The partnership Focus on Curriculum Enrichment, AIAA Student Chapter, Outreach and Retention, and Student Projects ��

Khalifa University of Science and Technology and Boeing today announced they have reconfirmed their partnership to strengthen the university’s Aerospace Engineering curriculum through grant, and by offering hands-on projects that facilitate capacity building locally to meet the UAE’s expanding aviation industry.

The grant allows Khalifa University to support curriculum enrichment, and enable student design projects, which in 2021 included attitude determination and control system for Khalifa University’s CubeSat, design and fabrication of a shock-tube, and a supersonic wind tunnel. The grant was also used to organize a series of events by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Student Chapter, which were led by speakers from the aerospace industry and Khalifa University alumni. The grant was also used to acquire an optical breadboard with supporting frame and a satellite tool kit license.

Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, said: “We are delighted that our partnership with Boeing for grants that support curriculum enrichment, student chapter, outreach and retention programs and student projects continues to help in building capacities in aerospace engineering in the UAE. We believe our students will gain more exposure through these initiatives and utilize their critical innovative skills to obtain space technology solutions for the future.”

Kuljit Ghata-Aura, President of Boeing Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META), said: “It is important for us at Boeing to equip the youth with the right skills to be successful in the job market. That is why our partnership with Khalifa University is designed to inspire and cultivate a global workforce for aerospace innovation by increasing access to education, accelerating skills development and enriching the educational experience for students.”

At Khalifa University, Aerospace Engineering Bachelor’s Senior Design Projects (SDPs) aim at developing student skills and cutting-edge expertise in aerospace engineering disciplines, thus enhancing student experience. As part of the ongoing Khalifa University-CubeSat Senior Design Project, the student group is currently involved in developing the CubeSat. During the fifth phase of this project, the students will be working on finalizing the design, integrating the previously designed subsystems, and conducting a demo testing.

Also part of the SDP, a small-scale shock tube apparatus is being designed, fabricated, and tested to simulate the atmospheric re-entry of spacecraft via generating hypersonic flow. This shock tube will accommodate a 5.0-Mach shockwave, which can be used to calibrate fast response instruments and study the effect of blast-wave on living organisms, in addition to the data acquisition systems and flow visualization techniques.

The first part of the funding is being used to enhance the student experience at Khalifa University through improving the Space Platform for Celestial Emulation (SPACE) laboratory, laboratory hardware and software. The grant is also used to support the technically-challenging Boeing Senior Design Project, and other projects in the department focusing on developing cutting-edge expertise in space engineering. In addition, the fund supports the students’ AIAA chapter that will facilitate in attracting high caliber students to the discipline.

Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
1 April 2022

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Project Framework to Integrate Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Expert Systems, Capable of Accurately Locating Markings and Symbols on Aircraft ��

Khalifa University and Lockheed Martin today announced the signing of an agreement to create a framework to utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer vision to inspect and verify measurements, in order to improve the speed and accuracy of logo inspections during aircraft production cycle.��

The agreement was executed by Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, and Dr. Steve Walker, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin, at Dubai Airshow 2021, held from 14-18 November 2021 at DWC.��

Lockheed Martin and Khalifa University will collaborate on a Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (CVPR) project using AI reinforcement learning and training sets. CVPR techniques have become more ubiquitous as computer hardware and software techniques have improved over the past 20 years. CVPR has been applied to biometrics, target identification, aimpoint refinement and automated control. It is of interest to Lockheed Martin for use across all domains.��

“Khalifa University’s collaboration agreement with Lockheed Martin signifies our status not only as a top-ranked research-intensive university but also as a center for academic and innovation excellence in advanced technologies such as machine learning and augmented reality systems through our research centers,” said Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi. “We believe this partnership will lead to an outcome that will benefit industry stakeholders while ushering in quality systems to assist professionals in the global aviation sector.”��

“We are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with Khalifa University on this AI project based on the Memorandum of Understanding we signed last year,” said Dr. Steven Walker. “Khalifa University is a leading research institute in the region and the results will be applicable to the production line and a variety of technology developments efforts across space, air, land, sea, underwater and cyber.”��

This effort will research techniques to improve the ability of CVPR to accurately register standard symbology in imagery. The techniques developed can then be applied to any product that is attempting to accurately locate markings and symbols.��

Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Khalifa University, will be the Principal Investigator, while Dr. Ernesto Damiani, Director, Research Center on Cyber-Physical Systems (C2PS), will be the Co-PI.

Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
12 December 2021

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Asmaa Alyammahi, a senior BSc Aerospace Engineering student, has won 2nd place in the EDGE Summer Challenge organized by the advanced technology company EDGE Group. The Challenge is a competition for the next generation of innovators to use their creativity to design drones that will advance key industries in the UAE.��

Asmaa’s winning project was a quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) design that is capable of taking over the risky job of a skyscraper window cleaner. Asmaa says that this solution will advance many sectors; anyone with a building can benefit from such a service and make it 100 times safer, more efficient and faster, and at a low cost. “Introducing drone technology to our day-to-day labor work will not only create a faster, more reliable solution but will also open new job opportunities in the market,” she added.��

The idea for the project came about when Asmaa noticed window cleaners hanging on ropes on skyscrapers. The UAE, particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is constantly developing and building infrastructures. On a daily basis, the number of buildings in each city is increasing rapidly. During the day, window cleaners’ lives are at risk as they hang on ropes in extremely hot weather. These workers also spend days to complete the job. Asmaa wanted to create a solution that will ensure the safety of the workers, and at the same time use modern technology to make the process easier and faster. She designed a UAV quadcopter equipped with an advanced cleaning mechanism that can wash the windows with the help of an autopilot feature.��

