Research Projects

The impact of corporate social responsibility communication on corporate reputation

PI Doreen McGunagle

CO-I Dixie Button

The goal of this research project is to analyze the ethics of social media used by U.S. airlines. In particular, how the four major carriers, Southwest Airlines, Delta, United, and American Airlines Group, stack up against each other in terms of privacy and the ethical use of information obtained via social media sites such as Facebook.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly more important for firms in today’s global marketplace and effective communication of CSR initiatives is vital toward enhancing a company’s reputation and its sales revenues. With this consideration, the reputations of firms in the Aerospace and Defense (A & D) industry worldwide, in conjunction with their use of social media were examined to validate a link between the use of social media to communicate CSR activities and a firm’s reputation ranking.

Methodology involved a qualitative content analysis of the online and social media presence of the top 20 A & D companies from the Deloitte Toche Tohmatso Limited (DTTL) 2014 Global A & D financial performance study. Data from six indicators of CSR: environment, community relations, diversity, employee relations, human rights, and client comments was examined.

According to the findings, firms utilizing social media for CSR communication should expect improved reputation ratings. All top 20 A & D companies publish at least four CSR indicators on social media platforms. The conclusion reached is that while CSR content via social media can lead to higher reputation ratings, companies need to strategically choose the ideal number of CSR indicators, to position themselves in the global marketplace.

Categories: Faculty-Staff Graduate

Behavior of superalloys subjected to fatigue loads under high temperature

PI Alberto Mello

CO-I Paulina De La Torre Morales

CO-I Open Position - New students are welcome

This study is evaluating what initial conditions can activate cubic slip planes, then the level of accommodation and strain homogenization within the grain, and how a given initial condition affects the material behavior when subjected to operational cyclic loads under high temperature.

Ni-based super alloys are widely used in turbine engines mainly due to its high strength and fatigue resistance at elevated temperatures. One hypothesis to explain its atypical characteristic among metals is that a cross-slip mechanism is in place. The activation of {100} cubic slip systems along of the octahedral slip planes {111} in Ni-based superalloys has been verified when under high strain and temperature. The material would exhibit a more homogeneous strain distribution and less strain localization. We seek for the ideal precondition that will improve the endurance of Ni-based superalloy (IN 718) samples subjected to operational loading. We evaluate the initial conditions that activate cubic slip planes, the level of accommodation, and strain homogenization within the grain. With focus on the deformation mechanism, the sample microstructure can be fully characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and the slip systems, after the applied pre-condition, can be tracked via digital image correlation (DIC).

Accomplished tasks:

(a) samples’ manufacturing, (b) sample polishing and preparation, (c) furnace installation and operational tests, (d) development of laboratory procedures, equipment and microscopes (optical and SEM), (d) calibration and controller fine tuning for the MTS tensile testing machine, and (e) fatigue test with several specimens, including control samples and modified pre-conditions

Next steps:

Characterization of the microstructure of tested specimens under special conditions via EBSD to identify the slip planes and confirm or not the activation of cubic slip systems.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Measuring Interstellar Temperature and Ionization Variations Using Observations of Faint Diffuse [OII] Emission

PI Edwin Mierkiewicz

The interstellar medium (ISM) plays a vital role in the ongoing cycle of stellar birth and death as well as galactic evolution. However the role of interstellar matter, from how its properties are influenced by stars to how, in turn, its properties influence star formation is poorly understood.

