Dear Alumnae/Alumni

Hello again from PennState’s Department ofAerospace Engineering. Inour past newsletter I brieflydescribed the manyadvances that we anticipat-ed for our department in theupcoming year. Now I ampleased to report that we arerealizing many of our expec-tations, and in fact exceed-ing them in some areas.

The most obvious gain wasmade when four new facultyjoined our ranks. ProfessorDavid Spencer joined us inthe fall of 1999 in the areaof spacecraft dynamics andcontrol. Joining us in the fallof 2000 Professors KenBrentner, Joe Horn, andDebbie Levin have alreadymade important contribu-tions to our department. Dr.Levin is teaching predomi-nantly in the astronauticsarea and Dr. Horn in flightscience and controls. Wewere previously thin in boththose areas. Dr. Brentnerstrengthens two thrustareas: rotorcraft and highperformance computing. Allour new faculty are fullyinvolved in teaching, advis-ing both undergraduate andgraduate students, and con-ducting sponsored research.

The new faculty have mostly“replaced” previously retiredfaculty. We are indeed fortu-nate that our EmeritusProfessors have pitched in tocontinue to contribute to ourteaching. Later in thenewsletter you will readabout Boeing ProfessorEmeritus BarneyMcCormick’s advising of twostudent groups to nationaldesign competition awards.Professor Emeritus SkipSmith had previously carvedout the design course (andnational competition suc-cess) as one of his areas ofcontribution. Both Skip andBarney have been resurrect-ing the flight test coursemixing in our new flightsimulator with several smallaircraft flight tests. AlumnusBill Posnett deserves a lot ofcredit for making the simu-lator work in the two yearshe spent with us as aTeaching Assistant.

Professor Emeritus TonyAmos helped our teachingprogram last year but thisyear he returned to his birthcountry Ghana to help estab-lish an AerospaceEngineering teaching pro-gram at the University ofScience and Technology,Kumasi, Ghana. Penn Stateis very fortunate to have the

active participation of retiredfaculty in our programs.

The other major news fromthe department is the relo-cation of our main office to229 Hammond (down thehall from 233 that most ofyou grew accustomed to).The department made anice gain with newly remod-eled space for most of ouroffices and acquisition ofsubstantial additional labspace. The additional spacewill expand our teachingand research labs. Let metake this opportunity tothank (again) those of youwho provided donations tohelp take advantage of thestate equipment cost sharingopportunity for the newwind tunnel. I’m pleased toreport that the fabrication iswell underway and weexpect the funds we raisedwill see us through to com-pletion. Having a first classwind tunnel nearby inHammond dedicated pre-dominantly to teaching willbe a big boost and will freeup our large tunnel forexpanded research activity.We hope to see the new tun-nel ready for use thisupcoming fall.

Alums are helping in manyadditional ways. Your partici-

pation in our web-based cur-riculum assessment hasbeen playing an importantrole in our efforts to imple-ment continuous improve-ment in our teaching activi-ty. Large numbers of you aresending in notification ofemployment opportunities.These are all displayedprominently in our hallwayglass cases. It is very satisfy-ing to see ample employ-ment opportunities for ourgraduates. This will becomemore important since ourenrollments are increasingat a healthy rate.

We are always pleased tohear of the career progressof our alumns, so pleasekeep your messages coming.Best wishes for continuedsuccess in your endeavors.

Sincerely,

Dennis K. McLaughlin

Aerospace EngineeringThe

Newsletter

A publication of Aerospace Engineering Spring 2001

a message from the department head

Four new faculty have joined the Aerospace EngineeringDepartment.

Dr. Kenneth S.Brentner, AssociateProfessor ofAerospaceEngineering, joinedour faculty in July2000. He was asenior research engineer in rotorcraftacoustics and compu-tational aeroacousticsin the Aerodynamics,Aerothermodynamicsand Acoustics compe-tency at NASA LangleyResearch Center. Hereceived his B.S.degree in 1983 in Aeronautical and AstronauticalEngineering (with highest distinction) from PurdueUniversity. In 1987, he received a Master of Science degreein Aeronautical Engineering from the George WashingtonUniversity, Joint Institute for the Advancement of FlightSciences (JIAFS). In 1991, he received his Ph.D. from theDepartment of Engineering/Acoustics from the University ofCambridge, Corpus Christi College, United Kingdom. Dr.Brentner has been serving as an Associate Editor for theJournal of the American Helicopter Society since 1998.

Dr. Joseph F. Horn,Assistant Professor ofAerospaceEngineering, joinedour faculty in July2000. He came toPenn State fromSikorsky AircraftCorporation and alsoworked for PiaseckiAircraft in Essington,PA prior to his Ph.D.studies. Dr. Hornreceived his B.S.degree in May 1990in AerospaceEngineering (with

Distinction) from the University of Virginia and his M.S.degree in August 1992 in Mechanical and AerospaceEngineering from the same university. He received hisPh.D. in Aerospace Engineering in June 1999 from theGeorgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Horn’s research isfocused in the area of flight mechanics and controls.

