Our first Spring 2008 luncheon meeting on Tuesday, February 5th will feature a presentation by Prof. Kamran Mohseni, Aerospace Engineering Science Department, UCB. An abstract and a brief bio appears below; The meeting will occur on the NOAA campus in the SKAGGS BLDG ROOM GC 402. The presentation will begin at 12:15PM. You are welcome to join other Sigma Xi members and friends for lunch at 11:30AM. The cafeteria on the ground floor right beside the conference room, is available for your use. The NOAA facility is a secured space. In order to enter the federal property on S. Broadway, your name MUST be on an attendance list. Please send an e-mail message to Zdenka Smith at Zdenka.Smith@noaa.gov indicating that you intend to attend or call her at 303 497-3051. Please respond even if you are uncertain about attending, so that your name is on the attendance list. If you are a foreign national, please respond soon, for special instructions.

There is only one entrance to the federal facility just south of the traffic light at 27St. and Broadway. You will have to identify yourself to the security personnel at the entrance building. Then, ask for directions to the Skaggs building parking lot on the west side of the Skaggs Building. Please enter through the main entrance (facing west into the lower parking lot). You will have to be checked in by the security person at the desk in the entry lobby of the Skaggs Bldg.

Presentation: Bio-Inspired Aerial and Underwater Vehicles for Environmental Sensor Networking

by Kamran Mohseni

This talk presents recent progress in developing autonomous unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles for various sensor networking applications in Mohseni's group. A series of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs), equipped with GPS, radio, transmitter, IMU, battery, motor, and some sensing capabilities are designed and built. The vehicles range from 6-25 inches in length and 45-550 grams in weight. Recent results from a field test of 5 MAVs will be reported. Furthermore, a new generation of Colorado unmanned underwater vehicle will be presented with a novel propulsion technique mimicking propulsion of squid and jellyfish.

BIO: Kamran Mohseni is an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received his MS in aeronautics from Imperial College in London and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Caltech in Pasadena in 2000. He joined the aerospace department in 2001. His research interest include bio-inspired aerial and underwater vehicles, micro- and nano-thermofluidics, and biomedical engineering. He is a member of APS, ASME, AIAA, SIAM, and IEEE.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008
NOAA Campus, Skaggs building Room GC 402
Lunch at 11:30am. Presentation at 12:15pm