Within the past decade substantial strides have been made towards unraveling the mysteries of a major ISM component, the widespread warm ionized medium (WIM). The advances were enabled by innovative spectroscopic techniques to detect and study extremely faint interstellar emission lines in the visible spectral region. With such observations it is possible to explore the connection between the Galactic disk and halo as energy and gas are transferred away from massive star-forming regions to large distances from the midplane. An especially exciting development in this area is the evidence for temperature variations and the existence of a previously unrecognized source of heating within the WIM. The emission line of ionized oxygen in the near ultraviolet spectral region (372.7 nm) is key to exploring variations in temperature and ionization state within the gas, and for investigating the role of this additional heating. Our [OII] observations will (1) provide the only opportunity to separate unambiguously variations in temperature from variations in ionization conditions in the warm ionized medium of our Galaxy and (2) confirm whether H-alpha, [NII], and [SII] data can provide reliable temperature information about diffuse ionized gas in our own and other galaxies.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

High Spectral Resolution Observations of Lunar Exospheric Emissions

PI Edwin Mierkiewicz

We are employing high-resolution Fabry-Perot spectroscopy of neutral sodium and potassium emission to investigate the morphology and dynamics of the lunar sodium exosphere. Likely atmosphere source mechanisms are thermal desorption, photo-desorption, ion sputtering, and meteoric impact ablation.

Their relative importance remains uncertain, both with regard to spatial and to temporal trends. Once released, sputtered gases in the lunar atmosphere can be pulled back to the regolith by gravity, escape to space, get pushed away by solar radiation pressure, or become photoionized and swept away by the solar wind. To test hypotheses about the sources, sinks, and escape of the lunar atmosphere, velocity-resolved observations under different lunar phases, altitudes, latitudes, and time histories are being made to help understand factors that link resultant morphologies to sources and solar radiation effects. These observations will help constrain atmospheric and surface-process modeling, and help quantify the source and escape mechanisms.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Environmental Analysis of Convective Initiation Events in Central Florida using Integrated Mobile Observation

PI Shawn Milrad

PI Daniel Halperin

This research collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office Tampa Bay aims to develop an ingredients-based methodology to help improve forecasts of first-strike cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in summer thunderstorms across Central Florida. Results will be used to construct a new forecast tool that will aid NWS forecasters in protecting the region’s life and property from these dangerous lightning events.

Lightning is a major hazard to life and property in Florida and annually leads the nation in lightning strikes and fatalities. The proposed research collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office Tampa Bay aims to develop an ingredients-based methodology to help forecast first strike cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in warm-season thunderstorms across Central Florida. A comprehensive environmental analysis of these convective initiation events is being performed using numerous observational datasets, including mobile radar and surface observations from recent ERAU field courses and campaigns. The environmental analysis will examine first-strike events across the eight large-scale flow regimes previously identified by NWS Tampa Bay. A particular focus is placed on events that occurred during four weeks of ERAU field courses/campaigns in 2015 and 2018, allowing for the unique integration of mobile observations. Results are being used to construct a new forecast tool integrated with existing radar- and satellite-based lightning tools, to improve first-strike alert lead times. Also, the proposed project has established a fruitful collaborative research relationship between ERAU and NWS Tampa Bay while providing research experience and training for several ERAU undergraduate meteorology majors. These undergraduate students have completed much of the work on the project and have gotten to interact with NWS Tampa Bay personnel. It is expected that this project will also stimulate future more significant research collaborations between ERAU Meteorology and regional NWS forecast offices.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Pilot-in-the-Loop UAS Mobile Research Test-Bed

PI Hever Moncayo

CO-I May Chan

CO-I Ashwini Agrawal

CO-I Agustin Giovagnoli

This project aims to develop and implement a Mobile UAV Ground Control Station (GCS) supporting aviation safety research with pilot-in-the-loop capabilities using unmanned aerial systems platforms, in which flight conditions, such as systems failures, could be simulated in real-time to characterize pilot response, control laws performance, and human-machine and control laws interactions.

