Flight Line: Cal Poly's Aerospace Engineering Department newsletter

Flight Line Aerospace Engineering • Cal Poly College of Engineering • Spring 2020

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

• Paulo Iscold and students test a glider that aims to break records • AERO class works with industry to solve real-world problems • Research project on UAVs receives SURP poster award

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR O

n behalf of the Aerospace Engineering Department, I hope you and your family are healthy and holding up during this trying time. The Covid-19 pandemic has been a reminder of how both precious and frail life is.

Cal Poly recognizes that and strives to do what it can to keep everyone safe.

David Marshall Aerospace Engineering Chair

We were just about to wrap up our latest Aerospace Engineering newsletter when the coronavirus changed the way we work and altered our priorities. As the university offered helpful information about the virus and the sudden shift to online courses, departments like ours quickly adapted our teaching methods. Needless to say, we’ve all had to learn in a hurry, but that’s what engineers are trained to do — adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

Because this newsletter was well in the works before the shelteringin-place orders took effect, the stories here reflect news that occurred while students, faculty and staff were still on campus.

Not only do these stories point out some of our successes, they also remind us what the campus will look like when the pandemic threat has passed and our community returns.

Interestingly, as the entire world works to offset the pandemic, the Planetary Society’s LightSail2 continues to share remarkable images of our planet, symbolically showing that we are all in this together. Those images also remind us of the amazing impact Cal Poly has had on recent space exploration. As you’ll see in the stories here, Cal Poly was instrumental in the creation of minisatellites like LightSail 2 and remains heavily involved in the latest technology to push space travel farther.

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Of course, partnerships with organizations like the Planetary Society and NASA play a crucial role in these endeavors. In fact, most of the stories in this issue highlight how partnerships and financial support are helping our students conduct impactful, innovative work — and that continues as we work remotely.

Companies like Joby Aviation and Empirical Systems Aerospace have provided students with real-world experience testing planes of the future while financially supporting our wind tunnel that makes the testing possible. Various sponsors have supported the PROVE Lab’s solar car, showcasing the power of solar energy.

And Lockheed Martin’s support of faculty member Pauline Faure helped Cal Poly share its CubeSat expertise, which will benefit the entire planet with a greater diversity of ideas regarding space discovery.

Financial support helps our students become involved in unique opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. As faculty member Paulo Iscold creates a sailplane he hopes will break speed and distance records, he has worked with students from the Akaflieg club to create a drag measuring device, which relays data to the pilot in real-time. Funding for that device came from the Baker/ Koob endowment, which allowed for the purchase of electronics, parts and testing equipment.

Collegewide, our faculty and students have been very creative with remote work, and in some cases faculty have even sent newly purchased equipment to students so they can continue Learn

by Doing from home. Thank you for continuing to support the department. Your gifts have helped us shift to virtual classrooms and continue to support our students and faculty during this time.

We look forward to eventually returning to our beautiful campus.

In the meantime, we will continue to innovate, the hallmark of a Cal Poly education, even in our virtual classrooms. n

AROUND AERO Cal Poly CubeSats Take Aim at Deep Space LIGHTSAIL 2 PROJECT GOES WHERE NO CUBESAT HAS GONE BEFORE Cal Poly served as mission control for the LightSail 2 CubeSat, which snapped this photo of the Baja Peninsula in 2019.

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n the eight months since Cal Poly served as mission control for the LightSail 2 launch, the groundbreaking CubeSat has offered stunning images from space. But, more importantly, it has offered valuable insight about solar sailing that will expand the reach of space research, including NASA’s plan to explore asteroids close to Earth.

The Planetary Society’s miniature satellite was prepared with student assistance at Cal Poly, which also served as mission control during the launch last July. The satellite deployed a solar sail, allowing it to “sail on sunbeams,” as Planetary CEO Bill Nye described it.

The CubeSat was invented by former aerospace faculty member

Jordi Puig-Suari and Stanford University Professor Bob Twiggs in 1999. Previous CubeSats floated in space without propulsion, but LightSail 2 can be propelled with solar power, meaning it can travel farther.

