Research Projects

Media Literacy and Online Critical Thinking Initiatives

PI Diane Zorri

CO-I Ann Phillips

CO-I Daniel Gressang

CO-I Matthew Sharp

CO-I Mihhail Berezovski

CO-I Rachel Silverman

CO-I Steven Master

This project proposes a train-the-trainer professional development program for Volusia county’s secondary school educators to co-opt pedagogical tools and methods that challenge online violence mobilization narratives, increase awareness of violent extremist messaging and recruiting, and increase the capabilities of targeted populations to resist and counter messaging.

Participants of Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University’s train-the-trainer seminars will identify problematic online and media messages that could lead to radicalization to violent extremism, critically evaluate the problematic assumptions, data, or logic of those messages, and develop pedagogical strategies for teaching their own students to recognize and critically evaluate those messages. This applicant fulfills the grant program priority to achieve diversity of project type.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Wireless Communication Testbed for Internet-of-Things Research

Research work to develop Wireless IoT Testbed at ERAU – Prescott campus. The testbed developed currently has three nodes, and is being used for Research and Teaching (EE424-Wireless Communications).

Sponsor: Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical Univ. (ERAU), Faculty Innovative Research in Science and Tech. (FIRST), grant#13462.

Budget & Role: $25,000, Principal Investigator

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Microfluidic Chip & Magnetic 3D Bioprinting Research

Breast and colon cancer are the leading causes of death in developed countries (e.g., U.S.) and are highly associated with numerous risk factors including genetics, diet, obesity, cigarette smoking, hypertension, stress, and spaceflight stressors. Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the mortality rates are still high and the potential mechanisms driving the metastatic potential of the cancer cells are still not well characterized.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Space Operations in the NAS: Analysis of Impacts to the Aviation Industry

The basic goal of the research is to understand impacts to aviation stakeholders of the National Airspace System (NAS) due to space launch activities. The focus of the research is to study impacts to general aviation (GA), particularly with respect to airports and airport users, near and around Cape Canaveral, FL. Further, several avenues will be assessed to determine what aspects of GA are impacted, where, when, how, and why. Data will be collected and analyzed in alternate methods other than the originally-proposed simulation and modeling. As an aside, per FAA input and following review of extant literature, impacts to GA have not been adequately researched. Until recently, the industry and the FAA have largely focused on impacts to airlines (Tinoco, Eudy, Cannon 2020). As a result, we believe this effort will lead to interesting outcomes and fill a much-needed gap in the literature.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Langrangian Wind Tunnel

ERAU is supporting industry (i.e. Global Aerospace Corp.) in the development of a novel hypersonic wind tunnel by using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamcs.

GAC is leading development of a wind tunnel in which the test article is propelled thru the test section at hypersonic speeds using a novel, proprietary approach. Due to proprietary restrictions a simplistic version of the test article is illustrated below as it moves Mach 10 from right to left. Shock waves may be observed reflecting off tunnel walls. A Phase I Air Force STTR effort has been completed and Phase II is expected to begin in the near future.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

ACTIVE CONTROL OF SUPERSONIC JET NOISE VIA BI-MODAL EXCITATION

Jet noise is a major problem for both military and commercial aircraft, and there is a lot of interest in ways to reduce it. In this research project sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the objective is to implement active control in rectangular jets to reduce the noise. This is to be done by exciting the jet at a fundamental frequency as well as either a harmonic or subharmonic frequency. The amplitudes of the excitation are small, thus there should be minimal impact of excitation on aircraft performance. In doing this, we can manipulate the large-scale structures in the jet, which is the dominant noise source. The working principle here is that energy from the fundamental mode is transferred to the subharmonic or harmonic, which results in a reduction of the peak noise.

In order to compute the noise sources, High-Fidelity Large Eddy Simulations (LES) is done by modifying a code originally developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, which uses high-order numerical schemes. However, LES is very computationally expensive and can take weeks to obtain results when running on a supercomputer. Choosing the wrong excitation parameters can result in zero noise reduction or even enhancement of the noise. To predict optimal excitation parameters, a Reduced-Order Model (ROM) has been derived to predict the propagation of noise sources in a jet. Inputs to the ROM can come from linear methods such as Linear Stability Analysis or the Linearized Euler Equations. Once the ROM is set up, a set of nonlinear differential equations can be solved numerically. By comparison, this takes only a matter of seconds and does not require the use of a supercomputing cluster. Using these results, we can observe the damping effect on the dominant noise source, and optimal excitation parameters can be chosen as inputs into LES.

