POTSDAM — Professors Marcias Martinez and Craig Merrett from the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Clarkson University have recently been awarded a $50,000 grant from JetBlue Foundation to develop a laboratory and undergraduate course called Aeronautical Composite Manufacturing. The course and lab will teach students the basic principles and fundamentals of composite design and manufacturing techniques.  

Martinez says the course and lab will, “provide students with the combined hands-on practice and theoretical know-how sought out by the aeronautics, wind turbine, and automotive engineering industry.”

As subject matter experts in aircraft materials and structures, Martinez and Merrett each bring their own particular skill sets to the course.

“My research is in the field of smart materials and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems for aerospace applications which looks at estimating the remaining useful life of our aeronautical assets. In addition, Prof. Craig Merrett’s work on viscoelasticity, viscoelastic stability, and composite aircraft structures has led to the development of a new model for estimating the time to instability for composite aircraft wings in flutter and nuclear reactor rings in buckling. The combined expertise has allowed us to support research studies with multiple industry partners.” Martinez said.

Aerospace industry collaborators say they need graduates that know the theory and have solid, hands-on experience, especially in composite materials. A Senior Technical Fellow in aerodynamics at Boeing told Professor Merrett that the future of aerospace is in composite structures and that students must know and understand this field.

The senior-level elective Aeronautical Composites Manufacturing course will meet those demands while leveraging the strong foundation laid by Prof. Martinez and Prof. Merrett in aircraft structures during the sophomore and junior years of the Aeronautical Engineering program. Prof. Merrett and Prof. Martinez have transformed a 900 square foot laboratory space into a composite manufacturing laboratory whose activities are linked to classroom lectures.

“The course enables our graduates to develop lightweight, economical aircraft structures to achieve more fuel-efficient commercial aircraft, surpassing ambitious global emissions targets for the aviation industry. In addition, it will help our graduates enter the rapidly growing market segment of the next generation of quiet, supersonic business jets,” Merrett said.

To watch a video about the first year of the JetBlue Lab, visit https://youtu.be/af_79LFgvdo

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