After observing LightSail 2, spacecraft personnel have recommended that future sails feature solar panels on both sides since LightSail 2’s one-sided design sometimes causes the solar panels to be shaded, resulting in power gaps. And the team has determined that solar missions will be most successful at higher altitudes or even further into deep space, where atmospheric drag is negligible.

The LightSail 2 project’s success has already led to one other solar sailing initiative. NASA’s NEA Scout CubeSat will ride a rocket near the moon and use solar sailing to visit an asteroid with help from the Light Sail 2 team, which has shared data and expertise.

The first CubeSats to travel into deep space launched with NASA’s InSight mission in 2018. Those CubeSats were tested and prepared at Cal Poly.

Cal Poly Scholars: Building a Sense of Community Growing up, Kevin Banuelos-Montes loved tinkering with toys, trying to figure out how machines and electronics work, and reading about space travel.

But while he dreamt of working on groundbreaking space travel projects, he’d have to get a degree first — and that was something new in his family.

“My parents did not go to college or high school,” said the Fresno native. “They immigrated from Mexico and saved up enough Continued on Page 4 Supported by a Cal Poly Scholars scholarship from Boeing, Kevin BanuelosMontes says the program has made his transition to college much smoother.

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AROUND AERO From Page 3

money to start their own business here in the U.S.” Had he not been involved in the Cal Poly Scholars program, the first-generation student said he likely would have struggled.

“It does help me feel more connected to Cal Poly because it provides me with a real sense of community,” he said.

Cal Poly Scholars is a program that recruits highachieving students with financial needs from California high schools. In addition to providing students scholarships, the program seeks to retain them by offering helpful workshops and housing them together.

Banuelos-Montes is supported specifically by Boeing’s Cal Poly Scholars scholarship.

While workshops provided information on financial aid, registering for classes and more, Cal Poly Scholars made After an invitation from faculty member Paulo Iscold, renowned aircraft designer Manuelos-Montes feel like he belonged at Cal Poly — a Burt Rutan returned to campus last fall and met with aerospace engineering students. significant challenge in increasing diversity and inclusiveness.

The ultra-lightweight solar car, named Dawn, is made of “All of my first-year roommates were part of CP Scholars, and we carbon fiber composites, over 600 solar cells and efficient electric became best friends,” Banuelos-Montes said. “I’m not sure what I wheel motors. Students designed it to reach a top speed of 65 would have done without CP Scholars.” mph.

To find out how you can support this program, visit the Cal Poly Scholars page at giving.calpoly.edu.

Fueled by Light: Cal Poly Club Aims at Solar Speed Record

Legendary Aircraft Designer Burt Rutan Returns to Cal Poly

During a brief return to his alma mater last fall, aviation pioneer Burt Rutan (Aero, ’65) thumbed through a book of With a little more sun, students from the Prototype Vehicle memories and regaled a handful of lucky students.

Laboratory (PROVE) think they can smash the solar car speed Rutan is best known for designing SpaceShipOne, the world’s record. first privately built manned spacecraft to reach space. Inspired In the Mojave Desert last year, the team fell just short — by that, billionaire Richard Branson started Virgin Galactic and clocking in at 51 mph, just shy of the 56-mph record set in Japan in engaged Scaled Composites, which Rutan founded, to develop 2014. But because the team had multiple challenges with their car, and produce a line of spaceships to fly to fly tourists out of this they couldn’t pursue the record until August — two months after world. the sun’s peak power.

The visit to Cal Poly occurred after Rutan invited faculty member Paulo Iscold — a plane designer himself — to his home in Idaho. There they talked about planes, and Rutan even showed Iscold an aircraft he is currently designing.

“It was pretty spectacular for me,” Iscold said. “I’m a big Burt Rutan fan.”

While traveling to his former hometown, the Mojave, Rutan stopped by Cal Poly, visiting the hangar — where he built his first plane — and the Aerospace Engineering Department. In the department, he looked through books containing photos and memories of his era and talked to students about the old days.

