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John Zuk, lead scientist for NASA’s vertical lift division, will speak at a free brown bag event 12:15-1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, in Jaqua Auditorium, Hugel Science Center room 103. Zuk will talk about getting a job with NASA and his projects, and will offer advice for undergraduate students.
Lunch will be provided. The event is sponsored by Society of Women Engineers and American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Zuk’s work includes research and development on the tiltrotor aircraft, which combines the speed and range of a turboprop airplane with the vertical takeoff and landing capability of a helicopter. A Department of Transportation study has concluded that a new air transportation system based on civil tiltrotor technology could be created and that a 40-passenger civil tiltrotor is feasible technically, economically, and environmentally.
The XV-15 Tiltrotor Research Aircraft was developed under a joint program of NASA, the U.S. Army, and Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. “The XV-15 is much quieter in cruise flight than turboprops. Further, flight research has shown that by converting the prop rotors from airplane to helicopter mode in a certain way, the noise footprint of the XV-15 has been found to be reduced by 30 percent over that made by conventional helicopters — a very significant accomplishment that is important for community acceptance,” says Zuk.