I am Head of the Dynamics and Control Branch (DCB) in the Flight Dynamics and Control Division at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. The charter of my division includes: design of flight control laws to maintain stability and control of aerospace vehicles; mathematical modeling of aerospace vehicles; and development of system identification methodology for application to areospace vehicles. I am a first line supervisor responsible for the accomplishment of a subset of NASA mission activities that match the technical charter of my branch.
We have 20 engineers in DCB. Most members of our division are Aerpospace Engineers by formal training though we have a couple of electrical engineers and people with formal schooling in mathematics or physics. We have six Ph.D.'s, with three additional people completing their Ph.D. thesis projects. Everyone else has a Master's degree.
Currently our activities include:
Established mathematics plays a central role in everything we do in the Dynamics and Control Branch. We use much calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra as the basis for modern linear control theory. Linear algebra and special functions are used to a great extent in trying to develop mathematical models of physical systems. Nonlinear dynamical system theory is currently being applied to the modeling question also. It seems that a broad background in mathematics allows for the "new" discoveries in applications to aeronautics.
One of the problems we continually face in the real world of flight test data is distinguishing between useful data, sensor noise, and model uncertainty. It is critical to us to be able to adequately represent a vehicle's behavior in flight and predict its future six degrees of freedom trajectory from sensor data at any given instant. This requires a mathematical approximation of the physical system - usually a linear time invariant approximation. We have recently used indicial functions and orthogonal functions to try to represent more intricate, nonlinear and explicitly time- dependent behavior in flight. We have also used fuzzy set theory to approximate flight behaviors that change over the flight envelope of interest.
I have a B.S. in Mathematics and a M.S in Physics from the College of William and Mary and have been in my area of research for 20 years. When I graduated, I was looking for a job in which I could continue intellectual growth, be on the cutting edge of research, have some limited control over my areas of research, and make an acceptable living. My first position was as a scientific programmer for a stability and control engineer.
With a formal background in math and physics, I completed some 30 semester hours of additional formal study here at the lab in graduate aerospace engineering and related courses in advanced mathematics. Most people have had considerable on-the-job experience and formal coursework here at the laboratory in the areas of Linear System and Control Theory, Nonlinear Systems and Control Theory, Stability and Control of Aerospace Vehicles, FORTRAN and C (++) Programming. Among our people, job experience in the areospace field ranges from 10 to 40 years. The research environment is somewhat heterogeneous with branch members working individually (1/3), in loosely knit teams (1/3), and in tight coordinated teams with specific milestones and due date for deliverables (1/3).
From my perspective, to work in a government lab, you should have course work in the following areas:
Mathematics:
Non-mathematics:
Also, I highly recommend a cooperative education program in which the student works at an industry site for part of his or her undergraduate career or at least works summers in an industry or government lab environment. This will give the student a track record for the potential employer and give the student a realistic idea of the career he or she is about to assume.
You can check out my home page for more information.