“The students were so excited to meet the legend and talk with him Students in the Cal Poly Prototype Vehicle Laboratory got their solar-powered car up to 51 mph in the Mojave a little bit,” Iscold said. n

Desert last summer.

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SURP Champs AERO PROJECT WINS FIRST PLACE IN THE 2019 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM

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n a clear summer day, an unmanned aerial vehicle soars over the hills of San Luis Obispo like a graceful hawk as Arielle Sampson observes from the ground, her binoculars pointed skyward.

“Today we’re seeing how long this UAV can fly around before it falls out of the sky,” said the aerospace engineering student.

Sampson and two others would eventually take top honors in the 2019 Summer Undergraduate Research Project contest.

The SURP program pairs newer undergraduates with industry- and facultysponsored research. That gives students valuable experience that can help them get an internship later.

“Research made me realize that it takes more than just following the process in the textbook to tackle real-world challenges,” said RJ Chen, a fellow aerospace engineering student who worked on Sampson’s team.

The college is hoping to expand the SURP program to allow more students to participate. (This summer, the program will continue in a virtual learning environment). For those who can, SURP is a more useful alternative to the typical summer jobs.

“For the past few summers, I worked at a horse camp, teaching kids how to ride horses,” Sampson said while working on her SURP project. “I think I would probably be doing that and probably have a waitressing job.”

Sampson had built remote controlled airplanes in the past, she said. But this was different.

“When I was building RC airplanes in the past, I kind of built them and flew them around and crashed them into trees,” she said. “And that was all fun, but I really like the idea of having an application to what we’re doing.”

The team, sponsored by General Atomics, tested four different UAVs, each with upcoming missions: To help wildlife

May Kyaw (civil engineering) and aerospace engineering students RJ Chen and Arielle Sampson won first place in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program Poster contest. The team worked at the Educational Flight Range on their project titled “Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”

researchers track a rare weasel-like animal in the Sierra, to help Cal Poly monitor its crops, and to determine if UAVs could be useful for search and rescue missions.

The hands-on work, completed with the help of faculty adviser Professor Aaron Drake, offered insight into UAVs — and the challenges they bring — Chen said.

“I am surprised to learn that, as a remote pilot, the control for the aircraft is quite limited because there are only so many

ways to manipulate the vehicle,” he said.

“The UAVs had some unexpected behaviors during certain situations, and sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the problem is coming from.”

The team, who was joined by civil engineering major May Kyaw, bested 31 other projects to win first-place honors.

“We saw the trophy as the cherry on top, as it topped off the hard work we have put into our research,” Chen said. n

“Research made me realize that it takes more than just following the process in the textbook to tackle real-world challenges.” aero.calpoly.edu | 5

Ready for the Record

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ith his test pilot due any minute, Paulo Iscold is in the zone at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, silently preparing his sailplane for flight.

Finally, after plowing through his mental checklist for a half hour, he speaks.

Briefly.

“You know that phrase, ‘The devil is in the details?’” he asks, as he jostles a control stick. “So many details. So many things that need to be right.”

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To break sailplane distance and speed records, as planned, the aerospace engineering associate professor is going to need the right weather, the right pilot, and, of course, the right plane. The pilot — record-breaking Jim Payne — thinks this plane, named Nixus (“pushing forward” in Latin), has what it takes.

“I’ve done 2,907 km (1,806 miles) in a mountain wave in Minden, Nevada in a glider that was not as good as this,” Payne said. “So on the same day with this glider, you should

PAULO ISCOLD AND A STUDENT TEAM HOPE TO SET DISTANCE AND SPEED RECORDS WITH HIS UNIQUE GLIDER

be able to go maybe 5% or 10% further.”

Sailplanes, also known as gliders, are feats of aerodynamic innovation, soaring across the sky without the benefit of engine power. Iscold has previously designed multiple planes that broke speed records, but those were propeller-powered.

The Brazil native joined Cal Poly’s faculty in 2018 and quickly engaged others in his project, which he had started prior to his arrival in San Luis Obispo. With help from students from Cal Poly’s Akaflieg aviation club, Iscold built the

plane’s wings. The 93-foot design centerpiece is long and narrow, with a high degree of flex — the amount wings bend in flight.

