Aerospace Engineering

Faculty

Nikolaos A. Gatsonis, Professor and Department Head; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Development of continuum, atomistic and hybrid computational methods for fluids, gases and plasmas in regimes that range from nanoscale to macroscale and low- speed to hypersonic. He applies these methods to areas of spacecraft micropropulsion, plasma devices and diagnostics, spacecraft-environment interactions, space experiments, dusty plasmas, complex flows under microgravity, and estimation with unmanned vehicles.

John J. Blandino, Associate Department Head, Professor, and Undergraduate Coordinator; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology. Experimental investigation of plasma discharges and diagnostics including application to cathodes for electric propulsion, electrohydrodynamic effects in two-phase flows, spacecraft design and mission analysis.

Raghvendra Cowlagi, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology. Autonomous mobile vehicles, motion planning and optimal control, optimal sensor configuration and sensor fusion, generative AI for control systems, reconfigurable robotic manufacturing systems.

Michael A. Demetriou, Professor and Graduate Coordinator; Ph.D., University of Southern California. Control of intelligent systems, control of fluid-structure interaction systems, fault detection and accommodation of dynamical systems, mobile sensor and actuator networks in distributed processes, spacecraft attitude estimation and control, adaptive estimation of spatially distributed processes in native spaces.

Jagannath Jayachandran, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Southern California. Combustion at engine-relevant thermodynamic conditions; ignition, propagation, and extinction of flames; transient phenomena in reacting flows; air-breathing propulsion; detailed modeling of low-dimensional reacting flows; optical and laser-based diagnostics.

Nikhil Karanjgaokar, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Experimental mechanics at micro/nano-scale, temperature and rate dependent mechanics of nanostructured materials, dynamic response and flow of granular media, mechanics and damage of inhomogeneous materials, optical measurement techniques.

Ye Lu, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Purdue University. Astrodynamics and atmospheric flight mechanics, trajectory design and optimization for planetary exploration missions, aerobraking, aerocapture, aerogravity-assist, atmospheric entry, and formulation of novel mission architecture.

David J. Olinger, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Yale University. Aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, wind energy, marine hydrokinetic energy.

Mark W. Richman, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Cornell University. Mechanics of granular flows, powder compaction, powder metallurgy.

Zachary Taillefer, Assistant Teaching Professor; Ph.D., Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Electric Propulsion; Plasma Diagnostics.

Zhangxian Yuan, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology. Computational mechanics, structural mechanics, composite structures, structural stability.

Programs of Study

The Aerospace Engineering offers three graduate programs of study with the following degree options:

The combined Bachelor of Science (B.S.)/Master of Science Program leading to the B.S. and M.S. degrees (Thesis or Non-thesis option).
The Master of Science (M.S.) program leading to the M.S. degree (Thesis or Non-thesis option).
The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program leading to the Ph.D. degree.

Admission Requirements

For the M.S. program, applicants should have a B.S. in aerospace engineering or in a related field (i.e., other engineering disciplines, physics, mathematics, etc.). The requirements are the same for admission into the thesis and non-thesis options of the M.S. program. At the time of application to the master’s program, the student must specify his/her thesis option (thesis or non-thesis).

For the combined B.S./M.S. program, students must be currently enrolled as WPI undergraduates, or have graduated within the last five years from WPI, in aerospace engineering or in a related engineering field. When applying to the B.S./M.S. program, students must specify their intention to pursue either the thesis or non-thesis M.S. option.

For the Ph.D. program, a B.S. or M.S. degree in aerospace engineering or in a related field (i.e., other engineering disciplines, physics, mathematics, etc.) is required. The Aerospace Engineering Department reserves its financial aid for graduate students in the Ph.D. program or in the thesis option of the M.S. program.

Degree Requirements

The AE degrees are based on coursework and research. Courses are distributed in five curricular areas of study: Fluid Dynamics; Propulsion and Energy; Flight Dynamics and Controls; Materials and Structures; General Aerospace Engineering Topics.

