Current Issue
Vol.81 No.2, 2009
Millennials on the Move
They type text messages on cell phones while walking down stairs to a classroom, balance a morning java in one hand while steering their bikes down Neil Avenue with the other, and listen to their iPods while checking their phones for messages as they make their way across the Oval.
And that’s just the technology end of things.
Exploring the Galaxy
Five decades ago, NASA began its mission to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. Ohio State College of Engineering students, alumni and faculty could fill a book with their own experiences with the agency. Here are just a few of their stories, in honor of NASA’s 50th anniversary.
Jack McNamara, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, and Andrea Serrani, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, are using $1.2 million in funding from NASA to investigate SCRAMjet-propelled hypersonic vehicles, which obtain the oxidizer for combustion from the atmosphere rather than carrying it on board. The research will focus on developing innovative multi-disciplinary models that capture unique interactions between the vehicle structure, propulsion, aerodynamic and control systems.
The View from Cloud Nine
As I stood in the Horseshoe with my diploma in my hand in 1987, nothing could have forecast my career path. Yet that was where my ascent to cloud nine began.
Preparing for the Phoenix Lander’s entry, descent and landing on Mars — a project we began in 2005 — was the most exhaustive test and analysis program our industry has ever formulated and executed under a cost-capped mission plan.
