OSU Team Recognized for Next-Generation Aircraft Design

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College students from the United States, Japan and India researched technology and designed concepts for a supersonic passenger jet as part of a competition sponsored by the Fundamental Aeronautics Program in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. The participants were challenged to design a small supersonic airliner and submit a research paper limited to 25 pages. Designs had to be efficient, environmentally friendly, low sonic boom commercial aircraft that could be ready for initial service by 2020.

Ohio State’s team consisted of 22 juniors from aerospace, civil, and mechanical engineering. The team was led by Kevin Disotell and advised by Dr. James Gregory, both from the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Ohio State was awarded honorable mention in the undergraduate division for the 2009 competition. The award carries a cash prize and an invitation to present their design at the annual NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

“This team of Ohio State juniors collaborated to design an advanced aircraft using analysis skills surpassing those of typical aerospace undergraduates. They did an outstanding job!” said Dr. James Gregory, team advisor.

A team of undergraduates from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., and a team of graduate students from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta tied for first place in the U.S. division. An undergraduate team from the University of Tokyo won top honors in the non-U.S. category. Eight participants were selected from the award-winning teams to receive summer internships at NASA. The students interned at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.; or the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Three students from the Ohio State team were selected for internships, the most from any team in the contest: Jonathan Friedmeyer (Ames Research Center), Kevin Holcomb (Glenn Research Center), and Alison Snyder (Langley Research Center). They are students in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and were selected based on their resumes, grade point averages and application letters.

“We use these competitions to generate excitement for aeronautics and the engineering behind aviation," said Peter Coen, principal investigator of the Supersonics Project at NASA Langley Research Center. "I was pleased by the number and diversity of the entries we received. And I was impressed by the quality and innovative thinking demonstrated in the designs.”

A group of NASA engineers reviewed the entries. The judges based their scores on how well students addressed all aspects of the problem they chose to discuss. The judges used the following criteria: innovation and creativity; discussion of feasibility; a brief review of pertinent literature; and a baseline comparison with the relevant current technology, system or design.

Ohio State’s Swordfish aircraft was designed to cruise at Mach 1.6 with a passenger capacity of 35 and range of 4000 nautical miles. The sonic boom level was estimated to be just under 70 PldB (perceived level of loudness in decibels), which is the technology goal for supersonic aircraft in 2020. “With such a large team, the competition was a great exercise in both engineering and communication,” said Kevin Disotell. “We divided into five smaller groups, each focusing on a particular design element, and developed a leadership hierarchy.”

Disotell and teammate Andrew Roettgen will travel to Atlanta in September to present Ohio State’s design at the annual NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Meeting.

Category: Undergraduate