Experimental Aerodynamics and Concepts Group The Comprehension Challenge Narayanan Komerath Professor Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering

Experimental Aerodynamics and Concepts Group

The Comprehension Challenge Narayanan Komerath

ProfessorDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering


Problem Addressed

Aerospace systems are extremely complex. As systems become more complex and ever more tightly integrated, the engineer who must innovate solutions faces an ever-increasing plethora of disciplines to understand.

• The central problem considered is how to prepare learners to innovate in such an environment.

• Context: School of Aerospace Engineering with ~ 700 students; BSAE class ~ 150..

• The Comprehension Challenge: What percentage of the curriculum is actually absorbed/understood? How much can we improve this?


Thrust of the Paper

Excursions across disciplines and daring to innovate require•understanding technology and •gaining physical insight, •acquiring perspective needed to solve problems quickly in new areas.

• The EXTROVERT cross-disciplinary learning experiment shows that students can achieve substantial new capabilities, showing impressive results.

• Insisting on depth in courses is becoming more risky, due to a combination of student attitudes and lack of interest in logic and derivations, and pressures to drive standards down.


The EXTROVERT project: http://www.extrovert.gatech.edu Introduce three capabilities into engineering education. 1.A capability to iterate on concepts and skills, and achieve the multipliers in learning that come with experience, within the constraints of linear, sequential curricula organizations. 2.Capability to revisit the material contained in courses already taken, as well as preview other course material not yet taken. 3.Exercise the habit of learning in new areas through interactive assignments of substantial breadth and depth.

Some key resources: •Design-centered portal to aerospace engineering, used since 1997.•Vertical streams of technical content.•In-depth engineering case studies of historically significant vehicle systems. •A library of solved problems. •Integrative concept essays on various topics.•Compact e-books for several subjects. •Advanced concept development projects. •Undergraduate research testbeds, project documents and papers.•Module-based assessment approach to measure learning in near real time to provide feedback and modification during the learning process.

Our Approach


• Perspective review of related and previous course results at the start of each course, referring to detailed online notes and examples.

• “Sense of numbers” assignments involving conceptual design.• Faster coverage of material without loss of comprehension. • Instructor faces class most of the time – greater student participation.• Completion of lecture material well ahead of the end of the semester, permitting

extensive revisiting of concepts and contents.• Participation credit for students, using a “scratch sheet”• Much more ambitious assignments spanning half a semester or more. • Bonus points (up to 20 percent) on most tests and assignment, to reward excellence.. • Assignments where students must explore far outside what is covered in each course,

requiring innovation and conceptual design. • Usage of course material in the context of research projects and technical papers.• Long-term undergrad team projects without loss of continuity.

Changes enabled by EXTROVERT resources


ThermoElectric Converter

Retail Power Beaming: IEEE/ACM papers

Edu Kitchen SystemCruise Charging (ASME paper)

“Girasol” 1GW satelliteIEEE/ISDC papers

What the students have been doing

LH2 SST: AIAA, JCI papers


ISS-based mmWave beaming proposal, ISDC 2013


Solar Helium 1 GW Brayton Cycle Converter

100-Watt Low Cost Micro Wind Turbine


Runway-Based Space Launch Concepts. AE 3021 and AE8803, Spring 2013


Condor Subsonic Configuration

Condor Supersonic/Hypersonic Configuration

Mission Flight Profile

The X-57 Condor Launch System is the next generation in Low Earth Orbit access vehicles. The system is capable of delivering a 100,000kg payload into orbit, return safely to Earth, refuel, and be capable of repeating the mission in the same day! Although significant technological advancement is necessary for the system to come to fruition, its concept sets a basis for a potentially high value launch system.

Courtesy Sean Chait & Brett Kubica, AE3021, Sp. 2013


1.Publications resulting from student work ~ 50 peer reviewed in IEEE, ASME, ACM, AIAA conferences/ journals + ~14 other conference papers. 2. Examples of Advanced Concept Development projects.

3. Student research projects.

4. Examples of class assignments.

5. Success in wind tunnel repair/renovation project.

6. Cogent, detailed letters from learners confirm that the approach is working.

Assessment Results

http://www.extrovert.gatech.edu


Conclusion

Yes!

An emphasis on depth of comprehension leads to success in innovating on projects across disciplines.

Students at all levels are able to perform to their fullest potential with support fromlearning resources, examples of process and success, and real-world challenges.


The EXTROVERT project was made possible through support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the Innovation in Aerospace Instruction initiative. Mr. Tony Springer is the technical monitor. The author is most grateful to his colleagues and many students who have made these exhilarating advances possible.

Acknowledgements


•Evidence abounds of the lack of comprehension that comes to the surface when students in upper division courses are asked to deal with mathematical logic and derivations.

•Drastic increase in the percentage of students who will simply leave all “derivation” (logic) questions blank.

•May stem from their high school experience; aggravated in college.

•“Test-taking specialists” look for a final “formula” to “plug in numbers” as the sum total of their expectation of engineering work.

•On PhD qualifying examinations, some top achievers stumble on basic concepts, not having had a reason to think about the physics of the problem, or have no basis for doing so despite all the courses in which they have excelled.

