News & Events

05-06-13

Donald E. Coles, Professor of Aeronautics, Emeritus, passed away on May 2, 2013 at the age of 89. Professor Coles made pioneering contributions towards our understanding of boundary layers, turbulent shear flows, bluff-body aerodynamics, and novel experimental methods in fluid dynamics. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Physical Society. In 2011 he was honored with the Donald Coles Lecture in Aerospace. He remained active till his passing, working on a book on Turbulent Shear Flow that is very near completion. [Caltech Obituary]

Tags: research highlights GALCIT EAS history Donald Coles

04-23-13

Aerospace alumnus (MS ‘78) and Caltech Board of Trustee member David W. Thompson and his team at Orbital Sciences Corporation successfully launched the first Antares Rocket on Sunday April 21, 2013. With this rocket Orbital is introducing USA's newest medium-class space launch vehicle. When asked about the experience Thompson commented, "next to GALCIT exams, launching big rockets for the first time is about as hard as things get!" [ENGenious Profile] [Caltech Feature] [Orbital Release]

Tags: GALCIT EAS history alumni David Thompson

04-10-13

At a recent ceremony held in the Theodore von Kármán Conference room of the Guggenheim Building, École Polytechnique president Yves Demay, Caltech president Jean-Lou Chameau, EAS Chair Ares Rosakis and Professor Patrick Le Tallec of École Polytechnique signed an agreement for a Master's Education Exchange Program in Aeronautics/Space Engineering and Mechanics. The objective of the master’s degree program is to foster the development of a long-term cooperation on basic research topics of interest to the Aerospace and Aeronautical Sciences community between Caltech and École Polytechnique. [Press Release]

Tags: GALCIT Guruswami Ravichandran Ares Rosakis École Polytechnique

04-02-13

This year's Caltech Space Challenge was led by Aerospace graduate students Nick Parziale and Jason Rabinovitch. The competition divided 32 students from 21 different universities into two teams: Voyager and Explorer. The teams had to devise a detailed plan to send astronauts to one of Mars' two moons, Phobos or Deimos. Team Voyager was announced as the winner at a reception at the Athenaeum after each team presented their plan to a jury of space experts. [Space.com article] [Pasadena Star-News article] [Pasadena Sun article]

Tags: GALCIT Space Challenge Nick Parziale Jason Rabinovitch

04-01-13

Dennis Kochmann, Assistant Professor of Aerospace, is one of two recipients of the 2013 Richard von Mises Prize of the International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (GAMM). The prize recognizes excellent scientific achievements in the area of applied mathematics and mechanics and Professor Kochmann received it in appreciation of his contributions to the understanding and use of mechanical instabilities in composite materials.

Tags: honors GALCIT Dennis Kochmann

03-19-13

Caltech has recognized four Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) graduates with the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor regularly bestowed by the Institute. They are Y. C. L. Susan Wu (PhD '63 Aeronautics), Sébastien M. Candel (MS '69 and PhD '72 in Mechanical Engineering), Uma R. Chowdhry (MS '70 Engineering Science), and James R. Fruchterman (BS '80 Engineering and Applied Science, MS '80 Applied Physics). [Caltech Release]

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Tags: APhMS honors research highlights GALCIT MCE alumni

03-14-13

The Caltech Division of Engineering and Applied Science and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have established a new scholarship program, named after outgoing National Academy of Engineering (NAE) president Charles M. Vest at their institutions, along with six other universities around the country. "The Vest Scholarship is a superb opportunity for high-powered international graduate students to work with faculty and researchers who are international leaders in their engineering disciplines," says Chair Ares Rosakis. "At Caltech, due to its small size and strong interdisciplinary philosophy, the students will have the opportunity to work closely with not only these international leaders in engineering research, but also with their collaborators in all areas of science and technology." [Caltech Release] [Application Information]

Tags: APhMS EE GALCIT MedE MCE CMS ESE NAE

03-05-13

Francis H. Clauser, Clark Blanchard Millikan Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, passed away on Sunday, March 3, at 99 years of age. Professor Clauser, a Caltech alumnus (PhD '37), served as Chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science from 1969 to 1974. Upon stepping down as Chair he remained the Millikan Professor until his retirement. Although he retired in 1980, he maintained a vital presence on the Caltech campus, particularly at the Athenaeum round table, until shortly before he passed. [Caltech Release]

Tags: APhMS GALCIT EAS history ESE Francis Clauser

02-12-13

Richard M. Murray, Thomas E. and Doris Everhart Professor of Control and Dynamical Systems and Bioengineering, and Michael Ortiz, Dotty and Dick Hayman Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Professor Murray was elected for contributions in control theory and networked control systems with applications to aerospace engineering, robotics, and autonomy. Professor Ortiz was elected for contributions to computational mechanics to advance the underpinnings of solid mechanics. [Caltech Release]

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Tags: honors GALCIT MCE CMS National Academy of Engineering Michael Ortiz Richard Murray

01-25-13

Caltech Distinguished Alumnus Roddam Narasimha (PhD '61, AE) has received the honor of Padma Vibhushan which is the second highest civilian honor of the Government of India. [The Hindu News]

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Tags: honors GALCIT alumni Roddam Narasimha