Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The department of aerospace engineering is flying high after winning three national awards from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Nobuya Nishio, University of Kansas alumnus, placed first among undergraduates in the Individual Airplane Design Competition for his design of a light-sport aircraft. Roelof Vos, doctoral student, won the Abe M. Zarem Award for Aerospace Research.
Ron Barrett, associate professor of aerospace engineering, was also recognized by the AIAA as a top educator in aerospace engineering.
“We like to live vicariously through our students,” Barrett said. “We’re so proud of them.”
Ron Barrett, associate professor of aerospace engineering, was recognized by the AIAA as a top educator in aerospace engineering.
Nishio, who graduated in May 2007, said he designed his plane to hold two passengers comfortably without sacrificing speed, affordability or style.
“I researched the current light-airplane market and its forecasts, and tried to find what I wanted to deliver to people,” Nishio said.
Input from the department of art and design and a steady supply of energy drinks helped Nishio complete the design after a semester of working 30 to 40 hours a week.
The finished product, named “Regulus,” was a sleek tandem-winged airplane with an artistic flare.
Nishio’s unique design lifted his entry above those of his competitors, Barrett said.
“He put his heart into it and the judges saw that,” he said.
The award has already garnered Nishio extra attention at Mitsubishi Motors in Japan, where he works.
But Nishio said accolades for his design have not been the most rewarding part of the experience.
“I’m more proud of my days of challenge and effort than the award itself,” he said.
Vos, who came to the University from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, won the Abe M. Zarem Award for his design of an actuator that would allow a plane’s wing to imitate the movement of a bird’s wing.
Vos said Barrett suggested the idea for the project when he was advising Vos at Delft.
“I thought, ‘No, that can’t be done. That’s stupid,’” Vos said.
Despite his initial skepticism, Vos decided to tackle the project.
His hard work paid off when the actuator was finally tested on a remote controlled plane.
“We put a lot of effort into it,” he said. “Seeing the thing fly was a cool day.”
Vos’ actuator, when applied to a small unmanned aircraft, allowed the plane’s wings to twist and bend according to airflow, giving the pilot a greater degree of flight control.
Built of a material that condenses or expands according to an electrical pulse, the actuator proved lighter, more efficient, and able to transmit information about 11 times faster than the conventional actuator used in many planes.
These advantages have motivated some students at Delft, Vos’ former university, to consider applying the actuator to wind turbines. Vos’ actuator could react quickly enough to counteract tiny vibrations in a turbine’s blades and could help conserve five percent of the turbine’s overall energy output.
Barrett said the technology could also be adapted and installed in passenger plane wings to act like shock absorbers and combat in-flight turbulence.
Though Barrett said Nishio’s and Vos’ designs would not hit production lines any time soon, he was still optimistic about the students’ achievements.
“I may not see it in my lifetime, but my kids will and my grandkids will,” Barrett said.
— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
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