Dr. Deborah Levin,Associate Professor ofAerospaceEngineering, joinedour faculty in August2000. She came fromthe GeorgeWashington Universityin Washington, DC.where she was aResearch Professorand lecturer for theDepartment ofChemistry. Dr. Levinreceived her B.S.degree in 1974 fromthe State University ofNew York at Stony Brook and her Ph.D. in June 1979 fromthe California Institute of Technology. She worked as aresearcher and task leader at the Institute for DefenseAnalysis (IDA). Dr. Levin’s research area is modeling ofchemically reacting flows, optical radiation and spaceexperiments.

Dr. David B. Spencer,Assistant Professor ofAerospaceEngineering, joinedour Penn State facultyin August 1999. Hewas Head of theSpaceflight Dynamicsand Control Group atthe U.S. Air ForceResearch Laboratory,Kirtland AFB, NM. Dr.Spencer's researchefforts have beenfocused in the area ofspacecraft dynamicsand control. He

received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1983from the University of Kentucky, his M.S. in Aeronauticsand Astronautics in 1985 from Purdue University, and hisPh.D. in 1994 in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from theUniversity of Colorado. Dr. Spencer is an Associate Editorfor the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets.

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New Faculty

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Faculty

PROMOTIONS:

Cengiz Camci was promoted toProfessor as of July 2000. Dr. Camcijoined the Penn State faculty as anAssistant Professor in September 9,1986 and was promoted to AssociateProfessor in July 1993. He receivedhis doctorate from the Von KarmanInstitute, Belgium in May 1985 andwas a Research Associate at the VonKarman Institute before coming toPenn State. Dr. Camci is very active inturbomachinery heat transfer research,having developed major new facilitiesand unique experimental techniques.

Robert G. Melton was promoted toProfessor as of July 2000. Dr. Meltonjoined the Penn State faculty as anAssistant Professor in September 1,1981 and was promoted to AssociateProfessor in July 1987. He receivedhis doctorate from the University ofVirginia in 1982 in EngineeringPhysics. While at Penn State, Dr.Melton has developed several newcourses in the spacecraft curriculumand has also been recognized as oneof the most outstanding teachers in theCollege of Engineering. Dr. Meltonreceived the Premier Teaching Awardfrom the College of Engineering in1992. He is now serving as Director ofUndergraduate Studies.

FACULTY AWARDS &RECOGNION:Cenciz Camci, professor of aerospaceengineering, was awarded a 1999DOE/AGTSR faculty fellowship for writ-ing a reference book on “Liquid CrystalThermography in Aero-thermalSystems”. He also was awarded aNASA Lewis/Glenn Research Center vis-iting Faculty Fellowship during January,February, and March 1999 and

received an Ecole Centrale Lyon(France) Visiting Faculty Fellowshipduring April/May and June 1999.Finally, he was named a fellow of theAmerican Society of MechanicalEngineers (ASME) and received a bestpaper award from ASME’sInternational Gas Turbine Institute. Dr.Camci was honored for his paper, “AStudent-Executed, Industrial GasTurbine Design Project with anIndustrial Deadline.”

Farhan S. Gandhi, assistant professorof aerospace engineering, was appoint-ed chairman of the AHS DesignTechnical Committee in June 1999. Heis also serving as Guest Editor forSmart Materials and Structures Journal,Special Issue on RotorcraftApplications. This issue will be pub-lished in Spring 2001.

Dennis K. McLaughlin, Professor andHead, Department of AerospaceEngineering, was named chair of theAIAA Aeroacoustics TechnicalCommittee.

George A. Lesieutre and Michael M.Micci, professors of aerospace engi-neering, each won a 2000 Penn StateEngineering Society Award forOutstanding Research in the College ofEngineering.

George A. Lesieutre, professor of aero-space engineering, was awarded the1999 Adaptive Structures and MaterialSystems Best Paper Award from ASMEAerospace. Also, Dr. Lesieutre wasnamed chair of the AIAA AdaptiveStructures Technical Committee.

Lyle N. Long, professor of aerospaceengineering, director of the Institutefor High Performance Computing andco-director of the Rotorcraft Centerreceived a certificate of merit from theAmerican Institute of Aeronautics andAstronautics.

David B. Spencer, assistant professorof aerospace engineering, was namedAssociate Editor for the AIAA Journalof Spacecraft and Rockets. He alsowas awarded the Pearce DevelopmentProfessorship (an endowed professor-ship) at Penn State.

Edward C. Smith, associate professorof aerospace engineering, was appoint-ed chairman of the AHS DynamicsTechnical Committee in May 2000.

Mark D. Maughmer, associate profes-sor of aerospace engineering, has beencited by Soaring Magazine for hisaccomplishments in designing wingletsfor high-performance sailplanes.During the recent racing season, thewinning glider in all four major classesat U. S. National contests wereequipped with his designs. Also, dur-ing the past year, he was namedTechnical Chairman of OSTIV (TheInternational Organization for theScience and Technology of Soaring).

Michael M. Micci, professor of aero-space engineering, has completed histhree year service as associate editorof the AIAA Journal of Propulsion andPower.