“Building this wing was a huge challenge,” said Nick Jenkins, (Aero, 2007), who has been helping Iscold.

Such a long and thin wing could be easy to break, Jenkins said, but Iscold used a special fabric that makes the wings stronger.

Soon after meeting Iscold in Paso Robles, Jenkins cleared

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bits of frost from the wing covers as he helped prepare the plane for flight.

“The guy he’s got flying this thing is the best he could get,” Jenkins said.

That’s Payne, a former Air Force pilot who set a record in 2018 when he flew a glider just over 76,000 feet high — the highest altitude ever reached by a human aboard an unpowered fixedwing aircraft.

Payne said glider speed records 8 | AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

require high wing loads, or the total weight of an aircraft divided by the area of its wing.

“This airplane will be a glider with one of the highest wing loadings available,” Payne said.

With gliding, distance and speed are related, he said. Nixus is built to travel at 170 mph. Mountain air helps, so Payne will eventually attempt a record with the plane near his hometown,

Minden, which is in a mountainous area around Lake Tahoe.

Since Payne first tested the plane in March of 2019, Nixus has logged several hours of air time, helping Iscold refine its performance. Meanwhile, Iscold created a device to gauge the vibration on the wing, while the Akaflieg students created a device to measure wind drag.

Iscold, who has previously worked as a tactician for successful Red Bull

“This airplane will be a glider with one of the highest wing loadings available.”

Cal Poly Aerospace Engineering Professor Paulo Iscold, right, talks with test pilot Jim Payne before a test flight of the high-performance glider he designed. Below, Iscold works with Cal Poly students on the aircraft.

Air Race pilots, knows about maximizing performance.

“There’s nobody better,” Jenkins said. “For small airplane stuff, he’s the guy.”

But, as Iscold said, the devil is in the details — and there are many involved.

“We still have a lot of testing to do to make sure everything is going to work the way it’s supposed to work,” he said. n

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Prepared for Launch CAL POLY HAS THREE MORE CUBESATS SET FOR SPACE

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hen two decades-old satellites crossed paths over Pittsburgh in January, the near collision highlighted a downside of increased space exploration.

Call it the space junkyard.

“There’s a big debris issue in space, especially as we launch more things,” said Brigitte Petersen, an aerospace engineering student. “So finding an easy way to get things down more quickly is good for preventing problems with debris and collisions in the future.”

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Petersen is the project manager for two upcoming Cal Poly CubeSat missions that will test drag sails as a means to safely deorbit miniature satellites. With three CubeSat projects currently in the works — all of which include aerospace engineering students — it’s a busy time at the PolySat lab.

“Currently, we have the biggest lab we’ve ever had — over 100 people,” said Bailey Wickham, a software engineering student leading the ExoCube project that will measure the density of particles in the upper atmosphere. “And that’s due

The project manager for two upcoming CubeSat missions, aerospace engineering student Brigitte Peterson works in the PolySat Lab. Preceding page: Bailey Wickham, student leader for the ExoCube project, checks out the electronics on a CubeSat in the clean room.

to the number of missions.”

The CubeSat — mini-satellites co-created by former Aerospace Engineering faculty member Jordi Puig-Suari — has revolutionized space exploration, making it possible for private companies, governments and schools to launch satellites with private aerospace companies. (Ten CubeSats built at Cal Poly have launched so far.) But with thousands of satellites in space and thousands more due, that creates a space logjam. Especially problematic are satellites that are long out of use but still aimlessly speeding through space.

In January, two deactivated satellites — one from 1967 and another from 1983 — could have collided at 32,800 mph, Space. com reported, causing more debris that would have threatened other spacecraft for decades.

‘When that happens, there can be hundreds or even thousands of pieces that will scatter everywhere and hit other things,” Petersen said.

Near misses are not uncommon. At one point, the International Space Station had to relocate to avoid debris from a destroyed Chinese satellite from 2007.

With that in mind, Purdue University has been working on drag sails. The drag sail would deploy at the end of a satellite’s mission to drag it down and help it deorbit more quickly.

