Archives: 2005 - 2006
OFFICERS
Chair: Sam Trepp
Vice Chair: Ethan Eagle
Vice Chair of Committees: Jason Leggett
Treasurer: Crystal Proffitt
Secretary: Victor Ling
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Alison Flatau
MEMBERS
| Alvarado, Matt Barba-Sorra, Victor Barnes, Christopher Bawek, Dean Baxi, Ankit Beelman, Adam Benic, Chris Besser, Rebecca Biddle, Jason Billingsley, David Bratten, Andrew Brown, Alexander Brown, Gregory Brown, Nathaniel Chandhok, Kanwarpal Chinn, Michael Collins, Angelo Conway, Sean Corbitt, Sara Crawford, Timothy Cunneen, Christopher D'Amore, Nicholas Dave, Pratik Davis, Jeremy Davis, Jon DeGlopper, Anne Donnelly, Brian Eagle, Ethan Ellsberry, Andrew Fields, Sara Freeman, Paul Furgione, Christine |
Gates, Christopher |
Lisee, Joseph |
Rejent, Andrew Rohr, Peter Ropisan, Adrian Roshwalb, Andrew Roundtree, Josh Rzucidlo, Amanda Sanders, Nathan Scheur, Andrew Schurter, Holly Shah, Pathik Shorter, Charles Sotak, Michael Spies, Matthew Spitale, Jenna Tari, Talvar Theodros, Brouk Tomlinson, Zakiya Trepp, Sam Turner, Andrew Trout, Julie Twarek, Luke Vasilak, Neal Vollmer, John Webster, Erik Weinberg, Scott Wilson, Andrew Wilson, Nicholas Woll, Leslie Young, Judith Zook, Jolyon |
05/11/06
I know next week is finals week, but on Saturday, May 20th, we are going to take a trip to see an Air show at Andrews Air Force Base. It is the Joint Service Open House featuring the Blue Angels. Many other planes will also be present. For a complete list, see <http://public.andrews.amc.af.mil/jsoh/schedule.html>
The show is from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. We are going to carpool and depart from the AIAA lounge at 7:00 am. If you would like to go, e-mail Victor or sign up in the lounge.
To everyone: best of luck on your final exams. Also, please take a moment to log on to the AIAA website http://www.aiaa.org/ and update your information, specifically your address since most of you will be somewhere else for the summer and next year. Your login is your last name and your password is your 6-digit member number. To my fellow seniors, congratulations – we made it!
04/24/06
AIAA, in conjunction with Sigma Gamma Tau, will be hosting a Movie Night on Wednesday, April 26th at 8:00 pm in EGR 1202. We will be watching “Stealth (2005)” starring Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel. Free popcorn and soda will be provided.
04/20/06
Here are the newly elected officers for the 2006-2007 school year. Congratulations to the new officers and thanks to everyone who came out and voted or ran for a position.
Chair: Crystal Proffitt
Vice Chair: Brian Donnelly
Treasurer: Erin Marx
Secretary: Chris Plumley
Activities Coordinator: Pathik Shah
04/17/06
This year’s AIAA officers are happy to announce the 13th Annual Aerospace Awards Banquet. The banquet will be held in the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building. The room is nicer and larger than the Holiday Inn where the event was held last year. We also hope the on-campus location makes it more accessible to everyone.
The annual spring banquet begins with a reception followed by a formal sit-down dinner. After dinner, there are student design project presentations – Design Build Fly, ENAE 482’s Micro Air Vehicle, and ENAE 484’s Space Station Phoenix. Then the guest speaker gives a lecture. Finally, the evening concludes with the presentation of this year’s Faculty Awards – Outstanding Professor, Outstanding Mentor, and the Broken Propeller Award.
Almost all of the faculty will be in attendance. In the past, this has been a memorable event and this year will be no different. The guest speaker will be Dr. Michael S. Francis. Dr. Francis is the Director of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems Program at DARPA.
