USAFA RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

United States Air Force Academy

Research Facilities and Programs:

The Laboratory Program Representative is a professional staff member at the Air Force research facility who is responsible for managing its Research Associateship program and for assisting an Associate with all administrative aspects of tenure:

Col. Brent Richert
USAFA/DFER
Chief Scientist and Director of Research
2354 Fairchild Drive, Suite 2H29
USAF Academy, Colorado 80840-6200
Telephone: (719) 333-4195
E-Mail: brent.richert@usafa.edu

The United States Air Force Academy is a four-year undergraduate institution whose mission is to develop and inspire future air and space leaders. Graduates earn a B.Sc degree in one of 31 academic majors and are commissioned as second lieutenants in the US Air Force. The intellectual aspect of officer development includes over 400 academic courses, encompassing the basic sciences, engineering, the humanities, and social sciences. The Academy has 4,000 undergraduate cadets who must complete a core curriculum of 93 semester hours in all four academic divisions, complemented by 21 semester hours in core military and athletic courses. Cadets take 11 to 16 additional courses in an academic major. The Academy has 508 faculty members (50% with PhDs) in 19 academic departments. Approximately 25% of the faculty is civilian; the rest are military officers.

Research is a key component of the educational process. Each year, approximately 160 students participate in the Cadet Summer Research Program, which places them in laboratories and research institutes throughout the DOD and government scientific community. Over one-third of cadets conduct research in the form of an independent study project during their senior year. Faculty members also perform research throughout the academic year. Last year, the facility published more than 400 journal articles, books, and chapters. The external research support received by the US Air Force Academy is valued at more than $13 million per year, while the institution provides additional support worth more than $15 million each year.
The US Air Force Academy was originally established as an NRC Associateship host site through the Frank J. Seiler Laboratory of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Eight Research Centers have been created since the Seiler Lab was closed in 1995; five research areas currently have NRC-approved advisors: Aeronautics, Chemistry, Modeling & Simulation, Space Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, and Laser & Optics.

Aeronautics Research Center (includes Modeling & Simulation)
United States Air Force Academy, Colorado

The Air Force Academy Aeronautics Research Center currently has 16 more than two dozen active research programs sponsored by ten different organizations. The Center’s six major research areas include supersonic/hypersonic vehicle design and evaluation, fundamental aerodynamics, air-breathing propulsion systems, turbine blade boundary layer behavior, flight mechanics, stability and control, and computational fluid dynamics, which has spun off into a separate Modeling & Simulation Research Center. The experienced staff includes 20 active researchers (including 16 PhDs) and seven technicians. The Center is located in the Air Force Academy Aeronautics Laboratory—a 55,000 square foot facility. Five major wind tunnels provide testing capability up to Mach 4.38 with excellent Reynold’s Number ranges. Test section size varies from 1 foot by 1 foot for the supersonic tunnel to 3 feet by 3 feet for the lower speed tunnels. A cascade tunnel is included with a 105o turning section. In addition to the large wind tunnels, a water tunnel provides a suitable platform for dye-injection flow visualization, LDV, and PIV measurements. In addition, four jet engine test cells currently have instrumented and operating J69, J85, F109, and T63 engines.

The USAFA/DFAN High-Performance Computing Research Facility has developed a substantial computational capability over the past two years. At the core of this capability are three supercomputers: two 64- and one 128-processor systems powered by 1 and 2.8-Ghz Pentium III and IV processors. In addition, the combined system has 256 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM) and 3 terabytes of hard disk storage space. Additional graphics workstations are available for individual use. All programs involve senior faculty and are used to complement the Academy’s overall educational mission of teaching undergraduate aeronautical engineering. Additional information about current research activities can be found at www.usafa.af.mil/dfan/Research/Research_Home.htm

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