Leadership Responsibilities

Column 3 Code: TT = Tenure Track T = Tenured NTT = Non Tenure Track

CRITERION 7. FACILITIES

The undergraduate and graduate curriculum in Aerospace Engineering is designed to provide a comprehensive program of study leading to a Bachelor's, MS, or Ph D Degree.  A key part of this program, particularly at the undergraduate level, is the laboratory experience, which is carefully designed to complement the concepts studied in the classroom and to introduce the student to a variety of experimental techniques and modern instrumentation.

i)      a sound education in the fundamentals of experimental methods, diagnostics, and advanced instrumentation;

iii)    physical insights into the subject matter encountered in the classroom; and

iv)   experimentally-derived results that can be compared with theoretical predictions discussed in the classroom, thus developing in the student a strong feeling and appreciation for the need to continually compare theory with observations; and

v)    an opportunity to make technical presentations (written and oral) and respond to questions.

 

The Role of the Laboratories in the Curriculum: The laboratory portion of the program of study is designed around the following courses.

i)      Required laboratory courses in the three fundamental disciplines that are the focus of the undergraduate aerospace curriculum, namely aerodynamics, flight mechanics, and structures.

The laboratory courses consist of the following.

AE 3051 - Experimental Fluid Mechanics.  The course complements AE 2020 (Low Speed Aerodynamics), AE 3450 (Thermodynamics and Compressible Flow) and AE 3021 (High-Speed Aerodynamics).

 AE 3145 - Structures Laboratory.  This course complements AE 2120 (Introduction to Mechanics), AE 3120 (Introduction to Structural Analysis) and AE 3121 (Aerospace Structural Analysis)

 AE 4525 -Control System Design Laboratory.  This course complements AE 3515 and AE 3521 (Aircraft and Spacecraft Flight Dynamics).

In addition, the Aerospace Computer Lab is a facility that supports all laboratory and lecture courses in the aerospace engineering curriculum by providing students access to modern computational resources for performing class assignments and projects, writing reports and preparing presentations.

Funding for major equipment items purchased in the past has come primarily from the Institute through the Dean of Engineering, the Provost’s Office (Academic Affairs), and Student Technology Fees, as well as some funding from the AE School.  It is anticipated that funding support will continue to come from these sources, while outside support from both government (e.g., NSF) and industry will continue to be pursued.

 

Aerospace Computer Laboratory: The computing support staff in the AE School supports the Aerospace Computer Lab.  The laboratory is currently open from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Monday-Friday.  It is operated in an unattended mode during these times.  All faculty members have direct access to the lab and can use it for instructional purposes at any time during the week.  Supervising graduate teaching assistants for the senior capstone design courses also have access to the lab and can use it on weekends and evenings for supervised lab sessions.  Otherwise, unattended operation of the lab outside normal business hours is not allowed. 

 The lab supports a suite of software that is appropriate to the educational and research objectives of the school.  The core includes word processors, spreadsheets, equation solvers, math systems, graphics systems, network access software, and all software in the suite of software that students are required to purchase.  In addition, a smaller number of special purpose software systems are maintained. All 30 systems currently in the lab are running either Windows 2000 or Windows XP. 

 The lab hosts specialized software for supporting classes in computational structural analysis, computational aerodynamics, simulation, geometric modeling, and multimedia creation and presentation.  A Beowulf Cluster system was acquired and installed in laboratory space in the Weber Space Science and Technology Building. The aim of this facility is to enable professional-level computation programs in fluid mechanics, solid mechanics and aeroelasticity into undergraduate courses.  The results from well-validated codes will be made available to formulate realistic problems, assess results using physical insight, and to give students a feel for the usage of such codes within an environment of academic guidance. 

 The laboratory is located in Knight 318 and occupies approximately 700 square feet of space.  The room is equipped with an SVGA video projector and can be used for classroom instruction where each student has immediate access to a computer.  In addition the lab can be used to host problem-solving sessions for other courses or it can serve as a place for student design teams to work together on a project.

 

Classroom Facilities: Classroom instruction in aerospace engineering is continually being revised, updated and improved to reflect the latest developments in the field and to incorporate the best and most appropriate instructional technology.  To support these efforts, all of the classrooms in the AE School are also being continuously improved with the addition of new but proven A/V technology appropriate to our program of undergraduate instruction.

 

Aerospace Structures Laboratory : The Aerospace Structures Laboratory provides hands-on experience in structural testing and experimental data collection and analysis for every aerospace engineering undergraduate.  Space for the laboratory is located in Room 301 of the Montgomery Knight building.  In addition, space is shared with the Structures and Materials Laboratory in Room 106 of the Montgomery Knight building, and the Composites Manufacturing Laboratory, located in Rooms 216-217 of the Weber building.

The structures laboratory is currently taught as one course, AE 3145, offered each semester of the academic year.  This one-credit hour class is offered in three or four sections each semester, with enrollment in each section limited to twelve students.  The course consists of seven two-week laboratory experiment cycles, with a one-hour lecture offered during the first week and a three-hour laboratory performed the following week of each cycle. 

The student selects seven experiments from a supplied list.  This list changes as new experiments are designed and developed.  Training is provided to allow each student to install strain gages in at least one of these experiments.  Tests are conducted, data collected, and formal written reports prepared for each experiment.  Where applicable, comparisons between experimental findings and analyses are made.  Analysis of the data and data visualization are carried out using spreadsheets and Matlab scripts while reports are prepared using word processors. 

A member of the faculty teaches the laboratory course for a full year.  Two graduate Teaching Assistants are assigned to assist students in each laboratory section.  One Instron screw-jack testing machine with modern computer-based controller is available in Room 301 for structural testing, and a second Instron 8500 series servohydraulic test machine, also computer controlled, is available in the Structures and Materials Lab.  Thus, both static testing with controlled screw-jack displacements and full dynamic testing under load, displacement, or strain control can be experienced.  The laboratory is also equipped with a computerized data acquisition system, and emphasis is placed on the use of this system by the students to automate data collection from the experiments whenever possible.  This is part of a joint effort with the Aerodynamics Laboratory (AE3051) to develop and implement a unified treatment of computerized data acquisition and control in tests using advanced instrumentation.

The structures laboratory courses provide a laboratory experience with a student/instructor ratio of about 4/1.

 

Aerodynamics and Propulsion Laboratory Facilities: The laboratory experience in Aerodynamics/Propulsion consists of a two-credit-hour junior-level core course (AE3051).  AE3051 aims to introduce the student to various diagnostic techniques commonly used in fluid mechanics research, preliminary design, and testing, specifically related to aerodynamics and propulsion. 

Nine different sets of experiments are performed in AE 3051 during nine laboratory periods stretching over thirteen weeks.  Knowledge of low-speed aerodynamics and two-dimensional compressible flow is assumed; these are covered in AE2020 and 3450, respectively.  Each experiment is built around a series of related measurement techniques.  In addition, the student learns to compare experimental results with the knowledge gained in the lecture courses.  Seven of the nine experiments in AE3051 require results summarized into data reports and the other two require full laboratory reports.  The experiments are performed in teams of three to five, but individual reports have to be prepared by each student.  The reports include the student's answers to several questions.  The grading of the reports considers various aspects of technical reporting and laboratory practice.  In addition, each student makes a ten-minute oral presentation to the class, describing the proposed solution to a hypothetical measurement problem assigned in the last four weeks of the semester.  This "proposal" is graded on creativity, thought, and thoroughness.  The audience is encouraged to ask questions.  The data acquisition procedures are largely computerized and all laboratory reports must be produced using word processing and computer graphics.  However, some aspects of the experiments are done by human observation, careful alignment and adjustment, judgment and qualitative sketches.

The facilities required to run AE3051 are located in Room 403/5 and 42" x 42" low speed wind tunnel in Room 106 of the main Aerospace Engineering building.   The Combustion Laboratory is housed in the new Combustion Facilities.  A shock tube is set up parallel to the low turbulence tunnel in the same room.  Supersonic flow experiments are carried out in a Mach 2 tunnel and an in-draft nozzle located in the Combustion Laboratory. In these three facilities, the undergraduate labs and courses are assigned priority in scheduling. 

 

Flight Mechanics and Controls Laboratory Facilities: The undergraduate controls laboratory is the main avenue for teaching analysis, modeling and control of dynamical (mechanical) systems to the undergraduate students in the School of Aerospace Engineering.  Typically, 90-100 undergraduate students take this lab every year. The pre-requisites include AE3521 (Aircraft and Spacecraft Flight Dynamics) and AE3515 (Vibrations and System Dynamics).

Twelve sets of experiments are performed in AE4525 during the semester. The experiments include either modeling (DC motor), or control (helicopter) or both (DC motor, Gyro Stabilized platform). Each experiment deals with a specific principle (PID controller design, lead-lag design, LQR, etc) and it focuses around a separate demo. Extensive use of the MATLAB and SIMULINK environments allow the students to implement/modify their control designs during the lab time in an interactive manner. Use of numerical simulations is necessary to test Flight Control or Stability Augmentation Systems for aircraft or stabilizing controllers for spacecraft. Recently, this deficiency has been mitigated by the incorporation of two new experiments: one on spacecraft 3-axial dynamics and control using a “spacecraft platform” on a three-axial air-bearing and one on 3-D flight simulator for avionics control design. The lab is conducted as follows: There is one 1-hr lecture each week that goes over the particular subject to be covered in the lab that week. Depending on the number of students, the rest of the week is devoted to conducting the experiments. For this purpose, the students are divided into groups of 8-10 students. Each group rotates on a weekly basis to a different experiment. The students’ lab responsibilities include both an individual report and a group report. In the individual report each student includes the details of his/her own control design. This part is completed before the student comes to the lab. The group report includes the results from the controller implementation and its evaluation during the lab. Each group is requested to compare between the simulated and measured response of the system and subsequently comment on the performance of each controller design implemented during the lab. Additional homework is occasionally assigned that covers topics introduced in the lecture part of the class.

