Alumni
Meet some of the alumni from the MEng program. If you are interested in speaking to an MIT a;umni, please fill out the contact form to speak to a student or alumni.

Brent Campbell
The Master of Engineering program in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is a great program that has served me well thus far and that I expect to continue to serve me well in the future. I am currently an instructor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. My MEng experience has proved invaluable in teaching my course on the Mechanical Engineering Design Process. The information, tools and techniques that I learned in the MEng program were both current and relevant. There was also enough flexibility that I could focus on topics of interest to me. This enabled me to pursue a thesis related to designing a general aviation primary flight display user interface with a cutting edge company.

Although from a different background than many other students, I fit in well with the other students and enjoyed immensely the opportunity to work in teams to solve problems. Prior to attending MIT, I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U. S. Military Academy in 1991. I spent most of the time from 1991 until beginning MIT in the Fall of 1999 flying and maintaining Army attack helicopters. Despite the intervening eight years since earning my mechanical engineering degree, I was still able to handle the academic load. I highly recommend the Aero/Astro MEng program and would be happy to answer any questions.

View Brent Campbell's thesis Advanced Integrated General Aviation Primary Flight Display User Interface Design, Development and Assessment (pdf)

Thierry Casiez
M. Eng. Aeronautics & Astronautics, 1998.

In the summer of 1997 I joined the Aeronautics and Astronautics M.Eng. Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The project I was involved with consisted in the development of a first-of-a-kind Wide Area Surveillance Projectile (WASP project). The design involved a 5-inch gun-launched projectile deploying into a self-guided flyer for low speed surveillance of a predetermined area. I undertook this project with a team of 10 other students and together we completed the second year phase of this 2 year, $1 million endeavor.

My responsibility consisted in co-heading the development of an innovative deployable wing system for the vehicle. Stages of the development included the design, manufacturing and testing of the wing module. My work consisted in a combination of individual and teamwork to address a variety of technical challenges, as well as broader issues including systems integration and resources management. For example, on top of aerodynamic and structural modeling and analysis, my work included scheduling, setting up teams of experts to address technical issues, and coordinating the wing group efforts with the entire WASP team efforts.

The team succeeded in showing mechanical integrity of the WASP components under live gun testing. Before graduating, our team had Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine getting an article ready, and a patent application for the wing design was being prepared.

Strong of these results, our team sponsor, the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, decided to build on the team's successes to develop the next-generation WASP. After graduating in June 1998, another team member and I consulted for the Draper Laboratory to help their new WASP team make the most of our results; we suggested best project approach strategies for their next-generation cannon-launched surveillance aircraft.

At the same time, I joined Pratt & Whitney Canada in Montreal, where I entered an engineering rotation program. My assignments included designing a transmission test rig, assessing engine specifications, and performing product definition tasks on a variety of engine parts and assemblies.

After one year at Pratt & Whitney Canada, I joined the US operations of the firm in Hartford, Connecticut, where I am now, in early 2002. There I jointly developed, in a seven-member team environment, a new cost-efficient fan blade propulsion system. The combination of early promising results and the promotion of the benefits of the new fan system contributed to transform our results from a research activity to a company-wide, multi-engine incorporation program of the new fan technology. We are now performing validation testing and working on adapting the technology to the company's new generation of engines.

Finally, on a part time basis, I am helping a high technology start-up firm with its business development. I am suggesting marketing strategies for the company's growth in the aerospace field.

View Thierry's thesis Compact high-g, efficient folding wing for a cannon-launched reconaissance vehicle (pdf)

For the MEng thesis project, I lead a team of four other international students from France, Greece, China and Singapore and we designed, built and tested two advanced aircraft seat concepts with close consultation from B/E Aerospace, one of the leading aircraft seat manufacturers. The goal was to design seats that would be significantly more comfortable than the ones in use at that time. It was both an interesting and challenging project, as we had to study a diverse range of factors such as ergonomics, anthropometry, physical and psychological comfort and also FAA requirements. The best part of the project was that we were able to build physical prototypes of the seats as well as the aircraft cabin, and test/evaluate our ideas using human subjects.

The MEng experience was definitely a valuable and memorable one. It was more than an academic learning experience, as it also provided me the opportunity to develop my leadership, organizational, communication and presentation skills.

View Koh's thesis Advanced aircraft seat design: solving the problem of rearward space intrusion with a sliding-out seat back (pdf)

As part of my studies during this year of specialization, I did a three-month internship at the Indian Institute of Science, in Bangalore, India. I simulated the flow in a vortex tube with a finite element software tool. The vortex tube, or Ranque-Hilsch tube, is a device that separates a flow of pressurized air into two parts, a cold flow and a hot one. In addition, when the gas used is air, the tube separates the oxygen from the other components of the air. This can be used in a launcher or a spacecraft to collect oxygen during the atmospheric flight phase.

After having completed my studies in France, I decided to continue in the space technology field. I chose to enter MIT as a Master of Engineering student, because it exactly provided what I was looking for: theoretical specialization in various domains, along with practical projects, conducted within a team. The thesis project was particularly interesting in that it was a complete industry project: engineering an aircraft seat, from the very beginning (first concepts) to the actual building and testing. The different backgrounds of the five members of the team were very helpful. This MEng year allowed me to complete my background and live a very rich international experience.

After graduating in June 1999, I went back to France, and found a job as a consultant, on a mission for EADS-LV (European Aeronautic Defense and Space company - Launch Vehicles). I have been working on the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) part of the ISS program for two years, now. I am in charge of designing the control system used in case of emergency, in order to insure safety with respect to the ISS. I am now employed by EADS, and will soon be working on the ATV far RendezVous guidance scheme.

View Narmanda's thesis Advanced aircraft passenger seat : a qualitative and quantitative study of comfort (pdf)

Jared Martin
I came to MIT from The Pennsylvania State University, where I received my B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with an undergraduate thesis, "Using Java for Computational Electromagnetics."

I received my Masters of Engineering in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1999. My thesis was titled, "Exploring Fast Package Delivery from a Systems Perspective," and was a collaborative effort with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Emery Worldwide, and UPS. Fast Package Delivery refers to the delivery of precious cargo over intercontinental distances in a matter of hours, and provides a potential market to help offset the enormous costs associated with the development and operation of Reusable Launch Vehicles.

I am currently employed with The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, CA, working in the Space Launch Project (SLP) directorate. SLP is a program office specializing in the design and development of advanced space transportation systems. My responsibilities include, among others, simulation modeling, probabilistic risk assessment, launch vehicle and satellite failure studies, RLV systems analysis, and new business development. Our directorate is currently supporting the Space Launch Initiative, a $5 Billion effort headed by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to investigate new space transportation systems that will be safer, more reliable and less expensive then current systems. It is hoped that these new systems will open the frontier for commercial development of space (i.e. space tourism).

I am grateful to the MEng program, because it was through this program, especially my MEng thesis work, that I was able to secure a position in the Space Launch Projects Program Office with The Aerospace Corporation. My MEng program was spread over 2 years so that I could secure a Research Assistantship. This additional time also allowed me to put more effort into my thesis, and develop it for publication.

I would be happy to answer any questions regarding my experiences with the MEng program.

View Jared's's theses
Exploring fast package delivery from a systems perspective (pdf)

If you are interested in speaking to an MIT alumni, please fill out the contact form to speak to a student or alumni.

[Projects & Publications] [Students] [Depth and Breadth]

Send comments to: boppe@mit.edu