Spring 2012 Edition
The Cutting Edge
Points of Interest: >Department News
>Scholarship Recipients
>Professor Spotlight
>Projects & Research
>Alumni/Student News
>Society Updates
Inside this issue:
Siemens Engineers Week 1
Message from Department 2
MAE welcomes Professor 3
Design Showcase Projects 4
AIAA Conference 6
Panther GBP Nano-
Payload 7
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department Newsletter
Download a .pdf copy of this newsletter and more on the
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering section of the College
of Engineering Website: http://coe.fit.edu/mae
Students take top prize at Engineers Week
In February, students from the Mechani-
cal and Aerospace Engineering Department
at Florida Institute of Technology were
invited to participate in the Siemens Engi-
neers Week Design Contest. Students from
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and
University of Central Florida were also
invited to participate.
Siemens Engineers Week is an annual
national celebration that recognizes engi-
neers for their many contributions. Each
year, Siemens has a week-long celebration.
During this event, students competed
against Siemens engineers in the design
contest, which has been the most popular
event of Engineers Week for many years.
Florida Tech teams have won this event in
the college category every year since 2009.
During the contest, 40 Siemens and six
college teams of up to five members per
team competed against one another on a
common theme. The theme is revealed a
few days before the competition, when all
teams picked up their kits and began pre-
paring for the contest.
Siemens Gas Turbine Engineering Director Vinod Phillip, Professor Ju Zhang and Florida Tech MAE
students celebrate their first-place overall finish in the Siemens Engineers Week Design Competition.
See Engineers, Page 3
Page 2
The Cutting Edge
Message from the Department Head
Dear Friends and Alumni,
As the spring 2012 semester draws to a close and we
prepare to say goodbye to a fabulous group of graduating
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering students, this
edition of The Cutting Edge contains some wonderful
examples of how our students and faculty have worked
together this spring to bolster the recognition of our de-
partment and our students’ alma mater. When you read
these stories the impressive accomplishments will speak
for themselves, but beyond the accolades I want you to
also note two key features in each of these stories: (1)
these activities are above and beyond anything required
in our curriculum, and (2) none of these activities in-
volved either professors or students alone, but rather both
working together as a team. These two reasons are a fan-
tastic reminder that we might be the biggest department
on campus, but we work together as a tight-knit family.
As a university, each spring we hold an Honors Con-
vocation to recognize our top students from all five col-
leges on campus; not only have these students demon-
strated outstanding academic performance, but these are
also the students who have made significant contribu-
tions to the university in terms of involvement in student
government and leadership, athletics, clubs, and public
service. This year, as usual, our MAE students won a
significant number of awards and the numbers speak for
themselves: 19 students were recognized as
“Distinguished Student Scholars,” 15 received
“Outstanding Student Awards,” and Mr. Bruno Poggi
Cevallos won the James G. Potter Award for Excellence
in Physics (read that again: Bruno, our sophomore in aer-
ospace engineering, also won the award for Excellence in
Physics!). We did well in the faculty awards category
too, with Dr. Razvan Rusovici winning The Kerry Bruce
Clark Award for Excellence in Teaching and Dr. Daniel
Kirk winning the University Award for Excellence in
Research. An impressive haul for our department!
This spring, Dr. Razvan Rusovici and Dr. Mark
Archambault were promoted from the Assistant to the
Associate professor rank, which represents a significant
step in their professional careers as well as a gain in pres-
tige for our department. We would also like to welcome
new faculty members that will join us in Fall 2012: Dr.
Tiauw Hiong “Yongki” Go of Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore; Dr. Sarada Kuravi of University
of South Florida; and Dr. Beshoy Morkos of Clemson
University. Their expertise areas in flight dynamics and
control, unmanned aerial vehicle systems, renewable en-
ergy systems, thermal management of electronics, and
mechanical engineering designs will not only enhance
and broaden our research and teaching areas, but also
immediately improve our student to faculty ratio.
In addition to these new faculty members, Dr. Mat-
thew Jensen of University of North Florida will join the
College of Engineering as a Pro-Track faculty advisor
and will also teach courses in the MAE Department.
These new faculty members were selected and recruited
through very competitive national search processes. At
the present time, we are still in search of a senior faculty
member to lead the automotive engineering program de-
velopment.