Robert G. Melton, professor of aero-space engineering, has been reappoint-ed as Associate Editor of the Journal ofGuidance, Control, and Dynamics.Also, he was elected vice president-technical of the American AeronauticalSociety. His term of office will be oneyear.

Philip J. Morris, professor of aerospaceengineering, began service as anAssociate Editor of the AIAA Journal inJanuary, 1999.

Awards & Recognition

STUDENT AWARDS:

The Penn State Aerospace student team, with Dr. BarnesMcCormick, Boeing Professor Emeritus of aerospace engi-neering as their faculty advisor, won 3rd place in the 1999-2000 NASA/FAA General Aviation Design. The award waspresented at a special ceremony at the ExperimentalAircraft Association's Air Venture 2000 in Oshkosh, WI onSaturday, July 29, 2000. Participating students wereRichard Ackerman, Kelly Bott, Paul Bunker, DavidClayton, David Matsumoto, James O'Connor, Dan Susich,David Wisniewski, Eric Frederick, Juan Negron, LuisRodriguez and Tom Urie.

An additional Penn State undergraduate team, with Dr.McCormick as their faculty advisor, has won 1st place inthe American Helicopter Society student design competi-tion. Darryl Genovesi and Joseph Wolfe were the leadersof the winning team. Darryl is presently in graduate schoolat Penn State and Joe is employed at Boeing in Philadelphia.

Xinwen Xiao, Aerospace Engineering, and James Tallman,Mechanical Engineering, have both been awarded a $1,000Beginning Engineer Fellowship by the ASME/IGTI (TheAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers/InternationalGas Turbine Institute) Board of Directors. This award is tobe used to assist them with their travel expenses to theASME Turbo Expo 2000 Exposition and Users Symposiumin Munich, Germany, May 8-11, 2000 to present their

respective papers. Jim is the co-author of the two part technical paper (co-authored with B. Lakshminarayana).The paper is entitled “Numerical Simulation of Tip LeakageFlows in Axial Flow Turbines with Emphasis on FlowPhysics, Part I: Effect of Tip Clearance Height; and Part II:Effect of Outer Casing Relative Motion.

Timothy Cichan was presented the Mid-Atlantic RegionSigma Gamma Tau award for an outstanding student whohas demonstrated exceptional academic and technicalachievement, participation in extracurricular activities andinterested in their chosen profession. Timothy is presentlya graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at Penn State.

The AIAA 2000 Mid-Atlantic Region Student Conferencewas held here at Penn State, April 7-8, 2000. Graduatepaper competition winners were:

Kristin D. Culler, 1st place for her paper entitled “ActivelyControlled Isolation and Pointing Using FlextensionalPiezoelectric Actuators” at the 2000 conference. Eric H.Cardiff and Silvio Chianese tied for 2nd place. Eric’s paperwas entitled “High Performance Rocket PropellantCombustion Stability Characteristics” and Silvio’s was enti-tled “Spectroscopic Analysis of Plasmas Developed forEnhanced Supersonic Hydrocarbon Combustion.” Kristinsubsequently won the Dr. Abe Zarem Award forDistinguished Achievement, sponsored by AIAA, whichincluded attending the International Astronautics FederationConference in Rio de Janeiro to present her research.

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Awards & Recognition

Student Team accepting awardLeft to right – Dr. Barnes McCormick (faculty advisor), Jim O’Connor, Cecilia Hunziker (FAA Regional Administrator for the GreatLakes Region), Luis Rodriquez, Bill Posnett (the team’s technical advisor), and Hank Jarrett (Deputy Manager, NASA GeneralAviation Program Office).

1950sMr. Jim Marley (B.S. 1957), a retired chairman of theboard of AMP Incorporated,leads the College ofEngineering committee ofeighteen alumni volunteersto campaign to raise $1 bil-lion by June 30, 2003, toincrease Penn State'sendowment to a level com-parable with other Big TenUniversities. In 1997, Jimand Judy Marley endowed agraduate fellowship whichenabled Paul Reigel to earnhis M.Eng. in 1999 and willbe available each year to adeserving student.

1960sCapt. Bill Posnett, III,retired (B.S., 1969) hasreturned to Pax River as anAV-8B Propulsion SystemsEngineer. In his two yearsas a Teaching Assistant toProfessors McCormick andSkip Smith, Bill madetremendous contributions toour aircraft design and flighttest courses. His responsibil-ities include the planningand development of all sys-tem technical requirements,development and implemen-tation of program plans, and

the coordination of workefforts by field activities andcontractors. As the SeniorPropulsion and PowerSystems Engineer for theF402, he plans, initiates,directs, and coordinates alltechnical and system pro-gram management functionsof the F402 Pegasus engine.

Mr, Mike Markowski (B.S.1968) has become a leadingauthority on hang glidersand ultralight aircraft. Hiscompany, MarkowskiInternational Publishers hasrecently produced a facsimi-le of “Birdflight as the Basisof Aviation” a compilationof the original writings ofOtto Litienthal. This bookpresents the very founda-tion of the science of aero-dynamics and aeronauticalengineering. It was studiedby most of the early pio-neers of flight and theWright Brothers consideredLilienthal as their hero.Reading it would give aerostudents and practitionersexcellent basic insights.Mike’s e-mail is:amaeroarch@aol.com.