Ominous indicators of the need for depth


Evolution Of The EXTROVERT Idea

•Iterative learning experiments 1994• Design-centered introduction to aerospace engineering, 1997• “Aerospace Digital Library” website in sustained operation since 1998•Depth vs. breadth: Vertical Streams of Technical Content • Cross-linking vs. Search Engines•Catering to multiple learning styles, 2002•Concept development exercises, 2002•Case studies, 2009•Learning Fundamentals through Conceptual Design


1992 – 94: Learning by Iteration. NSF Leadership in Laboratory Development award - bring the essence of practical experience into coursework. Lessons applied to core aerodynamics courses.

1997-2000: Learning Fundamentals through Conceptual Design. Freshmen perform very well in conceptual design applied to aircraft.

1998: Design-Centered Portal to Aerospace Digital Library. Goal: make information from every discipline available from the level of a high-school through college.

1998 – 2008: Vertical Streams of Technical Content; Cross-linking; Learning Styles.

2002-2005: Experiences with the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts

2004: Boeing Welliver Experience. Imperative for depth of comprehension.

PRIOR WORK



Concept essays and concept modules provide succinct introductions to vertical knowledge streams.

CE Examples•Antenna Design•Fluid dynamic Drag•Aerodynamic Lift•Brayton Cycle Engine• Vortex Flows



Core knowledge content is distilled into vertical streams in specific disciplines from freshman to doctorate levels. Low and high speed steady aerodynamics, flow diagnostics and control techniques, unsteady aerodynamics, jet propulsion, rocket and space propulsion, and composite materials, dynamics, vehicle performance, flight mechanics and controls, high temperature gas dynamics, and aeroelasticity.

24/7 – 365 access from anywhere. Includes•Worked examples on-line.

• Module-based assessment through thought surveys.

•Concept Development assignments in courses and research projects.

•Case Studies from history and current projects

•Skills Library

• Realistic, large, open-ended assignments in classes, well beyond single course.

•Intense undergrad participation in research; peer-reviewed publication.

New Realities





Combining geometric engine from CAD software with supersonic wave dragcalculation using MatLab


Concept Development Example: Tethered Aerostats to transmit 200 GHz electric power through lower atmosphere.

Komerath, Pant and Kar, Journal of Low Power Electronics, July 2012


DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Resistance to “derivations”; tendency to depend on memorized formulae2. Difficulty with order of magnitude estimation (“sense of the numbers”)3. Resistance to going outside minimal syllabus. 4. Thought survey questions on tests5. No place to hide. 6. Resource glut? Providing access to prior materials brings resentment!

On the other hand:

The top half of the class performs far beyond what their predecessors could do. Amazement at how much they learned.

The top 30% “get” what we are trying to do for them

– the core of the future aerospace industry.


Rationale, development and usage experience of new resources to enable innovation in complex problems crossing several disciplines.

1. A portal set in conceptual design conveys a quick and useful perspective, and entry to depth.

2. Vertical streams of content provide continuity and integration

3. Concept essays and concept modules provide succinct introductions.

4. Advanced concept explorations help learners build estimation skills.

5. Usage of resources allows the best to run far out ahead, while improving all.

6. Highlights major issues in traditional class practices.

7. Concept development teaches innovation in the face of large uncertainty.

Advanced concept development experience and iterative experience in course formative evaluations, teach students to conduct order-of-magnitude estimates to bolster their problem-solving approaches.

9. A return to rigorous fundamentals is consistent with experiential learning.

10. The new capabilities call for a re-examination of the traditional assumptions about course structure and performance assessment.

CONCLUSIONS


High Speed Aerodynamics

AeroelasticityFixed Wing Aircraft Design

Low Speed Aerodynamics

Thermo & Gas Dynamics Vehicle Performance

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering


Curricular Compression

AE3000 (5)AE3001 (5)AE3002(5)AE 4000(5)

AE2020 (3)AE3004 (3)AE3021(3)AE 3051(2)

•Numerical methods•MatLab•Web-based programs•Web search• Presentations•Report-writing

•Derivations•Analytical solutions


Products Portfolio


Examples of issues


Processes


Sample student comments


Conclusions

•Curricular compression has cut the time available to convey depth in engineering subjects•Student capabilities and motivation show very large spread•Resistance to analytical skills poses competitive threat•Iterative learning solution•Implies early completion•Rewards for excellence•Deterrence to blind Formula substitions needed•CETL dominated by the clueless•Institutional ignorance•Institutional hostility towards engg•Institutional arrogance•Student comments show strong concerns•Administrative incompetence is leading obstacle to quality improvement


Acknowledgements



Use of “skill” tools

Intrinsic ability (when pushed)

Applying “theory” learned in classes

Capturing essence of logic methods

Using analysis to develop bounds

SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS



Concept essays and concept modules provide succinct introductions to vertical knowledge streams.

CE Examples•Antenna Design•Fluid dynamic Drag•Aerodynamic Lift•Brayton Cycle Engine• Vortex Flows



Combining geometric engine from CAD software with supersonic wave dragcalculation using MatLab

Documents

Experimental Aerodynamics and Concepts Group The Comprehension Challenge Narayanan Komerath Professor Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering