year's Federal 100 - "the
top executives from government, industry and academia who had the
greatest impact on the government information systems community in
2007." The selections were made by an independent panel of judges
and the award is bestowed by the publication Federal Computer Week.
Winners are selected for the difference they made in the way agencies
and companies develop, acquire, manage and use information technology.
2. COMINGS AND GOINGS
Dr. Kim Blair, former head of the Sports Innovation Group and,
before that, the Center for Sports Innovation, which was once housed
within Aero-Astro, writes: I have taken the post of Vice President
of Research and Development for a great company Xenith
LLC. I have suspended all operations for Sports Innovation Group
and I will retain my MIT affiliate appointment, but will be significantly
scaling back my involvement there.
3. NANO-ENGINEERED COMPOSITES RESEARCH FEATURED
IN BBC DOCUMENTARY
Professor Brian Wardle's research on next-generation advanced materials
using carbon nanotubes is featured in the recent BBC documentary "Visions
of The Future" and in the Dec. 2007 year-end issue of AIAA's Aerospace
America. The research seeks practical ways to nano-engineer significant
multifunctional improvements to existing advanced composite materials
such as carbon fiber-epoxy used ubiquitously in aerospace applications.
The research spans the nano- (100,000X smaller than a human hair)
to the macro- (planes!) scale and benefits significantly from industry
input through the newly formed Nano-Engineered Composite
aerospace STructures (NECST) Consortium.
4. PARTNER ALT. FUELS PROJECT FOCUS OF
GLOBE BUSINESS SECTION
Research by MIT for the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise
and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER)
into alternative fuels for jet aircraft featured prominently in a
Business Section article in
the January 25 Boston Globe. The objective of PARTNER Project
17 - Alternative Fuels is to evaluate the relative environmental
impacts of potential alternative aviation fuels, examining the full
chain of use from initial energy harvesting/resource extraction,
to production and transportation, to use by the aviation industry,
to any end-of-use/disposal issues. PARTNER is an FAA/NASA/Transport
Canada-sponsored Center of Excellence fostering breakthrough technological,
operational, policy, and workforce advances for the betterment of
mobility, economy, national security, and the environment. The organization
is headquartered in Aero-Astro where it is directed by Professor
Ian Waitz.
5. X PRIZE COMES TO MIT
Dr. Erika Wagner, A/A SM '02, HST PhD '07, the new executive director
of the X PRIZE Lab @ MIT, reports that design classes 16.83 and 16.89
are hard at work on a private lunar rover to compete for the $30M Google
Lunar X PRIZE. A new course taught jointly by the School of Engineering
and Sloan — SP.719 X PRIZE Grand Challenges Workshop — is
exploring the role of these incentive prizes in fostering innovation.
And the X PRIZE Foundation is ramping up its engagement of faculty
and students interested in topics ranging from healthcare technologies
to energy efficiency. Wagner leads the effort.
6. AA STUDENTS SPEND MONTH ON "MARS"
Aero-Astro grad students Zahra Khan and Phillip M. Cunio and visiting
student Arthur Guest have spent time in February at the Mars
Desert Research Station. Expeditions Delta and Epsilon are the
fourth and fifth training expeditions of the Mars Society of Canada.
While at MDRS, Zahra serves as the Surface Exploration Systems Engineer,
maintaining the systems that the crew uses to conduct simulated EVAs
on the surface of Mars. These systems include detailed simulator
EVA suits, communications systems, and four-wheeled mobility systems.
Guest and Cunio are investigating issues associated with the logistics
of human exploration of Mars, especially small-package logistics
and "smart-box" applications. The project uses a portable
RFID-enabled logistics container to track supplies used by the crew,
which will help develop the modeling of supply and logistics flows,
as well as methods and procedures for realtime logistics replanning,
which can be applied to future efforts at Mars analog sites or in
actual implementation of a crewed Mars mission. More info on the MIT
News site.
7. SPACE SYSTEMS LAB WORKS WITH ALUM ASTRONAUT
DURING ISS PROJECT
Swati Mohan, a PH.D. candidate working in the Space
Systems Lab, would like all to know about the Lab's interaction
with Astronaut Dan Tani working on the SPHERES project. "Dan
performed four test sessions with SPHERES, aboard the International
Space Station from October 2007 to February 2008. We got much interesting
data back, from docking to reconfiguration to formation flight.
Tani is an MIT alum, Course 2, and was very enthusiastic about
performing SPHERES on station." At one point while testing
SPHERES, Tani removed his MIT-emblazoned ballcap and placed it
on one of the head-sized microsatellites. He also removed his brass
rat, which he floated across the ISS into the lens of the camera
with which SSL researchers in Building 37 were monitoring the tests
live. Tani returned
to earth on Feb. 20. Aero-Astro alumnus Greg Chamitoff is scheduled
to fly to the ISS in late April.
8. LAI "METRICS FOR ENTERPRISE TRANSFORMATION" WORKSHOP
Professor Debbie Nightingale advises all about an upcoming Lean
Advancement Initiative workshop "Kee: Metrics for Enterprise
Transformation." The event is at Lockheed Martin, Center for
Leadership Excellence in Bethesda, Maryland on March 6. It features
LAI and MIT’s latest metrics research and snapshots of projects
under way at a variety of LAI member organizations, including Raytheon
and Rockwell Collins, among others. This event is designed to identify
the most pressing challenges for metrics within the context of
lean enterprise transformation and begin an ongoing conversation
for sharing findings and lessons learned. Details at http://lean.mit.edu/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=16&year=2008&month=3&day=6&Itemid=422
9. SCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS SEEKS ROCKET
TEAM MENTORS
Science Club for
Girls’ Rocket Team is a group of high school girls who
get together every third Saturday at MIT to design, build, and
compete in model rocketry competitions. They are mentored by students
Stephanie Couch, Ariane Chepko and Anuja Mahashabde and Professor
Karen Willcox. Mahashabde writes: "We are looking for additional
mentors to help run this activity!" This program is coordinated
by Dr. Connie Chow at the Science Club for Girls. Please contact
Dr. Chow at scfg_ed@mac.com for
more information or if you would like to help out. The goal of
the Rocket Team program is to promote interest in science and engineering
while having fun! "We aim to go through a full engineering
analysis starting from basic principles, design and conception,
fabrication and launch tests to meet design goals," Anuja
says.
10. UPDATED AERO-ASTRO CHEMICAL HYGIENE
PLAN AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
The Aero-Astro Chemical Hygiene Plan, updated for 2008, is now
posted for download on the Aero-Astro
Environmental Health and Safety Web page. Researchers and lab
supervisors are required to read this plan. They must certify that
they have read the plan by completing and signing an online form,
located on the EHS page. There are requirements, including prior
training, for everyone in Aero-Astro — students, faculty, and
staff — who participates in workspace activities or has contact
with potentially hazardous materials or activities. For more information,
visit the above site.
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!