1970sDr. Alan Egolf (B.S. 1971,M.S. 1973) was appointedChief of Aerodynamics ofSikorsky Aircraft last year.

This past year, Mr. William(Bill) Guzik (B.S. 1979) wasappointed President ofSound Technologies, Inc. inState College, PA. SoundTechnologies is a fast grow-ing local company that spe-cializes in the design andmanufacturing of ultrasonicprobes (and the associatedcomputer and software sys-tems) for medical diagnostics.

1980sDr. Matthew Warfield (M.S.,1985, Ph.D., 1987) hasreceived a promotion toAssociate Technical Fellow,The Boeing Company,Seattle, WA.

1990sMr. Larry Smith (B.S. 1990)has received the John E.Burdette Memorial Awardhonoring the outstandingflight test project engineeror scientist at the Naval AirWarfare Center AircraftDivision, Patuxent River,MD. Mr. Smith is a 1995graduate of the UnitedStates Naval Test PilotSchool and is currentlyassigned to the NAVAIRTesting & EvaluationEngineering Department,Propulsion, Power, andMechanical SystemsDivision. He has been amember of the V-22 inte-grated test team for the last10 years.

Mr. Peter Heasley, (B.S.1991) is a member of TPSClass 110 and was honoredfor his recent work with thehigh altitude and enduranceunmanned arial vehicle pro-gram (HAEUAV). He wasawarded specifically for hisefforts as the program'sDarkStar government testdirector. He is currentlyassigned to the ShipboardSuitability Competency,Rotary Wing Branch,Patuxent River, MD.

Mr. Larry Trick, (B.S. 1982,M.Eng. 1994) is now theAssistant Deputy ProgramManager for Visual LandingSystems, at the Naval AirSystems Command inPatuxent River, Maryland.

Prior to that he was theBranch Head for RotaryWing Ship Suitability andTeam Leader for DynamicInterface for 12 years.Larry has been a very activealumni in the area ofrecruiting and arranging forstudent tours of the Navyfacilities at “Pax River.”

Dr. Kevin Kinzie, (M.S.1991, Ph.D., 1995), joinedNASA Langley ResearchCenter following three yearsat General Electric AircraftEngines. Kevin now directsthe High Speed Jet NoiseLaboratory at NASA Langleyoriginally developed byanother Penn StateAlumnus, Dr. Jack Seiner,Ph.D. (M.S. 1969, Ph.D.1974). Jack has moved onto become Professor andAssociate Director of theNational Physical AcousticsLaboratory at the Universityof Mississippi, Oxford, MS.

Mr. Mike Arata, (B.S. 1991)has been promoted to LeadEngineer for UnitedAirlines’ Chicago O’HareOperations. Mike informedthe department of the needfor technical personnel whotemper these advancementswith practical and costeffective applications.

Mr. William P. Geyer, Jr.(B.S. 93, M.S. 95) hasreceived international recog-nition for his work on the V-22 Osprey. Mr. Geyer, theships suitability lead engi-neer with the V-22 integrat-ed Test Team, was presentedthe AHS Bagnoud VerticalFlight award. This award ispresented yearly to outstand-ing contributors to verticalflight by an AHS memberunder the age of 30.

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Mr. James Marley (B.S. 57)and Paul Reigel, M. Eng.,1999

Alumni & Alumnae Notes

See Photo – Next Page

Carl A. Shollenberger Memorial Scholarship in AerospaceEngineeringDerek Bridges

Paul Morrow Endowed Scholarship and Rayfield GraduateFellowshipTimothy Cichan

H. Thomas & Dorothy Willits Hallowell ScholarshipKimberly A. Clark

Aero Pioneers Class of 1944 Scholarship in AerospaceEngineeringKimberly K. Comstock

Lou Borges Scholarship in Aerospace EngineeringTimothy Cook

Rolling Scholarship and Richard W. Leonhard Scholarshipin Aerospace EngineeringEric Frederick

James Reynolds Norris Memorial Scholarship inAerospace EngineeringThomas Ivanco

Paul Morrow Endowed Scholarship and Steva Award inAerospace EngineeringJesse A. Linnell

Paul Morrow Endowed Scholarship and BoeingScholarship in Aerospace EngineeringLynette A. Lloyd

H. Thomas Hallowell Scholarship and Peery MemorialAward in Aerospace EngineeringKurt Ludwig

Brunner, and Engineering Minority ScholarshipJessica G. Mas

PSU Engineering and Allied Signal, Inc. ScholarshipMichael B. McClain

PSU Engineering ScholarshipMelissa Morehouse

Mary Ilgen Scholarship in Aerospace EngineeringBrian Munsky

Lou Borges Scholarship in Aerospace EngineeringRaymond Mussoline

Charles M. Kearns ScholarshipStephanie Pulford

Engineering Minority ScholarshipBraulio Ramirez-Cruz

Paul Morrow Endowed ScholarshipChristopher L. Ranieri

Paul Morrow Endowed Scholarship and BoeingScholarship in Aerospace EngineeringJane M. Rydzewski

