For more information, contact Stephanie Ely, 937-775-3232. 
April 8, 2009 Wright State holds open house for Micro Air Vehicle Research Center Big ideas are netting remarkably small results at Wright State University.Just as the Wright brothers studied birds to aid in the development of fixed-wing flight, researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science have turned their attention to nature for inspiration to create the perfect micro air vehicle (MAV). On Monday, April 13, the public is invited to see the vehicle in flight at the Micro Air Vehicle Research Center open house. Modeled after the dragonfly, Wright State's micro air vehicle has a seven-and-a-half-inch wingspan and weighs 10 grams—the weight of two nickels. It is highly maneuverable using a standard joystick and can hover and even perch on its subject. Since the project-based learning experience began two months ago with a budget of $180, the team of research students has developed a flight-worthy MAV and challenged themselves to reduce both its size and weight while maintaining structural stability A recent $250,000 U.S. Department of Defense grant from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program will support further research and position the center to apply for more defense funding. "We are looking to nature, which has had billions of years to develop, for solutions to our engineering problems," said George Huang, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Wright State. "Where better to learn about conserving energy in flight than from flying insects during migration?" An expert in fluid dynamics, Huang moved to Wright State nearly three years ago after 10 years at the University of Kentucky and seven with NASA, for an opportunity to collaborate with scientists at the Air Vehicle Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. "The development of a camera-and-sensor-equipped MAV is a multidisciplinary endeavor that involves students in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and others doing research in fields such as sensors and alternative energy," said Jack Bantle, vice president for research at Wright State. "Their collaboration with the Air Vehicle Directorate addresses military applications for the MAV that will also serve multiple civilian uses. Eventually biologists, geologists and medical personnel will join the list of experts using MAVs in a variety of ways." Because they are able to fit in a backpack and need minimal training to operate, MAVs have tremendous advantages for today's war fighter. "They can be flown deep into caves to search for hostages or terrorists, or inside buildings in the urban battlefield," said Huang. "They are virtually undetectable in flight and can hover in place, collecting data to send back to the user. They can detect biological-chemical agents as well as human life. MAVs will be an indispensible tool to search for survivors of a mineshaft or natural disaster." Wright State researchers are now expanding on the unprecedented capability of the MAV so that, like the dragonfly, it can "learn" from its experiences. The public is invited to see Wright State's MAV in flight and to talk with researchers about the program at an open house Monday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to noon in the atrium of the Joshi Research Center on Wright State's Dayton campus. For more information about micro air vehicle research and the upcoming open house, contact George Huang at (937) 775-5040 or george.huang@wright.edu. WHAT: Micro Air Vehicle Reserach Center open house WHEN: Monday, April 13, 10 a.m. to noon WHERE: The atrium of the Joshi Research Center on Wright State's Dayton campus WHY: Engineers, science students, flight historians and business people interested in research partners are among those who will find the MicRo Air Vehicle Research Center open house of interest. The open house is free and open to the public. # # # 
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