WHEN: Thursday, May 4th at 6:00 pm
WHERE: Richard & Rebecca Kay Boardroom; Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building; College Park, Maryland 20742
COST *: $20 for AIAA members; $25 for non-members, $30 for faculty/staff; * includes up to two free drinks at the bar for attendees who are over 21
DRESS: Business Casual
Tickets are now on sale in the AIAA lounge. We ask that you purchase your tickets before Tuesday, April 25th. If you have any questions, feel free to ask an AIAA officer.
04/13/06
The Sixth (and last) General Body Meeting of the year will be next Wednesday, April 19th at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. We are co-hosting the meeting with our parent professional branch, the National Capital Section of AIAA. On behalf of the other student branch officers, I would like to announce our guest speaker: Ed Yarbrough.
Ed Yarbrough is the Director of Research & Technology at Honeywell. He is also the Secretary of the National Capital Section and liaison to our student branch. He will be speaking on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
At the meeting, we will raffle off prizes as promised (one entry for every AIAA event attended this year). The winners must be in attendance to receive their prizes. Also, the candidates for next year’s AIAA officers will be giving short speeches and then taking questions before the student branch casts their votes. Nominations for candidates end on Friday, so if you would like to run for a position, get your name up on the board in the AIAA lounge as soon as possible.
We hope you will join us next week. As always, we will be providing pizza and refreshments at the end of the meeting.
04/09/06
Please join me in congratulating the following seniors from the University of Maryland: Paul Rosendall, Joe Coker, Inna Kurtis, and Mac Mackey.
The University of Maryland swept the undergraduate technical paper competition at the AIAA Region I Mid-Atlantic Student Conference yesterday evening. There were over 30 papers presented by students from Penn State, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Johns Hopkins University.
Third Place was a tie between Inna Kurtis’ paper on “Determination of a Transient Pressure Drop in the Reservoir of a Hypervelocity Blowdown Tunnel” and Mac Mackey’s paper on “Fan Input Voltage and Frictional Compensation for TableSat Satellite Simulator."
Second Place was Joe Coker and his paper on “Active Pitch Link for a Helicopter Rotor.”
First Place was Paul Rosendall’s paper on “Enhanced Algorithms for an Underwater Visual Positioning System.” Paul will present his paper at the AIAA Foundation National Student Conference competition, which is held during the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno, Nevada.
03/29/06
The last “Brown Bag with a Professor” will be with Dr. Flatau, our Structures professor. It will be on Wednesday, April 5th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in the Aerospace Conference Room (EGR 3164).
If you would like to attend, please e-mail Victor or sign up in the AIAA lounge. You can show up the day of without replying, but keep in mind that we will be ordering pizza based on how many people sign-up in advance.
03/27/06
The time has come to select new officers for the 2006-2007 school year. Your current 2005-2006 officers have decided upon the following rules and guidelines to ensure a smooth election.
1. The voting itself will take place at our Sixth General Body Meeting on Wednesday, April 19th. Starting Monday, April 3rd and lasting through Friday, April 14th, open nominations will be held on the white board in the AIAA lounge. Any undergraduate member may run for office. The only stipulation is that the Vice Chair of Committees must not be graduating within 3 semesters. This proposition was voted on and passed in May 2004.
2. On Friday, April 14th, we will contact via e-mail those people who have been nominated on the white board. If any candidate chooses to decline the nomination, he or she may e-mail us back and request to have his or her name excluded from the official ballot. Candidates who accept their nominations should be prepared to give a short speech at the General Body Meeting.
3. Only local members may vote in this election. A local member is defined as someone who has paid his or her local dues for this academic year. Please check the attached Microsoft Excel file to verify your current local membership status (this spreadsheet is also posted in the lounge).
4. If your local membership has lapsed, and you would like to vote in the election for next year’s officers, you can stop by the lounge and give $5.00 to any AIAA officer. You have plenty of time before the election to do this.
5. At our Sixth General Body Meeting on April 19th, we will be distributing ballots to only those members whose local memberships are up to date. While the ballots themselves will be anonymous, you will have to check-in with us. We will use the most recent version of the spreadsheet to verify that your membership is current. Then we will cross your name off the list and hand you a ballot.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask an officer.