Vollmer-Kleckner Scholarship in EngineeringGeorge W. Schlemmer

Paul Morrow Endowed ScholarshipJeffrey R. Valania

Fellowship/Award Recipients:Rotorcraft Center FellowshipsAnurag AgarwalPhuriwat Anusonti-InthraAskari Badre-AlamChristian BrackbillMatthew FlorosEric HathawayDavid HeverlyJonathan KellerBrendon MalovrhAnirudh ModiMartin SekulaSteve SharpPatricia StevensJian Hua Zhang

UM Rotorcraft Noise FellowshipNilay Sezer-UzolLionel Tauszig

National Defense Science & Engineering GraduateFellowshipLouis Centolanza

Glenn E. Singley Memorial Graduate FellowshipSilvio G. Chianese

Dean’s Fellowship and NASA GSRP FellowshipMichael J. Doty

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Scholarship/Award Recipients

Left to right: Larry Trick (B.S. 1982, M. Eng. 1994), Capt. BrianWatkins, Bill Geyer (B.S. 1993, M.S. 1995), Joe Carbonaro, andRay Wernecke)

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Faculty & StaffOnce again there have beenquite a few changes to thestaff in our department.

First, congratulations toSheila Corl on her promo-tion to administrative assis-tant. Sheila had been ourhead staff assistant for thepast two years.

Tammy Besecker, our full-time administrative assis-tant for 12 years, decidedto switch to a part-timeadministrative position inour department. Thisenables her to spend moretime with her family.

Debby Mayes was promot-ed to the head staff assis-tant position from her pre-vious position as graduateprogram staff assistant.

DEPARTURES:Darlene Carper left herposition as staff assistant toDr. BudgurLakshminarayana in Aprilafter serving in the depart-ment for five years.

Darlene is now a staff assis-tant with the Office ofTelecommunications.

Shannon Schmidt left herposition as undergraduateprogram staff assistant inApril after serving in thedepartment for four years.Shannon is now a staffassistant with theDepartment of CivilEngineering.

Abraham Mathew left hisposition as computer spe-cialist in December 1999after serving in the depart-ment in this position fortwo years. Abrahamreceived his B.S. inAerospace Engineering in1997 and presently worksin New York City.

Professor George S.Dulikravich left his positionas Associate Professor ofAerospace Engineering July1999 to take a faculty posi-tion at the University ofTexas in Arlington.

Kristie Kalvin Tammy Accordino

The Institute for High Performance ComputingApplications (IHPCA) was established in consultation andcooperation with the colleges of science and earth andmineral sciences, the Center for Academic Computingand the Applied Research Laboratory. The Institutepools the talents of Penn State's internationally knownresearchers in algorithm development, numerical analy-sis, parallel computing paradigms and computationalphysics and engineering. The Institute is directed by Dr.Lyle N. Long, professor of aerospace engineering and Dr.Philip J. Morris, Boeing/AD Welliver is an AssociateDirector. The Institute helps faculty, staff and studentsto apply parallel approaches to numerically intensivesimulation problems. The web page for IHPCA is at:http://www.psu.edu/dept/ihpca/

A Graduate Minor in High Performance Computing hasbeen created to educate graduate students in scientificand high performance computing with an emphasis onthe capabilities and uses of parallel computers. Thisnew minor offers an opportunity for students in all col-leges and majors to pursue a focused set of courses thatemphasize the use of high performance computers tosolve problems in science and engineering. Currently,there are 26 graduate students who have signed up forthe Minor.

Dr. Long and several other faculty recently received anNSF MRI (Major Research Instrumentation) grant to buildthree virtual reality systems which will be connected viahigh-speed networks. One of these will be in theAerospace Department, and the other two will be inComputer Science and Engineering and Chemistry. This$1.3 million grant allowed us to purchase threeFakespace Raves and 27 graphics workstations fromHewlett Packard. These Raves will be used to view simu-lations, as flight simulators, and for other research.IHPCA continues to use Beowulf clusters of PC's for compute power, as well as the national supercomputercenters.

A group of faculty also received a grant under the verycompetitive NSF IGERT (Intergrative Graduate Educationand Research Training) program for graduate education.This grant allowed us to form a “Center for Education inMany-Body Applications,” and will fund roughly 18 grad-uate students for five years. The students will be fromAerospace, Chemistry, Materials Science, ChemicalEngineering, Computer Science and Engineering,Physics, and Mathematics. The Center will emphasizeMonte Carlo, molecular dynamics, and other particlemethods. (http://www.personal.psu.edu/lnl/cemba/)

IHPCA

ADDITIONS:Tammy Accordino, graduate staff assistant, joined the staffin August 2000.Kristie Kalvin, undergraduate staff assistant, joined ourstaff in June 2000.

Continued on page 8

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Dr. Long also created a new course this year entitled:“Java and Linux for Intelligent Systems.” There is an ever-increasing need for aerospace engineers to understandobject-oriented programming. Java is a very powerful lan-guage to use since it includes the capability for GraphicalUser Interfaces, Networking, Threads, and Objects. It isalso easier to use than C++. And with the increasingneed for embedded computers, Linux has also becomevery attractive.

Just as the new semester kicked in, we received notificationfrom the National Rotorcraft Technology Center (NRTC) thatPenn State had again been selected as one of three universi-ties in the NRTC Rotorcraft Center of Excellence program.The second award covering the period from January 2001-December 2006, will provide base support for ten differentresearch projects involving faculty and students fromAerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, andEngineering Science and Mechanics Departments.Compared to our first Rotorcraft Center Award, this new$600K/year program represents a 50% increase in our baseaward. Once again, Penn State administrators showedstrong commitment to the Rotorcraft Center by contributingsubstantial resources in equipment funds, graduate andundergraduate student support, and fellowships.

Several new faculty participants and researchers will helpbroaden the scope of the new Rotorcraft Center. Two of ournewest faculty, Dr. Ken Brentner, Associate Prof. ofAerospace Engineering and Dr. Joe Horn, AssistantProfessor of Aerospace Engineering, both have newresearch projects in the areas of rotorcraft noise predictionand rotorcraft flight dynamics and control. Dr. MarkMaughmer, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineeringjoins the team in the area of applied aerodynamics and Dr.Cengiz Camci, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, will beinvolved with development of a new rotor rig test facility.In addition, Dr. Mary Frecker, Assistant Professor ofMechanical Engineering and Dr. Chuck Bakis, Professor ofEngineering Science and Mechanics, will be working withProfs. Gandhi, Smith and Wang in collaborative efforts tobring compliant mechanism and flexible matrix compositematerial technologies into the rotorcraft arena. At theApplied Research Lab (ARL), Dr. Bill Mark will be workingon new design methods for low noise, low vibration gearsand Dr. Amulya Garga will be working with new data fusiontechniques for rotorcraft health monitoring systems.

With our first generation of students finishing off thesesand dissertations, and moving out to join the workforce weare once again getting ready for a new set of projects andstudents. For more information on our Rotorcraft Center,you can check online at http://www.psu.edu/dept/rcoe/.

Rotorcraft Center of Excellence

The Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC) metMarch 22-24, 2000. This year the council helped thedepartment improve its strategic plan and to meet with stu-dents to encourage a discussion on courses and changesthat should be made within the department.

In the spring of 2000, Mr. Louis J. Borges was selected as aCollege of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumnus.Mr. Borges earned his bachelor’s degree in 1944 as part ofthe first aeronautical engineering option class within theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State. Mr.Borges spent most of his professional life (30 years) withthe U.S. Army at the Branch Management level, with directinvolvement in flight test engineering of numerous vehicles.Mr. Borges became an expert in many aspects of flight testengineering. He planned and managed the flight testing ofa number of the U.S. Army Aircraft/helicopter acquisitions.During his service with the US Army, he served as Chief ofR&D, Chief of the Airworthiness Branch, and Chief of theAeronautics Branch. Upon resignation from the U.S. gov-ernment service in 1976, he was president of a real estateand equipment leasing company. In 1998, Mr. Borgesestablished an endowed department scholarship.

Professor George A. Lesieutre was organizer and instructorfor an AIAA Short Course at the AIAA Structures, StructuralDynamics and Materials Conference, in Atlanta, GA, April 1-2, 2000. This course was entitled “Adaptive Structures:Practice and Promise.”

Professor Lyle N. Long taught an AIAA Short Course onIntroduction to Parallel Computing at the AerospaceScience Meetings in Reno, January 2000 and plans to offerthe course again in January 2001. This course was wellattended by people from academia, government, andindustry. It covers material such as current and future par-allel computers, Fortran 90/HPF parallel programming,Message Passing Interface (MPI), Java, parallel performance,and several applications.

Professor Philip Morris taught a short course at the NASALangley Research Center entitled Aircraft Noise, October 21& 22, 2000.

Boeing Professor Emeritus Barnes W. McCormick againoffered the short course entitled Rotary Wing Technologyfrom August 14-18, 2000. This makes the 15th consecutiveyear that the course has been presented. The course wasattended by approximately 38 people including one fromthe Netherlands, one from France, five from Canada, onefrom the UK, one from Japan, three from Singapore, andone from Italy. Ten of the U.S. attendees were from U.S.industries while the remainder was from NASA and militaryresearch organizations.

The course began with a lecture by the Director, Dr. BarnesMcCormick, on history and some basic fundamentals ofaerodynamics and dynamics. This was followed by a lec-ture by Mr. Ray Prouty on applied aerodynamics and on byDr. Dick Bennett on rotor dynamics. Next, Dr. Pat Curtisscovered the topic of helicopter flight mechanics. He wasfollowed by Mr. Pete Dixon who presented material con-cerning the use of composites in helicopter structures, particular with regard to rotor blades. Finally, Dr. JohnLeverton closed the course with a lecture on acoustics. Asin the past, the course was held at the Nittany Lion Inn oncampus and included an informal picnic the first night forattendees to get acquainted and a closing banquet onThursday night.

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IPAC Meets in March 2000 Short Courses Taught by PSUAerospace Professors

2000 AerospaceOutstanding EngineeringAlumnusDr. Dennis McLaughlin,Head, Department ofAerospace Engineering andMr. Louis J. Borges.