Laboratories and Facilities

Aerospace Engineering

MQP Laboratory
HL005 (AE Faculty)
This 450 sq. ft. facility supports Major Qualifying Project work associated with a number of different aerospace related projects. Workbenches provide the space required for assembly, integration, and testing of hardware, often with more than one student group working together on complex, interrelated projects.

Aerodynamics Test Facility

HL016 (AE)
This 975 sq. ft. laboratory houses a low-speed, closed-return wind tunnel, with a 2 ft x 2 ft x 8 ft test section. The tunnel speed is continuously variable up to 180 ft/s. The temperature in the tunnel can be controlled via a controller and a heat exchanger in the settling chamber. The tunnel is equipped with a two-component force balance and a dynamic thrust stand. Aerodynamic flows including those related to wind energy systems and micro aircraft are studied in this laboratory with the aid of traditional pressure, temperature, and velocity sensors. The test facility is used for graduate research and undergraduate projects.

Laboratory for Fluids and Plasmas

HL016, HL314, and HL305 (Blandino, Gatsonis)
The Laboratory for Fluids and Plasmas (LFP) supports research and educational activities in electric and chemical micropropulsion, plasma diagnostics, spacecraft-environment interactions, and microfluidics.

LFP-016 is a 450 sq. ft facility that houses a 50-inch diameter, 72-inch long stainless steel vacuum chamber (T2) used primarily for the characterization of electric thruster component performance and investigation of spacecraft-environment interactions. The pumping system for T2 consists of a 20-inch cryopump backed by a rotary mechanical pump and positive displacement blower enabling ultimate pressure in the 10-7 torr range. LFP-016 also houses a second 29.75-inch diameter, 34.25-inch tall stainless steel vacuum chamber (T4) used for electric propulsion research including radio-frequency cathodes and pulsed plasma thrusters. T4 is pumped by a turbomolecular pump backed by a dual-stage mechanical pump achieving an ultimate pressure in the low 10-6 torr range. Both T2 and T4 are equipped with multiple ports for electrical and optical access. LFP-016 is also equipped with a variety of ancillary instrumentation including RF and DC power supplies, oscilloscopes, as well as data acquisition and flow delivery hardware.

LFP-314 and LFP-305 comprise a combined 600 sq. ft. facility housing two vacuum chambers and specialized test facilities for the investigation of onboard micropropulsion, electrospray sources (for both propulsion and nano-fabrication applications), plume-spacecraft interactions, microsensors, and microfluidics. The first chamber (T1) is an 18-inch diameter, 30-inch tall stainless steel bell-jar equipped with a 6-inch diffusion pump backed by a mechanical pump. The second vacuum chamber (T3) is a 22.5-inch diameter, 32-inch tall stainless steel bell-jar. It is equipped with a 6-inch diffusion pump backed by a dual stage rotary vane pump. Both T1 and T3 are capable of achieving an ultimate pressure in the 10-6 torr range. T3 also includes a computer-controlled probe positioning system to achieve precise, three degree-of-freedom positioning for diagnostic probes. In addition, T3 is equipped with a 3-centimeter Kaufman ion source with a computer-controlled, mass flow delivery system. For microfluidics research, LFP-314 includes equipment to enable study of two-phase flows in microchannels. Ancillary equipment includes a high-speed camera, high-voltage power supplies for studies of electrohydrodynamic phenomena, a fume hood, syringe pump, oscilloscopes, precision source meter, electrometer, and digital multimeters. LFP-314 also includes dedicated workspaces for electronics test and fabrication.

Aerospace Engineering Computational Laboratory

HL236 (AE )
This 660 sq. ft. facility is used for research in computational methods and their applications to fluid and plasma dynamics, propulsion, flight dynamics, controls, materials, and structures. AECL provides access to a dedicated high performance computing cluster.

Combustion Research Laboratory

HL026 (Jayachandran)
The Combustion Research Laboratory (CRL) is used for fundamental research and educational activities in laminar as well as turbulent, high activation energy reacting flows of relevance to aerospace propulsion and power generation. CRL is equipped with high pressure combustion facilities, high speed imaging, and laser based diagnostics.

