Embry-Riddle, in collaboration with Florida State University, the University of Florida, and the University of Central Florida, has been granted $14.5 million to establish the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP), a technical and academic focal point for the aerospace industry in Florida. The purpose of this center is to allow Florida researchers to develop cutting edge technologies, enhancing Florida’s role in the aviation and aerospace industry, and increasing the number of technologically savvy graduate students in the areas of aerospace and propulsion. The principal investigator, Dr. Ray Mankbadi, is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Embry-Riddle; he will be joined by several distinguished faculty members in efforts on this project.

With the largest number of aeronautical engineering students in Florida, Embry-Riddle will coordinate with the FAACP design projects geared towards training undergraduate students to help with the advanced technological needs of the aerospace industry. With the resources of all four partner universities behind it, the FAACP can make Florida a national academic leader in Aero-Propulsion.

The Embry-Riddle team will be involved in several tasks and projects involving applications of turbulence control, noise reduction, and optimal control to the task of flow and noise control in the aerospace industry. Turbulence control is the practice of reducing separation and friction losses, or enhancing the mixing process, to provide better efficiency and performance. Noise reduction in jet and rocket propulsion systems is important to the development of high speed civil transport, given the demands of increasingly restrictive FAA regulations. Optimal control involves the application of nonlinear and matrix based control theory to non-linear and underactuated systems.

One goal for the Embry-Riddle team in these areas is to provide computational and simulation tools to assess newly proposed techniques for flow or noise control and to optimize their performance at various operating conditions. These tools will lead to significant advances in flow and noise control strategies for aero-propulsion systems that can be developed into technologies with assistance from, and later transitioned to, industrial partners. Another goal is to develop specific devices for active noise and flow control algorithms, as well as advanced control, to efficiently and reliably enhance system performance.

Another focus of the Embry- Riddle team is on implementing advanced technology for turbines and other alternative engines. While the aerospace industry currently relies heavily on gasturbine technology, increasing fuel costs mandate new technology for the survival of airlines and other aerospace-dependent industries. New turbomachinery could be designed using new materials, control devices, optimized designs, flow simulations, and combustion technology for new fuels; however, an alternative approach would be to The final areas of particular importance for the Embry-Riddle team are the evaluation of hypersonic engines and the development of efficient micro/meso propulsion systems for next generation micro-air vehicles (MAVs) that would endure controlled flights of unmanned MAVs for a variety of missions. With the successful flight of X-43A, hypersonic flight has achieved several technological goals and entered a new era. With further developments, it will reach Technology Readiness Level. Embry-Riddle intends to assist industry in both design and evaluation of these engines.

Advanced Turbine and Alternate Power Technology Next Generation Micro and Hypersonic Vehicles develop other clean and fuel-efficient engines that rely on renewable energy sources. Considering FAA emission constraints and the cost of fuel consumption, the team will be developing highly efficient aircraft engines that work on alternative fuels as well as hybrids, investigating the possibility of using wind or solar energy.

The goals for these activities are to develop green engines using renewable energy sources and lower emissions and to reduce fuel cost. Advanced MAVs are increasingly used for remote monitoring, surveillance, and other safety and security applications. Uses of micro propulsion range from micro- and nano-satellite systems for space exploration to medical devices for precise drug delivery and microsurgery. With recent studies on thermofluid performance of microand nano-devices, the technology is ready to optimize aerodynamic performance and stability of MAVs. Embry-Riddle intends to develop the enabling technology for micropropulsion.