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An Introduction to Jet Propulsion -- Gas Turbine Engine Fundamentals and Hands-On Lab for Freshmen
Prof. Zoltan Spakovszky, F. Ehrich
| Jan/22 | Tue | 09:00AM-04:00PM | GTL, Bldg 31 | |
| Jan/23 | Wed | 09:00AM-04:00PM | GTL, Bldg 31 | |
| Jan/24 | Thu | 09:00AM-04:00PM | GTL, Bldg 31 | |
| Jan/25 | Fri | 09:00AM-12:00PM | GTL, Bldg 31 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/15
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None.
Have you ever wondered how a jet engine works? This course will give you an introduction to the fundamentals of gas turbine engines and jet propulsion with a “hands-on” experience in engine assembly, measurement setup and operation of a small-scale gas turbine jet engine. The introductory lectures will cover the history of the jet engine, thermodynamic and aerodynamic fundamentals of gas turbine engines, current engine design trends, and background information on the small-scale jet engine design, assembly, test setup and operation. The hands-on lab will be carried out in teams in the engine test cell at MIT’s Gas Turbine Laboratory.
Sign up by December 15 by contacting Ms. Robin Courchesne-Sato at rsato@mit.edu.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Prof. Z. Spakovszky, 31-265, 253-2196, zolti@mit.edu
Aurora Flight Sciences R&D Center Tour
Tim Dawson-Townsend '90, R&D Center General Manager
| Jan/30 | Wed | 03:00PM-04:00PM | 4 Cambridge Center, Meet in Lobby of 4 Cambridge Center, Next to Meadh |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/29
Limited to 20 participants
Aurora Flight Sciences is a leading small business in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Servicing customers from the Air Force to NASA, Aurora spans the entire field from research to full-scale system design and development, to prototyping, flight testing, and production. Aurora's Cambridge Research Office works extensively with MIT faculty, students, and labs to conduct leading research in guidance & control, autonomy, advanced structures, space systems, propulsion, and vehicle concepts & prototyping. Visit Aurora for a company overview, details on some of our projects, and a tour of the Cambridge research facility.
Bring an ID to be admitted to the tour. Will depart promptly at 2:00 from the Lobby of 4 Cambridge Center (corner of Broadway and Ames Street).
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Tim Dawson-Townsend, tdt@aurora.aero
Aviation Accident Investigation or Agatha Christie for Engineers
Brian Nield (Boeing Commercial Airplane)
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Spreadsheet Skills (Excel); Some Familiarity with Aviation
Commercial aviation is extremely safe, in part due to knowledge gained from studying accidents. The investigation process and some of the most significant accidents are discussed. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to work with their peers in a small, self-directed, investigative team to solve a realistic (but fictional) aircraft accident mystery. New information on the crash will be given out each session as you piece together the facts to determine what caused the accident and build recommendations for improving flying safety.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Liz Zotos, 37-219, x3-7805, zotos@mit.edu
| Jan/08 | Tue | 02:00PM-03:00PM | 33-319 | |
| Jan/09 | Wed | 02:00PM-03:00PM | 33-319 | |
| Jan/10 | Thu | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 33-319 |
Bell Helicopter Textron Short Course: An Introduction to Rotorcraft
David B. Smith, Chief Engineer, New Product Development
| Jan/31 | Thu | 01:00PM-05:00PM | 33-419 | |
| Feb/01 | Fri | 09:00AM-02:00PM | 33-419 |
Enrollment: Advance sign-up strongly encouraged. See contact.
Sign-up by 01/28
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: None
The helicopter possesses a unique capability unlike any fixed wing counterpart. Long ago, physics determined that vertical lift would face enormous challenges. As proof, consider that a commercially certified helicopter (first introduced by Bell) arrived almost 50 years after the Wright Brothers’ initial “fixed-wing” flight. Rotorcraft engineers must resolve daunting issues in stability and control, aerodynamics, dynamics, and performance, while managing weight, cost, and complexity. Bell Helicopter is the world leader in rotary wing technology, with a military and commercial product line. Our V-22 Tiltrotor is the world’s fastest rotorcraft and our commercial operations service a world-wide fleet on all continents. This short course is intended to expose engineers to the fundamental principles that govern the rotor system and will introduce some of the unique challenges faced in rotary wing aircraft development. Students will find the advanced material more interesting by participating in the first session. Attendance at both sessions is strongly encouraged.
Presenters from Bell Helicopter include: David B. Smith , Chief Engineer, New Product Development; Mark E. Dreier , Staff Engineer, Preliminary Design; David King , Chief Engineer, 525 Relentless; Matt Hasik , Chief Engineer, V-22 Osprey; Dr. Albert Brand , Director, Flight Technology & Simulation.
Co-sponsored by Bell Helicopter.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Tour
Catherine Slesnick, Ph. D.
| Jan/31 | Thu | 02:00PM-03:30PM | 555 Tech Square, Next to NE43 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: Must be a U.S. citizen.