Structures and Materials Laboratory

HL028, HL305 (Karanjgaokar)
The structures and material laboratory is used for undergraduate and graduate research in field of mechanics of novel materials and structures used in aerospace systems. The laboratory is equipped with NI Compact DAQ acquisition system for actuation and sensing applications to understand the mechanics of structures and materials. The laboratory includes an optical microscopy suite to visualize the full-field deformation of nanostructured materials with nanoscale resolution using Digital Image Correlation (DIC). The laboratory also hosts a high speed imaging system to investigate the mechanics of granular media under dynamic loading and the flow of granular media. The laboratory also focusses on the dynamic response of granular media and inhomogeneous materials using a gas-gun based impact testing setup. The laboratory is equipped with a Laser Scanning Doppler Vibrometer system to measure the velocity of vibrations in structures like particle dampers and ferroelectrics in low and high frequency ranges.

Laboratory for Intelligent Systems and Control

HL312A (Demetriou)
The (Laboratory for Intelligent Systems and Control) is a 400 sq. ft. facility equipped for experiments in control of unmanned aerial vehicles, wheeled robots, submersible vehicles, spacecraft, and dynamical systems with flexible structures. Workbenches equipped with power supplies, amplifiers, signal generators, data acquisition systems, and oscilloscopes are provided. For experiments in vehicle autonomy, state-of-the-art microcontroller platforms, such as the Raspberry Pi 2, along with sundry electronic components are available for rapid prototyping and implementation of onboard vehicle control systems. A network of off-the-shelf radio-controlled vehicle platforms such as the IRIS quadrotor helicopters are available. A network of wirelessly-controlled autonomous mobile robots such as the Clearpath Husky A200 UGV with onboard computer, IMU, and Velodyne LIDAR, the TurtleBot with LIDAR, and the iRobot Create wheeled robots are available. For experiments in control and optimization of flexible structures, an active vibration isolation table, velocity sensors, accelerometers, piezoceramic patches for actuation and sensing and a dSPACE® ACE1103 real-time data acquisition and control package are available.

Laboratory for Spaceflight and Planetary Exploration

HL312B (Lu)
The lab is aimed to enable the next generation of space exploration and has core mission design capabilities for research in astrodynamics, atmospheric flight mechanics, and broad search algorithms for planetary exploration missions. The lab will be equipped with hardware-in-the-loop simulations for spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics.

Autonomy, Controls, and Estimation Laboratory

HL311 (Cowlagi)
The Autonomy, Controls, and Estimation (ACE) Laboratory is a 400 sq. ft. facility equipped for experiments related to motion planning and control of autonomous mobile vehicles in unknown or uncertain environments. The lab is home to a portable Vicon motion capture system consisting of 8 Vicon Vero 2.2 cameras with heavy duty tripod mounts. The motion capture system provides localization with a 1mm accuracy. The lab also provides other highly portable localization systems: a Pozyx wifi-based system and a Polhemus radio-based system. Workbenches equipped with power supplies, amplifiers, signal generators, data acquisition systems, and oscilloscopes are available. Several microcontroller platforms such as the Nvidia Jetson and Jetson Nano, aerial vehicle autopilot and remote control hardware, and sundry electronic components are available for rapid prototyping and implementation of onboard vehicle control systems. A multitude of off-the-shelf radio-controlled aerial vehicle and wheeled robotic vehicle platforms are available.

Aerospace Engineering Experimentation and Data Science Laboratory

HL216 (AE)
This 570 sq. ft. facility houses table-top and portable experimentation apparatuses used for hands-on experimentation and data analysis in aerospace engineering courses. The apparatuses are also used during engineering lectures in the adjacent Discovery Classroom in a combined analytical-numerical-experimental approach.

Aerospace Engineering Graduate Student Office

HL 034 (AE)
This 285 sq. ft. facility provides office space for teaching and research assistants of the aerospace engineering department.

Classes

AE 5031: Applied Computational Methods for Partial Differential Equations

Department