The Nagib and Kalpakjian Annual Lecture on Turbulence will be held on Friday, November 22, 2024, from 1:45–2:45 p.m. in the Crawford Auditorium (RE 104) of the John T. Rettaliata Engineering Center. We welcome Dr. Morteza Gharib who will present “Flying on Mars: The Legacy of von Kármán.” A reception will immediately follow in the first floor Atrium.

Abstract: In 1918, Dr. Theodore von Kármán, while serving as the research group director at Fischamend Airfield in Hungary, oversaw the development of a small, unmanned drone helicopter powered by a single rotary piston engine with a co-axial double-blade rotor. A century later, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and GALCIT, institutions founded by von Kármán, achieved a significant milestone by designing, testing, and flying a strikingly similar helicopter named Ingenuity on the Martian surface. In this presentation, we will explore some of the challenges engineers at JPL and GALCIT encountered in realizing this feat and discuss future challenges in designing Mars drones.

Biography: Morteza (Mory) Gharib is the Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Medical Engineering at Caltech and the Booth-Kresa Leadership Chair for the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies. He also serves as the executive director of the Graduate Aerospace Department (GALCIT) and director of the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies.

He received his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Tehran University in 1975 and his M.S. in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Syracuse University in 1978. In 1983, he completed his Ph.D. in Aeronautics from Caltech, where he continued his work as a research Scientist at JPL before joining UCSD as a faculty member.

Dr. Gharib’s honors and affiliations include: Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Member, National Academy of Engineering; Charter Fellow, National Academy of Inventors; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow, American Physical Society; Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineering.

He has received the G.I. Taylor Medal from the Society of Engineering Sciences, the Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society, and five new technology recognition awards from NASA in advanced laser imaging and nanotechnology. In 2008, he received R&D Magazine’s “R&D 100 Innovation Award” for one of the year’s best inventions for his 3-D imaging camera system. Additionally, Dr. Gharib has published more than 250 papers in refereed journals and has been issued more than 150 U.S. Patents.

Professor Gharib’s current research include: vortex dynamics, active and passive flow control, autonomous flight, underwater systems, flight and aquatic propulsion and advanced flow-imaging technologies. His medical engineering research activities include Fluid dynamics of the human cardiovascular system and ophthalmology as well as development of medical devices such as heart valves, cardiovascular and human eye health monitoring, and drug delivery systems.