Graduate Student Presentation

Justin Kirik Aerospace Engineering jwk5mb@virginia.edu

According to Justin, being an aerospace engineer at UVa is very exciting along with being quite
the opportunity. The focus of aerospace engineering is centered on many things but to name a
few would be aerodynamics, propulsion, and structure. In other words, aerospace engineers
want to find new ways to make airplanes and other flying objects move faster, better and in a
more efficient way. To do this they research almost everything around aircrafts as even the
smallest detail can make a difference when it comes to aerospace engineering.
Aerospace engineering offers many career paths for those who dare to enter the field. You can
generally work in either the flight industry itself or with the government. In the industry it is
more common to do consulting or common problem solving, while with the government research
might be slightly more common. It is the norm to get a bachelors degree or MBA for the
industry work, but you will likely need a masters degree for most research.
The aerospace lab UVa has to offer is one of the best labs in the country, only falling short in
comparison to the air forces research lab. One of the more exciting projects being worked on
here at UVa is the scramjet program, which is in fact the program Justin himself is working on.
A scramjet is an airplane with a special type of engine that uses airflow to maintain combustion.
To do this it has a cavity flame holder which slows down airflow and allows scramjets to travel
at revolutionary speeds. In reality true scramjet technology is already here, it is simply the
economics that are holding it back, like with so many other things.
Our research lab at Ohill plays a vital role in scramjet technology as we can test engines and
combustors without having to restart the whole test regularly. The research is generally trying to
test and collect data revolving velocity, temperature and the composition of scramjet engines.
One of the methods to do this is to use laser diagnostics, a method that uses lasers to look at
particles and a computer calculates and reads data that the laser measured. This method
minimally disturbs airflow, is spatially resolved and instant. UVa was the first lab to apply this
to scramjet flows.
This presentation was as a whole was quite interesting and showed me that some innovative
things are being done here at UVa. I was very impressed with what I heard about our aerospace
engineering department. I must admit I had difficulty grasping every single concept that Justin
mentioned, but even though I had trouble with that I think I was able to get the main picture that
he was trying to present. My main criticism would be that he could have gone over the
presentation at a slightly slower pace. Another thing I think he could have done better would
have been taking more time to define the main concepts he was going to talk about from the
beginning of the lecture. I think doing these two things would take this presentation from being
very good to exceptional!

In conclusion aerospace engineers do research in the field of flight, with this they seek to
improve every aspect of aircrafts. One of the more exciting projects aerospace engineers are
working on is the scramjet project, a technology that will revolutionize the speed and efficiency
of aircrafts.