While still the MIT Aero-Astro department's Instrumentation Lab, we developed the computers and guidance systems that sent men to the moon. Now known as Draper Laboratory, our work spans everything from
guidance, navigation & control of vehicles that fly, swim, crawl, roll, walk and soar to development of micro-miniaturized electronics and devices, to biomedical devices,signal processing, and information exploitation. The tour will begin with an introduction to the Draper Laboratory, its history, and major projects. We will then visit several areas of the Laboratory and see some of its project activities. Restricted to U.S. citizens who must bring a government issued ID (such as a driver’s license) to be admitted to the tour and registration must be confirmed by Draper at least 24 hours in advance. To sign up, contact Marie Stuppard, mas@mit.edu. The tour departs from the Draper Lab Reception Lobby, 555 Tech Square, Cambridge (next to NE43). Co-sponsored by the Charles Stark Draper Lab. Web: http://www.draper.com/.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU
Fundamentals of Modeling and Simulation
Paul Grogan, PhD Candidate, Engineering Systems Division, Tom Coles, PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/14
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
This course is intended to introduce students to modeling and simulation techniques in an intensive one-week session. Advance registration is required and attendance is mandatory for all five days.
Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of modeling and simulation through progressive tutorial-based exercises culminating with development of a distributed simulation application. Course topics include Java programming techniques, object-oriented modeling, time-based simulation techniques, graphical and user interfaces, and distributed simulation using the IEEE Std. 1516-2010 High Level Architecture (HLA). Open source software will be used with an exception for the HLA runtime infrastructure for which a temporary license will be provided for the duration of the course.
By the end of the course, students should be comfortable with a Java development environment, able to create object-oriented models of physical systems, familiar with basic time-simulation and 2-D visualizations, and aware of the core components of the HLA standard. After conclusion of the course, students are encouraged to continue developing simulation models for participation in the SISO Simulation Smackdown, an international federated simulation event held at the Spring Interoperability Workshop from April 8-12, 2012 in San Diego, California. The SISO Simulation Smackdown seeks simulation federates to participate in a simulated lunar exploration near the Aitken Basin.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Paul Grogan, 33-409, 617-388-2427, ptgrogan@mit.edu
Paul Grogan - PhD Candidate, Engineering Systems Division, Tom Coles - PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Hands-on Aerospace
Abhizna Butchibabu
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/09
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None
Want to build your very own wind tunnel? Interested in programming unmanned robots? Want to learn how to get your pilots license? Come explore the fun side of AeroAstro by jumping right in! “Hands-On Aerospace” is a workshop designed to show how diverse AeroAstro can be through practical, hands-on activities and demos. In this course, you will group into teams and explore one activity in detail by building a hands-on demo, creating a guide/lecture to teach others how to make and use the demo, and finally showcasing it in front of the other teams. Examples of aerospace demos will include: - "Build Your Own Wind-Tunnel" - "Program a Team of Unmanned Robots" - "Engineered Structures: Why Light Composites Can Lift a Heavy Plane" - And many more … Not only will this workshop show you the practical applications of AeroAstro, you will help pass knowledge on to future generations by creating “demo kits” that can be used as instructional materials for outreach activities at high schools and middle schools across the country! Freshmen are particularly encouraged to participate.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Abhizna Butchibabu, abhiznab@mit.edu
Amy Bilton, Farah Alibay, Chelsea He, Abhizna Butchibabu, Sameera Ponda, Sunny Wicks
The Mars Homestead Project
Bruce Mackenzie
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None
Please see each session description.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU
| Jan/30 | Wed | 02:00PM-03:00PM | Room 33-422 |
This Hillside Settlement proposal by the Mars Foundation would build a
permanent settlement on Mars, constructed from local materials such as
fiberglass and masonry. Preliminary mass and cost estimates show that we
may be able to establish a permanent, growing settlement for the same launch
cost as a program of round-trip exploratory missions.
Casey Steuer, Bruce Mackenzie
| Jan/31 | Thu | 11:00AM-12:00PM | Room 33-422 |
The Mars Foundation is in the early stage of designing a very small,
(relatively) inexpensive manufacturing base for Mars, which can grow into a
permanent human settlement. Your feedback or participation is welcome.
Help figure out the least expensive way to get off the Earth permanently.
Bruce Mackenzie, Casey Steuer
| Feb/01 | Fri | 02:00PM-03:00PM | Room 33-422 |
You can make a salt shaker from thin air on Mars; and many other useful
items. Don¿t spend the money bringing equipment from Earth. The Mars
Foundation is planning to use a 3D printer at an analog Mars base (on
Earth). Help figure out how to use a fabrication lab with 3D printer &
water jet cutter, to make as much of the Mars base as possible.
Casey Steuer, Bruce Mackenzie
Tour of NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory
Herman Marshall, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist
| Jan/14 | Mon | 02:00PM-03:30PM | , NE-80 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/09
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: None
The daily science and mission operations for this NASA observatory are performed right here in Cambridge. Since its launch in July 1999, Chandra has been re-writing the textbooks as NASA's flagship mission in X-ray astronomy. It is used to observe the hottest regions of the Universe, including the remnants of stellar explosions, gas in clusters of galaxies used to find dark matter, the surfaces of neutron stars, and plasma falling into black holes. For more information on Chandra's recent discoveries, go to http://chandra.nasa.gov/ and http://chandra.harvard.edu/. Co-sponsored by Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU
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