We always appreciate your suggestions and com-
ments. Please send them to us at the department address
or to me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Pei-feng Hsu
Professor/Department Head
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department
Florida Tech President Dr. Catanese, Exectuive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer Dr. McCay, and President of the Faculty Sen-
ate Dr. Baarmand presented the University Awards for Teaching and
Research to MAE faculty members Daniel Kirk and Razvan Rusovici.
Page 3
Spring 2012 Edition
Professor Spotlight
MAE Department welcomes associate professor Dr. Ke-Gang Wang
Dr. Ke-Gang Wang, Associate Profes-
sor, joined the Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department in Spring of 2012.
He received his Ph.D. from Chinese
Academy of Sciences in China. From 2006
to 2011, he was Associate Professor at
Florida Tech’s Physics and Space Sciences
Department. Before he moved to Florida
Institute of Technology, he was Research
Assistant Professor/Visiting Scholar, De-
partment of Materials Science and Engi-
neering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-
tute in Troy, New York from 1999-2006.
He also held an Associate Professor posi-
tion at Beijing Insti-
tute of Technology in
China.
Professor Wang’s
research covers mate-
rials science and en-
gineering and non-
equilibrium statistical
mechanics. He devel-
oped several funda-
mental theories and
computer simulations in materials science,
e.g., diffusion screening, stochastic theo-
ries, and multi-particle diffusion for phase
coarsening in materials with his collabora-
Dr. Ke-Gang Wang
years, always scoring first
place in the student compe-
tition and normally within
the top 10 overall, this
year, the MAE’s Flying
Dutchman was the first
student team to win the
entire competition. The winning team mem-
bers were Alex Trainer,
Curtiss West, Stephen
Cross, Rhys Lyle Fernandez
and Yethiraj Chamarthi.
The members of the other
team were Hunter Garrett,
Michael Mooty, Michael
Smith, Scott Record and
Drew Partynski.
Both of the FIT teams
worked closely together on
the competition this year,
researching, designing and
fabricating in tandem.
One of the biggest
boons to both teams was
the construction of a test
rig at team member Mi-
chael Mooty's house, al-
lowing the team to test
their designs in conditions
identical to those of the
competition.
The competition took
place on February 24. This
year, each team had to de-
sign and build a small sail-
boat from the materials
provided. The boats were
then raced in a rain gutter.
Two teams from Florida
Tech participated in the
competition. The Flying
Dutchman, built by one of
the FIT teams, easily beat
the qualifying times and
breezed through the bottom
end of the bracket, winning
by several boat lengths in
each race.
The final was between
the Flying Dutchman and
the One by Siemens. The
race was so exciting and
close one that the first
round resulted in a tie and a
rematch. Eventually, the
Flying Dutchman beat the
One. The victory was un-
precedented because alt-
hough teams from FIT have
performed well in past
Engineers
Continued from Page 1
Student awarded ASHRAE scholarship Members of the Florida Tech student chapter of the American Socie-
ty of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) joined Spacecoast ASHRAE to congratulate Swapnil Ku-
mar, the recipient of the 2011-12 Yarosh-Wiles Scholarship, on April
19 at its monthly meeting.
Named for mechanical engineering pioneers Marvin Yarosh, found-
ing member of Spacecoast ASHRAE, and Jack Wiles, one of the earli-
est members of the Canaveral Section of ASME and the Cape Canaver-
al Technical Society, the endowed scholarship was created through a
joint effort from Spacecoast ASHRAE and the Canaveral Section of
ASME.
ASHRAE president Kevin Messer, President-Elect Jean Dunce, and
MAE Department Head Dr. Pei-feng Hsu congratulated Swapnil and
pledged to continue the support of the endowment. Swapnil, who is also
president of the ASHRAE student chapter and an ME Sophomore,
along with Matt Walsh, also ME sophomore, outlined the ambitious
plans of the coming year’s activities. For more information about
ASHRAE activities, or joining the local chapter, please contact Swapnil
Kumar at [email protected].
tors. This research is funded by the National
Science Foundation, and is cited worldwide.
In the field of statistical mechanics, he
developed the generalized Langevin method,
the generalized Fokker-Planck method, and
the method of continuous time random walk
for anomalous diffusion. His theory in anoma-
lous diffusion is widely applied to explain
experimental results of dynamics of single
protein molecules and to other complex sys-
tems. He has authored two book chapters, 54
refereed journal papers, and has participated
in more than 42 colloquia and invited confer-
ence presentations and contributed 50 confer-
ence talks.
Members of the Florida Tech ASHRAE chapter and Dr. Pei-feng Hsu con-
gratulate Swapnil Kumar as the recipient of the Yarosh-Wiles Scholarship.
The Cutting Edge
Page 4
Student Projects
2012 Northrop Grumman
Engineering & Science
Student Design Showcase
The Student Design Showcase, sponsored by
Northrop Grumman, is an awesome venue for
our students to exhibit projects that they have
spent 3 semesters conceiving, designing, build-
ing and testing. With 15 highly successful stu-
dent projects, our graduating MAE students
have made their department, college and uni-
versity very proud! The pictures below provide
Team members of the Self-Maneuvering Parafoil, a project designed to develop port-
able, high-endurance, low-cost surveillance platform. The team received the
Northrop Grumman Prize, awarded to the top project within the College of Engi-
neering, as selected by a team of a dozen Northrop Grumman VIP judges.
Members of the Lunabotics Lunar Mining Competition Team were the recipients of
the 2012 President’s Cup and will compete in the NASA 3rd Annual Lunabotics Min-
ing Competition at NASA Kennedy Space Center May 21-26.
Members of the project Prometheus demonstrate how their
experiment will be used to make high-temperature measure-
ments on gas turbine airplane engine components. Project Pro-
metheus won the ‘2012 Best in Show for
Aerospace Engineering.’
Page 5
Spring 2012 Edition
Student Projects
a snapshot of a few of our award winning
teams!
In our Fall 2012 newsletter we will be featuring
a new group of project descriptions for the 2012
-2013 academic year.
If you or your institution is interested in spon-
soring a senior design team please contact Dr.
Daniel Kirk ([email protected]) for more infor-
mation about how Florida Tech MAE students
and faculty can assist in your challenging pro-
ject.
The Formula SAE car is a constant staple of the MAE Depart-
ment and the 2012 edition continues to carry the tradition and
experience of previous projects in the Formula
SAE competition.
Members of the Polyped Walker team show off their innovative design, which pro-
vides mechanical advantage and ease of operation on difficult terrain.
The Melbourne Search & Rescue Challenge team shows off their tilt rotor design,
which can take off vertically and then transition to conventional fixed-wing flight.
Page 6
The Cutting Edge
Student News
Florida Tech, Embry Riddle co-host AIAA Conference in April
a freshman-sophomore ‘Open Topic’ category. Six papers were
presented by individuals or teams from Florida Tech. Three of
these were in the Team category and represented projects from
the current Aerospace Engineering senior design class.
All of the presenters did an excellent job of representing
Florida Tech, and we proud to report that the Prometheus Team
represented by David Becknell, Darren Levine and Stephanie
Seuffert won third prize in their category meriting an esteemed
AIAA award. Freshmen and sophomore open topic papers were
presented by three teams who did a fantastic job representing
current FIT research and outstanding Aerospace topics. This
competition helps provide the tools and experience necessary
for these students to advance their own research and prepare
themselves for more presentations in the future.
The student conference has been considered one of the best
of the last decade, an imprint that will definitely be tough to
follow. The AIAA would like to thank the MAE department for
their generous donation and support of the conference. Overall,
the planning, execution, and results of the conference were su-
perb and well worth it.
During the first week of April, the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Region 2 Student Con-
ference was held in Cape Canaveral. This conference was co-
hosted by the Florida Tech and Embry-Riddle Student Branches
of AIAA.
The student teams from both universities worked extremely
hard over the past year to make this event not only a reality, but
a huge success. In particular, Florida Tech’s Student Branch
President, Joseph Bussenger, and the Vice President (who also
served as Conference Co-Chair), Akshay Lala, were the core of
the Florida Tech team that organized the event. The stu-
dent conference is very prestigious. The event attracted 234
students from throughout the Southeastern United States, in-
cluding schools such as North Carolina State, Auburn, Georgia
Tech, University of Florida and Mississippi State. For many of
these students, this was their first exposure to Florida Institute
of Technology.
The event featured 60 technical presentations by undergradu-
ate and master’s students, and prizes were awarded in several
categories, including group paper, undergraduate research, and
Student Rocket Research Society delivers winning performance
From left: Jared Sork, Lucas Worthen, Eryk Lorenz-Kruk, Andrew
Gilbride , Alan Cruz, Gabrielle Leesman, Brock Hedlund, Chad Har-
vey, Milen Womack, Kyle Levin, Patrick Diep, Michael Robison, Mike
Blaskovich, Jordan Senatore, Matt Levy participated in the Hybrid
Flight Team competition.
rience of team and project management which will prepare
them for future projects at Florida Tech and in the professional
setting. Chad Harvey led the program with great poise and lead-
ership that is unprecedented with support from Eryk Lorenz-
Kruk, Milen Womack, and Dan Purdy. We all would like to
congratulate the team and pass on the torch to today's current
freshmen as our new leaders, and the incoming freshmen as our
new hybrid team for next year.
The Student Rocket Research Society (SRS) Hybrid Flight
Teams once again proved that we have the best launch team in
the area. The teams flew both their high altitude and precision
altitude hybrid rockets on April 28 taking part in a competition
with schools from the University of Miami to Embry Riddle to
University of Florida. The FIT team was the only team to get two
flights off of the ground and have successful deployment. The
precision altitude team successfully recovered their rocket with a
competitive altitude of 2,135 feet (targeting 2,000); the FIT high
altitude team was the only high altitude competition team
to successfully fly a rocket.
Both teams were evaluated on their performance in how they
established themselves on the field, flight performance, and engi-
neering documentation, which each team has updated biweekly
for the past year. What sets FIT's teams apart is
the successful implementation of checklist procedures and famil-
iarity with ground support hardware.
After a year of work, both teams performed flawlessly and the
entire organization is incredibly proud of their accomplishment.
The goal of the hybrid rocket program in SRS is to provide
freshmen and sophomore members with the experience of de-
signing, building, and flying a hybrid rocket, as well as the expe-
Spring 2012 Edition
Student News
Page 7
FIT’s Panther-GPB Nano-Payload Reaches Space on Sounding Rocket
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering professors Dr.
Hector Gutierrez and Dr. Daniel Kirk, along with gradu-
ate student Jiten Chandiramani, were in New Mexico in
April to watch their scientific payload successfully be
launched into space onboard the SpaceLoft™ XL launch
vehicle. The SpaceLoft™ XL is a commercial launch ve-
hicle capable of reaching space (over 62.5 miles (100 km)
in altitude), with launches conduced from Spaceport
America’s Launch Pad One in New Mexico.
The Panther-GPB nano-payload, which incorporated
state-of-the-art MEMS sensors and GPS technology, and
was designed, built, integrated and tested at Florida Tech
and involved several graduate students from the Aero-
space Systems And Propulsion (ASAP) Laboratory. This
advanced payload was developed under a grant from the
Air Force Office of Responsive Access to Space (ORS)
and Special Aerospace Services, Inc. (Boulder, CO). Re-
sponsive access to space is a new paradigm for suborbital
research that envisions the use of small launch vehicles to
access space with greater flexibility and significantly low-
er cost than in a conventional launch. The Panther-GPB
nano-payload seeks to provide both the Defense agencies
and the research community with the technological means
to access space with nanosize payloads at low cost. The
Panther-GPB is a trajectory monitoring and data recording
device that records acceleration, rate of rotation, and head-
ing while simultaneously recording GPS coordinates dur-
ing flight. A future mission in August of 2012 is envi-
sioned to add more functionality to both payload and
launch vehicle.
The Missile Space and Range Pioneers partnered with the National Space Club Florida Committee to provide a forum for the two student pro-
ject teams supported by MSRP to present their projects to industry at the Space Club’s March lunch in Cape Canaveral. This event hosted 36 of
Florida Tech’s engineering students. 17 local aerospace companies donated seats at their corporate tables for the students and Delaware North
and NASA provided transportation for the students.
Dr. Hector Gutierrez, top left, graduate student Jiten Chiramani, and
Dr. Daniel Kirk traveled to New Mexico in April to watch their scien-
tific payload launch into space on the SpaceLoft™ XL launch vehicle.
Students invited to National Space Club Luncheon at the Radisson
Mail your donation to: Florida Institute of Technology MAE Department
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