Resource allocation at Georgia Tech is a top down process, where the State of Georgia allocates the resources for the entire University System of Georgia. The Board of Regents allocates these resources to individual universities. Once Georgia Tech receives an allocation from the Board of Regents, these allocations flow through the hierarchy of leadership to the various Colleges, including the College of Engineering.

The funds received from the Dean’s Office have been adequate for our faculty and staff needs. The total number of faculty has grown from 28 to 36 over the past 10 years, with a proportional increase in the state allocations received from the Dean’s Office. The sponsored research funds that the faculty members raise have been sufficient to develop and grow a vibrant research program that benefits graduate and undergraduate students, both.

Support for faculty development is provided in a number of ways. The Dean returns a significant portion of the research overhead to the school, which is used to cover faculty development and career growth efforts. As an example, some of the travel expenses for the faculty members for professional development (seminars, workshop, collaborative research) not covered by sponsored research are supported by the School. The School and the Institute also provide support in the form of presidential undergraduate research assistantships, internal grants for excellence in teaching and research. Funds are also provided to encourage and promote excellence in teaching and research, mentoring honors program students, and so on.

The technology fees allocations have been very valuable in acquiring and replacing equipment in our instructional and computing labs. We have been able to replace roughly 1/3 of the computers in the undergraduate computing lab every year, and have been able to provide software licenses (remotely available to students) for many of the state of the art software used in the aerospace industry.

With the growing number of students, faculty, and staff, additional resources are needed for maintenance and upkeep of the educational lab equipment and the computing infrastructure.
Adequacy of Support Personnel and Institutional Services

The School has a well equipped workshop staffed by three technicians, a Business Office staffed by five professionals, Academic Office staffed by three administrative assistants, and a staff academic advisor. The computing needs are supported by two research engineers. The faculty members also receive administrative support from six administrative assistants and an administrative manager.

Our program may be viewed as an engineering program combining aeronautical and astronautical engineering.  Our program has an adequate number of courses and credit hours in the following disciplines, and meets or exceeds AIAA criteria that “Aerospace engineering programs or other engineering programs combining aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering, must demonstrate that graduates have knowledge covering one of the areas --aeronautical engineering or astronautical engineering as described above -- and, in addition, knowledge of some topics from the area not emphasized.”  In many of these courses aeronautics and astronautics concepts are equally emphasized.   

Until the fall of 2002, the two-semester long capstone design sequence was on the design of an aircraft from a preliminary design perspective.  Beginning in the fall of 2002, students have had a choice between an aircraft design sequence (two semesters; six credit hours) and a spacecraft design sequence. In the fall of 2006, a third sequence (rotorcraft design) was added.

The following is the list of required courses.  Detailed outlines are given in the appendix.  Our Web site (<http://www.ae.gatech.edu>) contains detailed course material for all of these courses.

Aerodynamics (8 credit hours):

AE 2020 Low Speed Aerodynamics (3-0-3), meaning 3 hours of lecture, 0 hours of lab/recitation, 3 hours of credit;

AE 3021 High Speed Aerodynamics (3-0-3);

AE 3051 Experimental Fluid Dynamics (1-3-2).

Propulsion (6 semester hours):

Structures and Materials (13 semester hours):

 

Structural Dynamics and Aeroelasticity (6 semester hours):

AE 2220 Dynamics (3-0-3)

AE 4220 Structural Dynamics and Aeroelasticity (3-0-3) .

Flight Mechanics and Control (10 semester hours):

AE 3521 Aircraft & Spacecraft Flight Dynamics (4-0-4)

Performance and Design (11 semester hours):

AE 3310 Introduction to Aerospace Vehicle Performance (3-0-3)

AE 4351/4357/4359 Aerospace Engineering Design Project II (2-3-3).  

We also offer electives provide students with the opportunity to participate in national design competitions in the areas of aircraft, engines, space vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and engines.  These electives are available at the freshman (AE1355), sophomore (AE2355), junior (AE 3355), and senior (AE 4355) level.  Credit earned in these courses may be counted towards the free elective hours (9 to 10) available in the program.

Faculty: We have sufficient number of faculty members (twenty-eight full-time, three joint professors) to offer a comprehensive educational program.  The student-to-teacher ratio in the spring of 2002 was fifteen.  There are at least four faculty members in each of our six disciplines (aerodynamics, structures and materials, structural dynamics and aeroelasticity, propulsion, flight mechanics and control, and aerospace system design).  The Academic Council, a faculty group made of discipline chairs, is tasked with the development of program objectives in consultation with our faculty and our constituents.  This Council also monitors and coordinates the development of all undergraduate courses.

APPENDIX A – COURSE SYLLABI

Under construction
APPENDIX B – FACULTY RESUMES

Under construction

Professor of Aerospace Engineering