The project can further be developed for different industries such as sanitation jobs, as well as address insect infestation or put out wildfires. This could lead to different opportunities where UAV advanced technology can solve everyday problems while at the same time ensure the safety of workers.��

Asmaa noted that the purpose of the project is to showcase how modern UAV technology can help ease the process for many entities in the civil sector by replacing high-risk jobs. In her report, she first presents the design alongside the main elements of the UAV with an explanation of each of the features; she then ��ݮ��Ƶ the industries where UAVs can be used, its requirements, possibilities, and competitions.��

“It feels really good to have my idea appreciated by one of the top companies in the UAE.��The sense of validation is��overwhelming and the��competing��teams have been very��professional with the process,” Asmaa said.��

“I believe that undergoing my aerospace engineering degree at Khalifa University has helped me immensely in applying the knowledge I have into real-life projects and researches such as this competition. I am proud to happily apply what I have been learning and practicing in the past few years,” she added.

“I do hope��I can continue the project and bring the design to life in the near future.”��

Dr. Rashid K. Abu Al-Rub, Professor and Acting Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering & Director of KU’s ADAM Center commented on Asmaa’s achievement: “The Aerospace Engineering Department congratulates Asmaa on this well-deserved achievement. This is a clear indication of the high caliber of our Aerospace Engineering students and faculty.”��

“We have several courses and research activities in the Department that focus on the design and performance of UAVs. For example, Dr. Yahya Zweiri, an Associate Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department, teaches a course entitled UAV Modeling and Control which covers the theory and practice of the modeling and control of UAV systems. Several research projects that are supported by the local UAE industries are led by Dr. Yahya. Our students are well-trained in applying the state-of-the-art methods for designing UAVs,” Dr. Rashid said.��

Currently, Asmaa is working on her Senior Design Project titled��“ADCS System for KU 2U CubeSat” funded by the Boeing Company.��

Ara Maj Cruz
Creative Writer
13 January 2021

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Student-Built Unmanned, Electric-Powered, Radio-Controlled Aircraft
Successfully Completes AIAA’s All Three Mandatory Missions

A Khalifa University team of 12 students was ranked ninth overall out of 104 universities when their unmanned, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft successfully completed all three mandatory missions in the Design Build Fly (DBF) 2019 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Competition in Tucson, Arizona.

The team, whose design report was ranked third, not only represented the UAE, but the entire Middle east and North Africa (MENA) region, and was placed among the top 10 teams.Moreover, for Khalifa University, this is the eighth successive year of participation in the DBF challenge.

A total team of 20 undergraduate students from Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering worked together throughout the year to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of the unmanned aircraft, readying it for the competition. The aircraft’s three missions included successful flight over a predefined 2000-foot path, carrying a rotating
‘radome’ as a payload and perform three laps followed by a successful landing, and carrying of at least four attack stores, each weighing around 0.187 pounds and drop one in every lap.

This year, the faculty advisors included Assistant Professor Dr. Andreas Schiffer from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Assistant Professor Dr. Ki Sun Park from the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Additionally, the team was supported and advised by two graduate students – Adnan Salem and Abdelnasir Alnaqbi.

Two members from last year’s team – Ali Almusawa and Sara Nabeel – were also included in this year’s team. Moreover, throughout this year, the team received guidance and help from previous team leaders Lena Obaid, Anood Alkatheeri, Ghadeer Alkatheeri and Gianna Ramirez.The student team was accompanied to the US by Assistant Professor Dr. Asli Hassan,Department of English, and Dr. Schiffer.

Dr. Park felt the DBF mission this year was tough because of the design requirement for folding wings, and its size and operation. He said: “The whole aircraft including the nose of the aircraft and landing gears should fit into a space two-feet wide and two-feet high in the folded condition.

Additionally, the aircraft should transform from the folded condition to flight condition “remotely��by command from the transmitter”.

Though the team was able to refer to the previous Khalifa University aircraft for most of parts, it still needed to design the entire wings part – the main components of the aircraft generating lift forces and key to its stability.
Dr. Park added: “Team members were proactive, and each member did their work properly, but most importantly, they enjoyed the participation in the competition.”

Ali said: “Our team managed to complete all missions successfully. The competition was a great experience and it was an opportunity for us to apply the theories that we have learned at the university to real-life innovative engineering challenges. It was also an opportunity to see how other universities or groups approach the same issue.”

For junior Mechanical Engineering student Hassan Elmuzamil Hassan Elsheikh, it was a unique experience that blended his passion in aviation with a great engineering challenge, and the outcome represented the culmination of the team’s hard work and over eight months of preparation.

Elsheikh said: “We learned a lot about aircraft design, manufacturing and testing. Travelling to Tucson and seeing designs from other universities was inspiring as it opened our eyes to different approaches and perspectives. We also learned how to work better as a unit and definitely created bonds that will last.”

Team member Omar Alhashmi felt the competition helped in gaining self-confidence and developing teamwork and technical skills.

Alhashmi said: “The design phase of the project was extremely hard, as we had to determine the optimum design to get a high score, but perhaps the hardest thing about this project was finding the balance between working on the project, my academic responsibilities and social life.”
News Writer
2 May 2019

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