Current work is focused on performing LES on a Mach 1.5 planar jet, which approximates the flow in the minor plane of a rectangular jet. This is being done to validate open-loop control using results from the ROM. Both the symmetric and asymmetric modes will be studied. Future work will involve performing LES on a Three-dimensional rectangular jet, which will be more representative of a real jet. Here, closed-loop control can also be implemented. By measuring the noise signal near the exit of the jet, parameters can be inputted to the ROM to give optimal excitation parameters thereby maximizing the noise reduction.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

PI of the project Coalition for Undergraduate Comp, Science & Eng. Education (TUES 1244967) 2014-2016,

The project creates a cluster of collaborating institutions that combine students into common Computational Sciences and Engineering (CSE) classes and uses cyberlearning technologies to deliver instruction. Students also conduct projects that begin in a summer workshop in Embry‑Riddle's Nonlinear Wave Lab and complete them at their home institution using remote lab access. Because few small colleges have the resources to provide undergraduate CSE courses, the project significantly increases student participation in computational science. The project intends to scale-up by establishing a network of clusters. The project advances the learning of CSE by using an R&D process to provide a coherent framework for designing instruction and assessing learning in which the instructional and assessment methods are aligned with a common idea: Model-based learning and reasoning. In addition, the educational infrastructure is improved by establishing a state of the art cyberlearning network that includes a virtual conferencing system; video communication between multiple endpoints such as PCs & iPads; automatic recording and archiving of sessions; and remote lab access in which all operations and measurements in the Nonlinear Wave Lab are remotely operational and streamed online.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF SYNTHETIC JET ACTUATOR-BASED ICE PROTECTION SYSTEMS

The project investigates numerically a novel approach to efficient icing control using an array of thermally activated synthetic jet actuators (SJAs) embedded in an aircraft surface exposed to ice accretion due to supercooled subsonic upstream flow. General aspects of the unsteady active flow control (AFC) using synthetic-jet actuation are first addressed, including integrating multiple design and analysis tools to account for various geometry and unsteady flow parameters. A numerically efficient approach is developed to allow for the natural interaction of the generated synthetic jet with the external flow without the need to model the entire actuator dynamics. The effects of SJA actuation with and without jet heating on ice accretion are next examined for a benchmark test case of the flow over a wedge. The parametric study investigates the effects of droplet distribution, SJA chamber temperature, droplet size, and freestream temperature. It is shown that the use of heated actuating SJAs may lead to complete prevention or a significant reduction in the ice accreted on the wedge surface.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

Self-sustaining Wind Energy Extraction Technique (SWEET) Using Multi-Level Control Design Methods

This international collaboration project supported by NSF-BSF grant involves ERAU Departments of Aerospace Engineering (co-PIs: Dr. Vladimir Golubev and Dr. Reda Mankbadi) and Physical Sciences (PI: Dr. William MacKunis), and Israeli Technion University (co-PI: Dr. Oksana Stalnov). The primary scientific objective of the proposed research is to investigate and experimentally validate new physics-based closed-loop active flow control methods that can be utilized to enhance the fluid kinetic energy harvesting capability of oscillating foil-based wind energy harvesting systems. Specifically, some of the challenges addressed in the conducted research stem from the conventional inability to sustain limit cycle oscillations (i.e., plunging and pitching foil displacements) and achieve continual power generation in realistic, time-varying operating conditions. The scientific objective is achieved using a ground-up multidisciplinary approach, which synergistically combines the international collaborative efforts in (1) physics-based mathematical modeling and closed-loop control design and analysis; (2) development of high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations to optimize foil geometry and to test closed-loop flow control methods; and (3) experimental wind tunnel testing and validation of new closed-loop oscillating foil-based fluid kinetic energy harvesting systems under realistic conditions that foils will encounter under atmospheric boundary layer.

Categories: Faculty-Staff

). The Engagement of Non-Traditional Students in Online Engineering Pathways.

This project aims to serve the national interest by identifying best practices for improving the persistence and advancement of adult and veteran students pursuing online engineering degrees. Through the introduction of peer leaders and synchronous recitation sessions, students will receive additional support beyond what is traditionally offered in online modalities. Moreover, peer-led team learning environments create safe havens where foundational math and engineering principles may be explored outside the instructor-student hierarchical structure. Learning from fellow students who recently completed the course can provide motivation, context, and example for undergraduate students, especially those from adult and veteran populations who may not be comfortable with online learning or perhaps have been out of the formal academic environment for some time.

The intent of the study is to inform instructional practice that other institutions can leverage to better support non-traditional students in online programs. The project will produce a peer leader training curriculum and peer-led team learning activities for introductory engineering courses including statics, aerodynamics, and digital circuits. In identifying social and academic factors under which students’ experiences in peer-led team learning produce better academic outcomes, this project hopes to advance pedagogical approaches for additional underrepresented populations and contribute to the increasing breadth of knowledge for the online education community.

Peer-led team learning has proven to be effective in face-to-face classroom settings. The scope of the current project is to implement similar structural and pedagogical practices through development of a sustainable online model that is transferable to other institutions. Goals for this project include increasing commitment to online engineering pathways, improving student persistence and advancement in online engineering programs, and identifying and mitigating cultural and structural barriers associated with non-traditional student populations. Evidence from the study will be collected from students enrolled across multiple sections of introductory engineering courses and evaluated against control sections in developing a comprehensive set of best practices. Results will advance our understanding of peer-led team learning activities’ ability to produce both statistically significant and substantially greater gains in non-traditional students’ academic performance and identity development as part of the engineering community. The EHR program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Categories: Faculty-Staff