Facilities
Administrative and Faculty Space
The faculty and support staff for the Department of Aerospace Engineering are housed on the second floor of the Lehman Engineering and Technology Center to the right of the main staircase, on the side of the building facing the main entrance. This office suite contains a reception area for the student employees who work in the department, offices for the administrative assistant and many of the faculty members, as well as space for faculty meetings, copying, printing, and other administrative tasks. The suite is opened at 8 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. during the regular school year.
Classroom Space
In addition to educational laboratory spaces (discussed below), aerospace engineering courses are taught in a wide array of classrooms across campus. Most upper-level Aerospace Engineering courses are taught in the facilities of the Lehman Engineering and Technology Center, while other courses are taught in the College of Aviation building, College of Business building, the Willie Miller Instructional Center, and elsewhere. Every classroom is equipped with a desktop PC, a document camera, a ceiling-mounted video projector, and a laptop connection, as well as whiteboards, an overhead projector, and a screen.
Educational and Research Laboratories
Some courses, as well as all student and faculty research projects, are located in one of the many laboratory facilities across campus. These laboratory facilities are described below, with links to more information, including the courses taught in them, student clubs and projects using them, and faculty members who actively perform research in the space.
The Aerospace Design Laboratory is used entirely for undergraduate instruction, including classroom instruction and as a workspace for Aerospace Engineering design projects.
Airport Configuration Laboratory
The Airport Configuration Laboratory is used for instruction and project development for Civil Engineering courses, clubs, and project teams.
Electrical Engineering Laboratory
This facility is used in conjunction with several electrical and electronics engineering courses.
The Gas Turbine Laboratory is used in conjunction with courses in thermodynamics, propulsion, and heat transfer, as well as for graduate student research projects and work with industry. It uses a Turbine Technologies jet engine and test stand to give students the opportunity to observe the operation of a small turbojet engine.
Lightweight Solids and Structures Lab
In this lab, lightweight solids and structures destined for use in aerospace vehicles are designed, fabricated, and tested.
This lab is used to experimentally reinforce concepts and theory presented in engineering courses that support the AE, CIV, and ME degrees. Students routinely perform Tensile Tests, Hardness Tests, Heat Treatment, Microstructure Observation, Torsion, Fracture, etc.
Propulsion and Aerodynamics Computational Lab
The Propulsion and Aerodynamics Computational Lab (PACL) has 12 dual-boot (Windows/Linux) workstations running numerous Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programs, both industry-standard commercial codes (CFX, Fluent, GDT), and research codes developed in-house (BASS High-order/Aeroacoustics, HYP Hypersonics/Propulsion).
The Rocket Propulsion Laboratory is a hangar facility located just off campus, near the Eagle Flight Research Center, supporting astronautics-track design classes, research, and meritorious extracurricular projects. A three-axis thrust stand is available for small (60 lb. thrust) motor/engine tests, and has been used extensively in the Florida Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Hybrid Rocket Competition.
The equipment in this room is used to test structures and components typical of those found in aircraft and spacecraft. The kinds of standard tests that can be performed include uniaxial tension/compression, bending, torsion, fatigue, vibration, and corrosion, as well as ultrasonic and acoustic emission nondestructive testing. Specialized structures, typical of wings, fuselages, and trusses, are mounted on a large frame and are subjected to loads applied by a hydraulic ram. Strain gauges are used to measure the stresses.
With a Turbine Technologies jet engine and test stand, students get to observe the operation of a small turbojet engine as part of their study in the propulsion area. They take data describing the temperature and pressure variation through the various components of the engine. The data are obtained by pressure and temperature sensors located in the engine and transmitted to and displayed by the computer in real time, with the aid of the National Instruments “Virtual Logger” utility. The students then use this data to study the operational characteristics of the engine. Other equipment used for classes includes Turbine Technologies Pump lab, Turbine Technologies Rankine Cycler, and a Jet drill press.
The Wind Tunnel Laboratory is used as part of the Aerospace Engineering curriculum, as well as for research by faculty and students. Located on the first floor of the Lehman Building, its main entrance is from an interior hallway; there is also access to a loading dock on the exterior of the building.