A fruitful achievement of this project will provide a platform to validate and assess new concepts and technologies that are beneficial for improving engineering fidelity of early systems integration testing based on pilots feedback and their interaction with on-board flight controls systems.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Shielded UAS Operations Detect and Avoid

PI Hever Moncayo

This effort is intended to identify risks and recommend solutions to the FAA that enable shielded UAS operations

This project is funded under the FAA ASSURE program. Certain small UAS (sUAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, such as structural inspection, may be in close proximity to structures that are collision hazards for manned aircraft. These types of operations that are in close proximity to manned aviation flight obstacles such that they provide significant protection from conflicts and collisions with manned aircraft are termed “shielded” operations. This effort is intended to identify risks and recommend solutions to the FAA that enable shielded UAS operations. Several topics related to this project include simulation of dynamic systems, simulation environment programming, guidance, control and dynamics, and hardware implementation.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Vision and Wireless-Based Surveying for Intelligent OSAM Navigation (VISION)

PI Hever Moncayo

CO-I Kadriye Merve Dogan

In this project, which is a SpaceWERX Phase I STTR program with Orbital Prime, we are developing algorithms to increase autonomy of OSAM applications.

In this project, which is a SpaceWERX Phase I STTR program with Orbital Prime, we are developing algorithms to increase autonomy of OSAM applications. This includes the application of machine learning techniques to improve accuracy of position and orientation estimation for proximity operations in space. Machine learning include deep learning combined with vision-based navigation designed and tested in both, virtual simulation environment and actual thrust-based spacecraft system.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Mitigating GPS and ADS-B Risks for UAS

PI Hever Moncayo

In this project, the research team is investigating different strategies to mitigate such risks and proposing methodologies to increase safety of UAS operations within the National Airspace.

This project is funded under the FAA ASSURE program. Unvalidated or unavailable GPS and “ADS-B In” data poses security and safety risks to automated UAS navigation and to Detect and Avoid operations. Erroneous, spoofed, jammed or dropouts of GPS data may result in unmanned aircraft position and navigation being incorrect. This may result in a fly away beyond radio control, flight into infrastructure or flight into controlled airspace. Erroneous, spoofed, jammed or dropouts of “ADSB-In” data may result in automated unmanned aircraft being unable to detect and avoid other aircraft or result in detecting and avoiding illusionary aircraft.

In this project, the research team is investigating different strategies to mitigate such risks and proposing methodologies to increase safety of UAS operations within the National Airspace. Several topics related to this project include simulation of dynamic systems, artificial intelligence, flight testing of UAS and hardware implementation.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Deep-Learning-Based Unobtrusive Estimation of Pilot Adverse Interactions and Loss of Energy State Awareness

PI Hever Moncayo

This project aimed at gaining more insight into the mechanisms of pilot SD and LESA occurrence, capturing their dynamic fingerprint, and developing on-board intelligent schemes capable of predicting and detecting these dangerous phenomena associated to pilot behaviors.

Findings: Final report submitted 9/24. Each of the mathematical models showed good capabilities of estimating each of the pilot parameters and represent a promising tool towards the characterization of pilot behavior using learning components. Continuation can be pursued by generalizing or extending the proposed results to other aircraft-pilot dynamics, possibly eVTOLs for AAM.

Student and Curriculum impact. The simulation and testing tools will be integrated as part of the experiential learning of the course AE623 Guidance, Navigation and Control that will be taught by the PI next Fall 2025. The proposed technique also allowed a master student in Aerospace Engineering to complement and enhance her thesis outcomes.

Scholarly products: NASA ULI submission, NSF Dynamics Control and Systems

Brutch, T. Schill, and H. Moncayo, Machine learning approach to estimation of human-pilot model parameters, in Guidance Navigation and Control Architectures for Autonomous Systems III, AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, 2024-1200 (AIAA, Orlando, FL, 2024).
S. Brutch and H. Moncayo, Performance analysis of machine learning algorithms to humanpilot-model parameter estimation, in IS-30, Human - Automation Interaction, Accepted for presentation in AIAA SciTech 2025 Forum (AIAA, Orlando, FL, 2025).
S. Brutch, Rocio. Jado-Puente, and H. Moncayo, A physics-informed deep learning model for estimating human pilot behavior and mitigating adverse interactions, in Guidance Navigation and Control Architectures for Autonomous Systems III, AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, 2024-1200

Categories: Faculty-Staff