(IPAC members attending were: (left to right) Mr. Mike Nolan, Department Manager for AntennaMechanical Systems and Space Services, Hughes Space andCommunications Co. Dr. Mark Lewis, Professor of AerospaceEngineering at the University of Maryland. Mr. Marc Sheffler,Director, Apache Airframe/Aircraft IPT, at Boeing in Mesa, AZ.Mr. John C. McKeown, Deputy for Aircraft SystemsEngineering with the Naval Air Systems Command, Naval AirStation, Patuxent River, MD. Mr. Edward White, Manager ofthe Smart Structures and Systems at McDonnell DouglasAerospace (MDA) in St. Louis, MOIPAC members unable to attend were:Dr. Anne Harlan, Director, FAA Technical Center, Atlantic CityInternational Airport. Dr. Paul Leamer, Director, F-16 USAFProgram, Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft SystemsMr. John Myers, Retired CEO of Thiokol Corporation

Outstanding Engineering Alumnus (OEA)

The Penn State student chapter of the American HelicopterSociety participated in a wide range of activities during the1999-2000 academic year. The officers for 2000-2001 are:Derek Bridges, President, Roberto Sarjeant, Vice President.The officers for 1999-2000 were: Darryl Genovesi,President, Brian Munsky, Vice President, and DerekBridges, Treasurer. During the meetings, AHS hosted anumber of speakers, including Bill Geyer (the most recentrecipient of the AHS Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Award), whospoke about his experience conducting shipboard suitabili-ty testing of the V-22 Osprey, and Jennifer Henderson, whodiscussed her experience as a flight test engineer goingthrough the US Naval Test Pilot School. At a differentChapter meeting, Greg Johnson from the Penn StateApplied Research Lab, related some of his experiences inthe Marine Corps as a CH-46 pilot. At this same meetingthe chapter had the opportunity to watch a rare documen-tary video on the technologically advanced but ill-fatedCheyenne Helicopter program from the 1970s. The video,as well as a section of a Cheyenne blade, was graciouslydonated to our Chapter by Mr. Al Yackle. Al, now retiredand living in California, is an alumnus of Penn State (theAero Pioneer Class of 1944) and a good friend of thedepartment. Al was heavily involved with the Cheyenneprogram during his days at Lockheed. The chapter alsowent on a number of informational field trips: during thefall semester, we traveled to Philadelphia to tour theAmerican Helicopter Museum and the Boeing Helicopterplant. Highlights included the RAH-66 Comanche simula-tor and the 20’ ¥ 20’ wind tunnel. In the spring, the chap-ter visited Paxtuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland tosee the Navy’s helicopter flight test facilities there. Severalmembers also attended the annual AHS Forum, which washeld in May in Virginia Beach. Lastly, a group consisting ofDarryl Genovesi and Joe Wolfe, placed first in the under-graduate division of the 2000 AHS/Industry/NASA StudentDesign Competition, for which they received a $1,000award from Sikorsky, the competition sponsor. The themeof this year’s competition was an autonomous Mars explo-ration rotorcraft, intended to be deployed from a futureMars lander.

For more information about the American HelicoperSociety, you can check online athttp://navier.aero.psu.edu/~ahs/

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This year’s officers of AeroGSA, the department’s graduatestudent association are: Carl Roos, President, Todd Ulrich,Vice President, Brian Herndon, Secretary, and Eric Cardiff,Treasurer. Last year, 1999-2000, the officers were: MikeDoty, President, Eric Cardiff, Vice President, Ben Bernocco,Secretary, and Bill Posnett, Treasurer. The group was firstorganized in 1994 to promote interaction between theAerospace Engineering graduate students and the facultyand staff. AeroGSA hears concerns from graduate studentsand brings them to the attention of the department andalso serves as a focal point for graduate student participa-tion in the operation of the department. The officers ofAeroGSA volunteer time to help with departmental events.A tour of facilities at Penn State used by Aerospace stu-dents for prospective graduate students is conducted in thespring and AeroGSA also organizes an orientation for newand returning graduate students before each fall semester.

Members of AeroGSA represented the AerospaceDepartment this past April during Space Day 2000 at PennState. The one-day event was held in the HUB-Alumni Halland brought together exhibits from a variety of depart-ments for a public display of the space science and explo-ration being performed on campus. Another importantevent during the past year was the annual graduate studentdiscussion with the Aerospace Engineering IPAC panel. Asa result of communication between the IPAC committee,the department and the students, some new courses inprogramming and graduate level design were offered thisacademic year.

This year’s officers of Sigma Gamma Tau, the NationalAerospace Engineering Honor Society, are: Jeff Valania,President, Joe Gasbarre, Vice-President, Mike Sullivan,Secretary, Kim Clarke, Treasurer. Officers for the years1999-2000 were: Tim Cichan, President, Eric Frederick,Vice President, Tom Urie, Secretary, and Jane Rydzewski,Treasurer. The Induction Ceremony for the Penn Statechapter was held on March 21, 2000 at the Atherton Hotel.New members and officers were introduced. Dr. WolfgangMayer, on sabbatical from DLR Lampoldshausen, Germany,was the special speaker. Dr. Mayer, Head of the Propellantsand Combustion Lab and Director of the NationalTechnology Programme for Cryogenic Rocket Engines inGermany, oversees research on rocket propulsion for theGerman equivalent of NASA and taught the SpacePropulsion and Power course, Aero 430, during the Spring2000 semester. Dr. Mayer gave a very interesting talk aboutthe various German liquid rocket research programs that hesupervises. Sigma Gamma Tau continues to provideevening tutoring services for Aerospace Engineering courses.

Aerospace Student SocietiesAeroGSA

Sigma Gamma Tau

American Helicoper Society

Alumni SurveyPersonal InformationName: ______________________________________

Penn State degree(s) and year(s):____________________________________________

Current position (title) and duties: __________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Company: ______________________________________________________________

Business address: ________________________________________________________

Business telephone: ______________________________________________________

Business email: __________________________________________________________

Home address: __________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Home telephone: ________________________________________________________

(Please indicate if you wish to participate in the department e-mail registry.)

Yes �� No ��

Aerospace Department CurriculumNow that you’re away from us and in the workplace, please take a fewmoments in rating how our curriculum has prepared you for your career.

A. Engineering Fundamentals low high• analysis and . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a

mathematical skills• aerodynamics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a

How could these fundamental areas be strengthened? (i.e., additional courses, etc.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B. Applied Coursework low high• aerodynamics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• structures/composites . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• propulsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a

(space,turbomachinery)• classical controls. . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• astrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• stability and control . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• other:________________ . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a

Did you receive additional education to help prepare you for your current position? If so, where and of what type? _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

C. Computational/Computer Skillslow high

• UNIX 1 2 3 4 5 n/a• CAD (AutoCAD, ProEngineer). . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• FORTRAN programming . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a• C programming . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 n/a

Of the undergraduate or graduate courses in the Aerospace engineeringdepartment, tell us which was your favorite and why. __________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Of course any additional comments are always welcome. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you! Please return completed survey to Ms. Debby Mayers, 233Hammond Building, University Park, PA 16802.

11

AIAA

✁

This survey can also becompleted on the web.www.aero.psu.edu

The AIAA student chapter at Penn State University wasvery busy in the fall semester. This year’s officers are:Silvio Chianese, Chair, Shelly Brimmeier, Vice-Chair,Melissa Stutz, Secretary, and Michael Martini, Treasurer.The officers for 1999-2000 were Matt Wagner, Chair, ToddUlrich, Vice Chair, and Mike Wanenchak, Treasurer.During the semester, the group had a number of speakers.The new faculty members spoke about their respectiveresearch projects and Dr. Rick Fleeter, founder andPresident of the small satellite and space transportationcompany, AeroAstro, Inc., spoke about the search forextraterrestrial utility. The faculty members that spokewere Dr. Kenneth Brentner on rotorcraft noise prediction,Dr. Joe Horn on flight mechanics and control of rotorcraft,and Dr. Deborah Levin on modeling optical emissions.Early in the fall semester, members of AIAA and the aero-space design class visited the NASA Goddard Space FlightCenter. The students were shown the control center forthe Hubble Space Telescope and were given a short lectureon how HST works and how it is operated. Tours of thethermal vacuum chamber testing area, clean room, andother testing facilities were given. A short lecture on thesatellite MAP was given by one of the top designers. Thehead engineers of the HST project held a question andanswer session at the end of the day for the students.Everyone enjoyed this trip and gained valuable knowledgeabout the space program and NASA.

Another trip was taken by the AIAA students and the aero-space propulsion class to Hartford, CT late in the fallsemester to tour the Pratt and Whitney facilities. In themorning, the students were given a CFD presentation byone of the leaders in the field. Tours of the facilitiesincluded set-up procedures and the thermal, acoustics andvibrations testing areas. A representative from SikorskyHelicopters spoke about their products and innovations inthe vertical flight industry. A tour of Hamilton-Sunstrandincluded heat exchangers and propellers, as well as a fullmock-up of the NASA space suit and other space shuttlecomponents. All students enjoyed this glimpse into UnitedTechnologies and the opportunity to converse with engi-neers working in the aerospace industry.

The Department of Aerospace EngineeringThe Pennsylvania State University229 Hammond Building University Park, PA 16802

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PERMIT NO. 1

We are continuing to compile our Alumni/ae Registry andwe would like to thank all who have sent us updatedaddresses. Periodically we will send an e-mail to subscrib-ing alumns containing the e-mail addresses of their col-leagues. This is a private list that is to be shared onlywith subscribing aerospace graduates.

If you are interested in adding your name to the list, (andreceive a list of all alumns in this data base) please sendan e-mail to the department at http://www.aero.psu.edu

Alumni/ae E-mail registryThe Sailplane class, AERSP204H/404H, now has a webpage with news about their current projects, such as theconstruction of the Griffin fuselage mock-up and theprogress with the Falcon. The web address ishttp://aeroftp.aero.psu.edu/sailplane.

NOTED CORRECTION:Paul Glessner received his B.S. in 1984, not 1994 as printed in the Fall 1999 Newsletter.

Sailplane Class