Contact: Crystal Drake, Office of Strategic Communications
Tuskegee University has been awarded a $550,000 research grant from the U.S. Department of War (DoW) to enhance its experimental aerospace research capabilities through the establishment of a Comprehensive Instrumentation Suite for Experimental Aerospace Measurements (CISEAM). The equipment order has been placed, and the CISEAM system is expected to arrive in early fall.
“For more than a century, Tuskegee has answered the nation’s call through service, scholarship, and innovation,” said Dr. Mark A. Brown, president and CEO. This grant ensures that legacy will continue as our students and faculty help shape the future of aerospace, national security, and technological advancement.”
The funding will support experimental research focused on low-speed aerodynamics and flight controls for rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft configurations, including emerging technologies in advanced air mobility. Tuskegee University’s Aerospace Science Engineering Department led the grant application with Assistant Professor Dr. Zafar Bangash as co-principal investigator and Assistant Professor Dr. Shuting Yang as a faculty collaborator.
The CISEAM platform will provide researchers and students with comprehensive capabilities to investigate configuration aerodynamics of flight vehicles, including advanced propulsion systems and flight control technologies. The state-of-the-art suite will enable the university to procure equipment capable of:
- Understanding complex aerodynamic phenomena through non-intrusive flow-field measurements.
- Capturing highly dynamic flow fields to better understand underlying flow physics.
- Analyzing interactions among multiple rotor systems.
- Developing effective, safe, and efficient flight control strategies through a visual tracking system that measures uncrewed aerial systems’ responses to control inputs such as thrust vectoring.
Tuskegee University remains distinguished as the only Historically Black College or University (HBCU) with an accredited Aerospace Engineering program. Students in the program benefit from rigorous academic instruction and hands-on training in an environment supported by advanced laboratories and research facilities.
The new instrumentation suite will play a critical role in advancing the university’s research mission.
“Tuskegee University is poised to further expand its research capabilities, critical to our efforts to achieve Carnegie R2, and eventually R1 status, and continue contributing to innovations that will shape the future of aerospace engineering and advanced air mobility systems,” said Dr. M. Javed Khan, professor and head of the Aerospace Science Engineering Department and principal investigator of the project.
“This DoW investment will strengthen Tuskegee’s position as a leader in aerospace education and research while expanding opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to engage in cutting-edge investigations that address real-world aerospace challenges.”
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