“They make the drag sail, which is the payload, and we make the avionics box, which is all the communications equipment, the power, the structure and everything else that keeps the payload happy and functioning properly,” Petersen said.

One of the projects, Spinnaker3, will only travel 300 km before assisting in the deorbit of the rocket that launched it 12 days into its mission. The other CubeSat, called the Aerodynamic Deorbit Experiment (ADE), will venture on its own farther into space, roughly 35,000 km.

“That’s about one-tenth of the way to the moon,” said Petersen.

“Currently, we have the biggest (PolySat) lab we’ve ever had — over 100 people.

And that’s due to the number of missions.”

While the ADE will test drag sail from deeper space, it will also test radiation levels.

“When you get out to about 35,000 km, there’s a lot more radiation in the environment, which can harm your spacecraft,” Petersen said. “That’s part of the reason we don’t really send stuff there — if it gets radiated enough, the electronics will stop working, and your mission isn’t going to work any more.”

The ADE experiment will show how well its special exterior — complete with a thick copper plate — will fare.

While ADE will look at radiation, the ExoCube will carry a mass spectrometer made by NASA Goddard.

“We don’t have data on what the upper atmosphere is composed of since, like, the 70’s,” Wickham said. “This will give us more accurate measurements.”

ExoCube will also feature an Attitude Determination Control System, built in-house, which will help with determination and control.

No launch dates have been set for the CubeSats. ExoCube will be launched by Virgin Orbit, while Spinnaker3 will be launched by Firefly Aerospace. n aero.calpoly.edu | 11

Helping the Innovators

STUDENTS IN AERO COURSE ASSIST ON CUTTING-EDGE INDUSTRY PROJECTS

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n his resume, James Johnson can say he helped Joby Aviation perform work involving an innovative aircraft, which led to a patent.

But he doesn’t work for Joby. Instead, he’s taking the Aerodynamic Research Development course that requires students perform

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important testing for current industry projects.

“Most undergraduates at other schools don’t get to do this kind of thing,” said Johnson, who is taking the course as a graduate student. “You get to work on meaningful projects that are impacting industry.”

Rather than take notes on lectures, students in the 2-quarter Aero 568/569 course use the Aerospace Engineering Department’s wind tunnel to help companies test designs and ideas. Their primary teachers are the industry engineers they communicate with once a week.

Nick Brake, engineer at ESAero, teaches Cal Poly aerospace engineering students at the company’s San Luis Obispo facility. At left, the class poses in front of ESAero’s electric VTOL aircraft.

“The class itself is unlike a traditional one,” said graduate teaching assistant Damien Horton, who also took the course as an undergraduate. “The class kind of runs itself.”

The course was designed by former faculty member Graham Doig about four years ago and is currently overseen by Associate Professor Paulo Iscold.

This year, the class is assisting two companies with innovative projects: Joby, based in Santa Cruz, and Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero), based in San Luis Obispo. The Joby project, supported by lead investor Toyota Motor Corp., is developing an electric air taxi service. The ESAero project is supporting research

related to handling qualities and dynamics model validation of modern manned and unmanned electric VTOL aircraft.

The companies provide financial support while offering students an opportunity to work on significant real-world projects, Iscold said. In turn, companies get wind tunnel testing at a less expensive rate and a pipeline to potential engineers.

“This is actual impactful stuff that helps create patents, that helps influence the design of aircraft,” Horton said.

In the past, results obtained for Joby helped the company validate a technology it developed that resulted in a patent.

Meanwhile, work performed for ESAero has directly influenced the way engineers approached their design.

“Students often come up with interesting and new ways to look at a problem, and they challenge conventional ways of thinking,” said Nick Brake, an aeronautical engineer for ESAero. “Previous class sponsorships have resulted in developing and advancing X-57’s conformal high-lift propeller blade system, GPS independent take-off and landing system for moving platforms, and miniaturization of machine learning avionics for health monitoring. “ Past companies to participate in the class include electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Honda Performance Development, which creates Indy race cars, and the U.S. Olympic luge team.

Iscold said the class is like an internship, except it’s for class credit. And this class offers connections like few others.

“It’s something you dream of to say you’re part of a project that is worked on by a company like NASA,” said Holden Kurfess,

an undergraduate student in the class. “Or part of a project that involved the turning point of an industry.”

During a recent tour of the ESAero facility, Brake announced that the company would be hiring up to 20 engineers — a nice tip for those in attendance.

“ESAero’s goal in sponsoring the 568/9 class is to develop long-term relationships with the students for growth into future internships and full-time engineering positions at ESAero,” Brake said. “Many of ESAero’s own employees have come from Cal Poly and many more have passed through ESAero’s internship program and have launched into many exciting careers in aerospace.” n

“It’s something you dream of to say you’re part of a project that is worked on by a company like NASA. Or part of a project that involved the turning point of an industry.”

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AERO FACULTY NEWS Last summer, computer engineering student Justin Nguyen and Professor Pauline Faure worked with a group of Cambodian high school students to establish a ground station in Cambodia to track CubeSats.

Pauline Faure Awarded Lockheed Martin Professorship F

aculty member Pauline Faure, who is championing CubeSat education internationally, was recently granted a Lockheed Martin Endowed Professorship Award.

The $25,000 award recognizes faculty members who contribute new knowledge in the field of engineering, partner with industry, involve students with advanced ideas, and enhance teaching by introducing state-of-the-art topics in the classroom.

Faure, who is an advisor to the Cal Poly CubeSat laboratory,

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said her main goal is to facilitate access to space to more people through STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education, using CubeSats as a tool. To help others learn about CubeSats, she proposed developing satellite kits along with trainings as educational tools.

Last summer, she traveled to Cambodia, where she helped a group of high school students install and test a ground station for tracking satellites. Some of those students are expected to travel to Cal Poly this summer, where they will build a CubeSat. n

New Faculty New aerospace engineering lecturer David Lednicer has 30 years of experience in aerodynamics and is comfortable at the controls as a licensed pilot. Below: Cole Saucier will teach Spacecraft Propulsion Systems after more than 12 years at Northrop Grumman.

DAVID LEDNICER

AERO Department Adds Three New Lecturers

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hree new lecturers have significantly added industry experience to the Aerospace Engineering Department.

David Lednicer has 30 years of experience in applied aerodynamics on aircraft, helicopters, submersibles, surface ships, automobiles, trains and launch vehicles.

He is a former manager of aircraft modifications at Analytical Methods Inc. (now AMI Aero), where he worked for more than 20 years. He has also worked as an aerodynamicist at Sikorsky Aircraft, was lead CFD engineer at Raisbeck Engineering and self-employed as the VP of engineering at Aeromechanical Solutions LLC. A licensed pilot, he holds patents as co-inventor of a Helicopter Blade Airfoil and a Spin Resistant Aircraft Configuration.

Prior to joining Cal Poly, Cole Saucier worked at Northrop Grumman for more than a dozen years, serving as a space vehicle systems engineer and a supersonic inlet designer.

Saucier will teach Spacecraft Propulsion Systems and Aerospace Fluid Mechanics.

Daniel Wait worked on half a dozen space missions while at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and he worked on smaller, more focused systems (spaceborne, airborne and ground-based) with a range of small- and medium-sized businesses.

A Cal Poly graduate, he originally taught in the department from 2011-2013. n

COLE SAUCIER

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College of Engineering Aerospace Engineering Department 1 Grand Avenue • San Luis Obispo, CA • 93407

AERO students Alyssa Ralph, Lauren Fukaye and Alex Nikolaev check out the glow of splitting oxygen molecules in the Material Atmospheric Experimentation Chamber (MAX) in the Thermodynamics and Space Environments Lab.

SUSTAIN THE FUTURE

As we adapt to offer remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, please help support the department’s discretionary fund, which is currently providing money for online coursework.

Click HERE to make a gift now, or contact Amy Blosser Spikes, assistant dean of advancement, at spikes@calpoly.edu or 805-756-2163