Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Successfully collecting a sample from an asteroid and returning it to Earth was accomplished in the fall of 2023 by NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer team, or OSIRIS-REx. Three members of the team are University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign aerospace engineering alumni. They shared in being awarded the most recent Robert J. Collier Award. The three AE alums are Coralie Adam, B.S. ’11 - lead optical navigation engineer at KinetX;  Jason Swensen, M.S. ’14 - flight dynamics engineer for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Beth Buck, B.S. ’89 - mission operations program manager. Buck is now retired but was at Lockheed Martin Space for 31 years. For more, including a link to a video about the team award, visit https://lnkd.in/gZcRdnSt.

AE researchers investigated using a propulsion concept known as multimode propulsion to get spacecraft to the Moon and developed a technique to design optimal multimode transfers. NASA provided the team with four real mission scenarios. The goal was to explore how a multimode propulsion system that integrates both a chemical high-thrust mode and an electric low-thrust mode—while using the same propellant—can succeed. They examined using a standard 12-unit CubeSat to accomplish four distinct missions. “We showed for the first time the feasibility of using multimode propulsion in NASA-relevant lunar missions, particularly with CubeSats,” said aerospace engineering Ph.D. student Bryan Cline. “Other studies used arbitrary problems which is a great starting point. Ours is the first high-fidelity analysis of multimode mission design for NASA-relevant lunar missions.” Read the full story at https://lnkd.in/gPRPPzBq

We've had some gorgeous fall weather lately! It's always a bonus when we find a blue sky backdrop for orange leaves to give us a natural ILL-INI!

Melkior Ornik is one of just 24 recipients of a 2025 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program award. His research is titled, "Risk vs. Efficiency vs. Resources: AI-Assisted Planning for Expeditionary Tactical Operations in Denied Environments," with program officer Peter Squire under the category of human performance, training and education. Ornik explained that denied environments include locations which are uncertain, changing, risky, have limited visibility, etc. “Ultimately, the project's goal is to enable flexible planning methods for teams of human or autonomous agents that operate on missions in denied or complicated environments and need to quickly adapt their strategies to new observations and new challenges,” Ornik said. “The goal is both to automate this planning, but also provide the human planner/operator/commander with a high-level understanding of the situation, allowing them to quickly consider the trade-off between agent risk and mission efficiency, or the necessary capabilities of the agents that they need to put into the field to successfully complete the mission.” For more, visit https://lnkd.in/gjkJk7K3.

David Ehrhardt, in collaboration with Rogue Space Systems Corporation, is a part of a recently awarded Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer award through SpaceWERX and the U.S. Space Force on the development of a Contactless LAser Satellite Stethoscope to enable audio and harmonic diagnostics of Resident-Space-Objects while in space. CLASS will use a scanning laser beam and the Doppler effect to measure vibrations of resident space objects and, using acoustical signatures, identify them—even detect anomalies. Ehrhardt is a research professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and research institution lead on the Rogue project. “For this project, I am responsible for design and execution of laboratory testing using off-the-shelf components to access sensitivity, range and limitations of laser Doppler vibrometry when applied to cube satellites under different environmental conditions,” he said. “I am also working with an LDV manufacturer to lower size, weight, and power requirements so we can send an LDV into space.” This technology will enhance and complement other remote sensors in characterizing the operational state and life of spacecraft playing a key role in space traffic management, enhancement of situational awareness, and open new opportunities to monitor and service satellites.

Do you have: Practical experience in aerospace engineering A BS in aerospace or a related field Interest or experience in teaching/mentoring/advising Interest in developing and leading academic research/programs/training in your area of interest/expertise If yes, please consider this exciting opportunity to be a Professor of Practice in the highly ranked Dept. of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Please forward to others you know who might be interested. For the full position description and to apply, visit https://lnkd.in/gsDtnWAb

Aerospace researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a new instrument to measure the density of the dust that kicks up when spacecraft thrusters interact with planetary surfaces as it lands. Because cameras and other optical equipment are blinded by dense dust clouds, the new instrument uses millimeter-wave radar in a new way to accurately measure the dust and debris. “Other measurement techniques exist, but our instrument addresses a sort of ‘missing middle.’ It is applicable to particle clouds which are too dense for optical measurements but too thin for state-of-the-art opaque multiphase techniques like X-rays or MRI. It is also capable of several thousands of measurements per second,” said Nicolas Rasmont, PhD student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. “Our instrument uses a radar to generate waves with a wavelength of 3.8 mm, just over an eighth of an inch. The wave travels through a cloud of particles, then is reflected, then captured back by our instrument to detect the presence of the particles.” Read the whole story at https://lnkd.in/gb92-epD

Here are a few photos from this past Friday, October 11 when aerospace engineering alumni came to campus to participate in the annual alumni board meeting, tours of new aero lab spaces, and other social events.

AE faculty member Laura Villafañe Roca has been selected to the Class of 2025 Associate Fellows of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She will be formally honored and inducted in January ’25 during the AIAA SciTech Forum. AIAA Associate Fellows are individuals of distinction who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics. Villafañe Roca has been recognized by AIAA “for outstanding contributions to experimental research in fluid dynamics and measurement techniques and their impact to aeronautics and aerospace systems.” Her area of expertise is experimental fluid mechanics and multiphase flow physics. She received her Ph.D. from the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics and the Universitad Politècnica de València and joined the department in January 2019 after four years as postdoc and research scientist at Stanford. In 2023, she also became an affiliate of Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Read more at https://lnkd.in/g-2X2far.

The Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign seeks highly qualified candidates for a full-time faculty position at all ranks. All areas of space systems, space science, space medicine, space robotics, and space situational awareness are of primary interest. Exceptional candidates in other areas relevant to Aerospace Engineering that will complement the department’s current strengths are also welcome to apply. The Department of Aerospace Engineering is committed to building a culturally diverse educational environment, with a focus on broadening representation across the faculty. Candidates from underrepresented racial, ethnic, gender, or other backgrounds across the aerospace engineering field are encouraged to apply. We are seeking faculty who can contribute to the diversity and excellence in our programs and courses through their research, teaching, and service. To see the full announcement, visit https://lnkd.in/gZ7zd-Kk Please forward this job posting to people you know who might be interested in this position.