03/07/06
The next “Brown Bag with a Professor” will be with Dr. Korkegi, our Aerodynamics professor. It will be on Tuesday, March 14th from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm in the Aerospace Conference Room (EGR 3164).
03/06/06
The guest speaker for this Thursday’s Fifth General Body Meeting will be Ray Crough. Mr. Crough is the Director of Systems Engineering Integration and Test at Orbital Sciences Corporation.
We will be taking our annual group photo at this meeting. We will also be raffling off two T-shirts, so remember to enter your name into the raffle after you sign in. As a reminder, the meeting will be this Thursday, March 9th at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202.
The departure time for this Friday’s Lockheed Martin Trip has been pushed back. We will now be meeting in the AIAA lounge at 2:45 pm on Friday, March 10th and leaving shortly after. We are planning to drive to Arlington, but in case something changes, bring a few dollars for the Metro. As part of our tour, we will be monitoring the arrival of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter live. It’s not too late to sign up. Simply e-mail Victor or sign up in the AIAA lounge.
Lastly, we are repainting/touching-up the mural in the hallway outside the lounge this Saturday, March 11th at 3:00 pm. If you would like to help out, e-mail Ethan.
03/01/06
The tour of Lockheed Martin’s building and operations facility in Arlington, VA (postponed from last semester) has been rescheduled for Friday, March 10, 2006. We are planning to leave the AIAA lounge at around noon.
If you are interested in attending, please e-mail Victor or sign up in the AIAA Lounge, 1163 EGL.
We will be providing transportation (hopefully renting vans from the university). However, if we are not able to get vans in time and you are willing to help us drive, please also let us know.
02/20/06
The new Aerospace T-shirts are in! This year there is one design for both aeronautics and astronautics. Shirts are $10 for current local AIAA members and $13 for non-members. Since there was no pre-ordering this year, if you are interested in purchasing a shirt, simply stop by the AIAA lounge (EGL 1163) and ask for an officer. The shirts will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. We can take cash or checks (please make checks payable to “UMCP AIAA”).
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02/08/06
The Fourth General Body meeting will be next THURSDAY, February 16th at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. On behalf of the other student branch officers, I would like to officially announce our confirmed guests: Laurie Daddino, Wendy Frank, Ryan Leo, and Jason Pereira.
These four are all graduates of the undergraduate aerospace engineering program here at the University of Maryland, College Park. Laurie graduated in 2001 and currently works for Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. Ryan graduated in 2003 and now works for Orbital Sciences Corporation. Wendy also graduated from Maryland in 2003, but went on to get her Master of Science degree at the University of Michigan. She has returned to the capital area and is now working for Orbital Sciences Corporation. Jason received his BS in December 2000, decided to stay here for graduate school, and is in the PhD program. These alumni have agreed to come back and share their different perspectives of life after College Park.
This is your opportunity to ask an alumnus/alumna what you always wanted to ask. Are you wondering how often you’ll use ENAE 202 in the real world? Are you curious how important an internship really is? Not sure if you want to pursue an advanced degree or enter the workforce? They all graduated within the last six years. They took the same classes we’re taking and had the same professors we have. No one is better qualified to give an unbiased response than they are.
We hope you will join us next week. In addition to Laurie, Wendy, Ryan, and Jason, we may have one or two more alumni join the panel. All interested faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend. You will not want to miss this unique opportunity. As always, we will be providing pizza and refreshments at the end of the meeting.
02/06/06
I’d like to remind anyone who is planning to attend the AIAA Regional Student Conference that the deadline for registering and submitting an abstract (if applicable) is coming up. The deadline is next week – Friday, February 17th. Here are a few important points to remember:
- The conference will be held on April 7th and 8th at Penn State University
- You can register online at <http://region1ma.aiaastudentconference.org/control>
- The registration fee is $30, which includes food and lodging. If you are not in need of a hotel room, the fee is $10. The registration fee cannot be paid online. Checks should reach Penn State’s AIAA student branch by the February 17th deadline.
- Our student branch will be collecting checks to send to Penn State. If you would like to take advantage of this convenience, you can give your check to Dr. Flatau in room 3184 or to an AIAA officer and we will make sure it reaches PSU in time. We ask that you do this by Wednesday, February 15th. Checks for the conference should be made out to “Penn State AIAA.”
- You must be an AIAA national member to register. You will be asked to provide your 6-digit AIAA member number, which can be found on your membership card. If you do not know your member number, send Victor an e-mail and he will find out for you.
- If you are in need of transportation or would like to join a carpool, please also e-mail Victor.
02/06/06
We have scheduled this semester’s “Brown Bag with a Professor” series. These monthly informal lunchtime meetings will focus on the aerospace department faculty here at Maryland and their current research. If you would like to learn more about the research that goes on here at the university and get to know the faculty, this is for you! AIAA will be providing free pizza.
The first in this semester’s series of Brown Bags will be with Dr. Wereley on Wednesday, February 15th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in the Aerospace Conference Room (EGR 3164).
The second will be on Tuesday, March 14th from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm. The details are still in the works.
The third will be with Dr. Flatau on Wednesday, April 5th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm at the same location.
If you would like to attend any of these, please send Victor an e-mail. You can show up the day of without replying, but keep in mind that we will be ordering pizza based on how many people RSVP in advance.
01/23/06
Welcome back! AIAA has many exciting things planned for the new semester. We will be ordering a large batch of T-shirts in the next few days. They will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis; there are no pre-orders this year. We will be taking trips to see an Air Show as well as tour Lockheed Martin’s test facility in Virginia (postponed from last semester). Each month we will continue the “Brown Bag with a Professor” lunch series. On April 7th and 8th, we will be attending the AIAA Regional Student Conference at Penn State. Together with Sigma Gamma Tau, we will come up with a display for the Maryland Day competition on April 29th. Finally, we will wrap up the school year by bringing you the 13th Annual Aerospace Awards Banquet in early May.
General Body Meetings will be held every month. Note that they are on different days of the week this semester. All meetings will take place at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. Unless otherwise announced, they should only last one hour. The Fifth General Body Meeting will tentatively be co-hosted with our parent, professional branch: the National Capital Section. The meeting dates for the spring semester are as follows:
Thursday, February 16th - Fourth General Body Meeting
Thursday, March 9th - Fifth General Body Meeting
Wednesday, April 19th - Sixth General Body Meeting
In closing, we have an announcement for those of you who are interested in attending the AIAA Regional Student Conference at Penn State. The website for the conference is now up: http://region1ma.aiaastudentconference.org/control . Instructions for registering, as well as submitting abstracts and papers, are on the site. Remember that you can attend the conference without presenting a paper (most of the AIAA officers are not presenting). Remember that the deadline for registering and submitting an abstract is February 17th. The deadline for submitting a paper is March 13th.
11/22/05
We have just received details of the 2005-2006 AIAA Region I-Mid-Atlantic Student Conference.
The annual regional student conference is for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research in a formal technical meeting atmosphere, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other schools in the region. Some of the other schools in the Mid-Atlantic region are: George Washington University, US Naval Academy, University of Delaware, University of Virginia, Villanova University, and Virginia Tech. Students will compete for three cash prizes in graduate and undergraduate categories. Even more valuable is the industry-wide recognition that winners (and presenters) receive in this prestigious competition.
The student conference will be held at Penn State University on April 7-8, 2006. Please make note of the following deadlines:
Abstract and Registration Deadline: February 17, 2006
Paper Deadline: March 13, 2006
(Registration will open in mid-December)
Students who have additional commitments that weekend should e-mail PSU’s AIAA Chair Pam Montanye (plm137@psu.edu) to request a Friday presentation time slot.
We’ll pass more information on to you as it becomes available.
In local news, our trip to Lockheed Martin has been postponed until the spring semester. Also, the last “Brown Bag with a Professor” of the semester will be on Wednesday, December 7th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in EGR 3164 (the Aerospace Conference Room). Dr. Humbert will be presenting.
11/10/05
The Third General Body Meeting will be next Wednesday, November 16th at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. This is the last meeting of the fall semester. We are in the process of finalizing the guest speaker.
We will be raffling off nine packages of Neapolitan Space Ice Cream to nine people. As usual, there will be pizza and soda – free for current local AIAA members, $5.00 for all others.
By the request of our members, we are going to be shortening our meetings a little. The target timetable will now (tentatively) be:
6:00 – 6:15 pm: News, Upcoming Events, Raffle and other AIAA announcements
6:15 – 6:45 pm: Guest speaker
6:45 – 7:00 pm: Pizza
Because of the shortened length of the meetings, I’d like to ask that everyone try to arrive on time so that we can begin on time. Also, remember to sign one of attendance sheets and enter your name into the raffle when you arrive.
11/03/05
There has been a slight change in plans. The next “Brown Bag with a Professor” will now be with Dr. Sanner. It will be on Thursday, November 10th from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm in the Aerospace Conference Room (EGR 3164).
If you would like to attend, please send Victor an e-mail. You can show up the day of without replying, but keep in mind that we will be ordering pizza based on how many people RSVP in advance.
11/03/05
UMD has been kindly offered a tour of Lockheed Martin’s building and operations at their facility in Arlington, VA. AIAA is planning a trip on a Friday afternoon, either in November, or early December. The facility is within walking distance from the Crystal City Metro Station, on the Yellow Line. If there is enough interest, we may rent a van(s) instead.
Currently, we are considering 3 dates: November 11, November 18, or December 2. The tour should last approximately 2 hours.
If you are interested, please RSVP to Victor at vling@wam.umd.edu (specify the date(s) that you are available) or sign up in the AIAA Lounge, 1163 EGL.
10/20/05
By popular request, we are bringing back “Brown Bag with a Professor.” These monthly informal lunchtime meetings will focus on the aerospace department faculty here at Maryland and their current research. If you would like to learn more about the research that goes on here at the university and get to know the faculty, this is for you! AIAA will be providing free pizza.
The first in this series of Brown Bags will be with Dr. Cadou on Wednesday, October 26th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in the Aerospace Conference Room (EGR 3164).
The second will be with Dr. Humbert on Thursday, November 10th from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm at the same location.
The third will be on Wednesday, December 7th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. The details are still in the works.
If you would like to attend any of these, please send Victor an e-mail. You can show up the day of without replying, but keep in mind that we will be ordering pizza based on how many people RSVP in advance.
09/30/05
Although this announcement comes a little earlier than usual, I would like to take this opportunity to announce our Second General Body Meeting to be held on Wednesday, October 19th at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. We are co-hosting the meeting with the Baltimore Section of the AIAA. Together we have arranged for Dr. David Findlay, Head of Advanced Aerodynamics at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), to come speak to us about “Applied Aerodynamics for Naval Aviation.” His talk will focus on past, present, and future aerodynamic analysis method development efforts by NAVAIR. Examples of transitioning these developments to real world applications will be discussed. Dr. Findlay has over 20 years of experience in Naval Aviation engineering. He has published more than 25 technical papers, and serves on multiple national and international committees on joint research and development.
AIAA, in conjunction with Sigma Gamma Tau, will be hosting a Movie Night on Tuesday, October 11th at 7:30 pm in EGR 1202. We will be watching “Flight of the Phoenix (2004)” starring Jared Padalecki and Miranda Otto. Free popcorn and soda will be provided.
Our final two kickball games will be held on Friday, October 7th and 14th at Acredale Community Park. The October 7th game will be against Eta Kappa Nu, the Electrical Engineering Honor Society. The October 14th game will be against the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. If you would like to play for the AIAA team, please contact Jason Leggett (nasajleg@umd.edu). Directions to the park can be found at http://www.enae.umd.edu/AIAA/acredale_directions.html.
The next Meatball Sub sale date is Monday, October 10th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Main Entrance to the Engineering Building. We desperately need volunteers to help set up at 10:00 am. Anyone who helps out for 30 minutes or more gets a free lunch. If you would like to help set up, just show up at the AIAA lounge at 10:00 am. If you would like to help out later, stop by our table at the main entrance.
09/16/05
The First General Body Meeting will be next Wednesday, September 21st at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. On behalf of the other student branch officers, I would like to announce our plan for the evening.
At 5:00 pm (an hour preceding our meeting), Lockheed Martin Corporation will be holding a Career Fair Preparation Workshop in room 1110 of the Kim Engineering Building. A good amount of our members have expressed interest in attending this workshop. We feel that it would be too draining for anyone to spend an hour with Lockheed Martin and then walk over to EGR 1202 for another meeting with AIAA. As a result, we have opted not to have a speaker for our AIAA meeting to try to alleviate things.
What will we be doing instead? We will conduct the business portion of our AIAA meeting as usual, which will include committee/locker sign-ups and other important announcements. Then pizza will arrive early and the remainder of the time will be spent on some or all of the following activities: raffling off “Rocket Scientist” shirts (or other door prizes), having an icebreaker, and watching a few short films about Boeing. The pizza and refreshments are free for current local AIAA members, $5.00 for all others.
We hope you will join us next week for our first meeting Any AIAA members who are interested in attending the Lockheed Martin workshop should sign-up in advance at http://www.coop.eng.umd.edu/students/workshops.html.
Otherwise, we will see you at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, September 21st in EGR 1202.
09/14/05
Engineering Student Council (ESC) is sponsoring a series of kickball games. The games will be held on Fridays at 4:00, 5:00, or 6:00 pm at Acredale Park for the next 8 weeks or so. The final schedule has not yet been finalized. Acredale Park is located at the intersection of Metzerott Rd and MD Route 193, within walking distance of campus.
Each engineering society will have a team and the different societies will compete against each other. Our AIAA student branch has entered the competition.
If you have any interest in playing kickball for our team, please contact Jason Leggett ASAP at nasajleg@umd.edu. You do not have to play every week: you can play 1 time or 8 times (or even 0 times). It’s completely up to you. You are not obligated to do anything by expressing interest. We are just looking to get a pool of players. We do need to have at least eight players at any given game to compete, however. If you have any questions, e-mail Jason.
09/02/05
Hello from your local student branch of the AIAA! Hopefully everyone has had a safe and relaxing summer and is ready for the new school year. 2004-2005 was a great year for our student branch. With so many returning officers, we are anticipating that round two will be even better. We have already begun planning for an exciting semester.
First, please remember to renew your AIAA memberships, both national and local. Local memberships ($5.00 per person) are now due for renewal at the beginning of every academic year. You can renew your local membership with any AIAA officer in the lounge, but please do so by (or at) the First General Body Meeting.
General Body Meetings will once again be held on the third Wednesday of every month at 6:00 pm in EGR 1202. The first meeting will be on Wednesday, September 21st. The other meeting dates for the fall semester are October 19th and November 16th. Details on the guest speaker for the first meeting will be available soon. Pizza will be served at the end of every meeting – FREE for AIAA members, $5 for non-members. The first meeting is an important one, so please come if you can.
We are also hosting our annual Fall Picnic on Wednesday, September 14th on the front lawn of the Engineering Building, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. This event is open to all students, faculty, and staff. Please join us for food, games, catching up with old friends, and meeting new faces. Food is free for AIAA members and $5 all-you-can-eat for non-members. Membership forms will be available if you wish to sign up or renew your membership when you arrive.
As always, feel free to stop by the lounge or drop any of us an e-mail at any time. Also, remember that the organization’s screen name is “UMCP AIAA” and will broadcast the most up-to-date news. The other officers and I hope to see you at the picnic and the First General Body Meeting!