VSCL Undergraduate researcher Alexander Gross ‘23 is the recipient of the AIAA Foundation Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics Scholarship for his research contributions on the Aided Threat Recognition from Mobile Cooperative and Autonomous Sensors project and in applications of the Cycle-of-Learning methodology for training of Mars rover vehicles and their interaction with human operators. He is currently working towards his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with minors in Computer Science and Mathematics while in Engineering Honors. He has been conducting research in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory under Dr. Valasek since his sophomore year.
Awards
Graduate Special Achievements
- (7) National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship recipients
- (6) National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) recipients
- (1) Science, Mathematics & Research for Transformation Fellowship (SMART) recipient
- (1) U.S. Army Research Laboratory (USARL) Research Associateship Program (RAP) recipient
- (1) Caltech Space Challenge recipient
- (1) Texas A&M University Distinguished Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research – PhD Level
- (1) Aerospace Engineering Department Graduate Research Excellence Award – PhD Level
- (1) College of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Master of Science Graduate Student Award
- (7) Texas A&M University Graduate Merit Fellowship Recipients
- (2) Travel Award to Present at Professional Conference (IFAC)
- (4) Graduate placers (two 1st , one 2nd, one 3rd) Texas A&M Student Research Week Competition
- (7) Graduate placers (four 1st, two 2nd, two 3rd) Regional AIAA Student Paper Conferences
Undergraduate Special Achievements
- (2) NASA Aeronautics Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients
- (1) AIAA Spirit of Apollo Scholarship recipient
- (1) University Scholar, highest undergraduate scholastic ranking at Texas A&M University
- (2) Texas A&M University Undergraduate Research Fellows
- (2) Texas A&M University Undergraduate Research Scholars
- (1) Gathright Scholar, top Junior in the College of Engineering
- (10) Texas A&M Undergraduate Engineering Honors Research Scholars
- (9) Undergraduate placers (three 1st, four 2nd, five 3rd ) Regional AIAA Student Paper Conferences
- (1) Undergraduate team 1st place winner Regional AIAA Student Paper Conferences
- (3) Undergraduate placers (one 2nd, two 3rd ) AIAA Airplane Design Competitions
For more awards, see below.
Three VSCL Engineers Co-Inventors on new US Patent for Autonomous Aircraft Taxiing
VSCL alumni Tiffany Williamson and Felix Turcios and current VSCL Ph.D. student Hannah Lehman are co-inventors on newly awarded US Patent 11,037,455, “Autonomous judgmental oversteering determination system for aircraft taxiing”. The system uses reinforcement learning to create a system for an autonomous taxi assistance program. The program is designed to help pilots taxi around airports, especially in situations where oversteer is required and may be difficult for the pilot to properly judge.
Tiffany Williamson and Felix Turcios currently work at Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids Iowa as an Engineering Leader and Sr. Systems Engineer respectively. Hannah Lehman is a former Collins Aerospace summer intern with Tiffany and Felix in the Advanced Concepts Group. The team is expecting one more patent for the autonomous taxiing user interface in conjunction with this project.
Click here to view the patent.
VSCL Graduate Student Chris Leshikar Awarded PhD Graduate Excellence Fellowship
Chris Leshikar ’20, a graduate research assistant in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory (VSCL), has been awarded the PhD Graduate Excellence Fellowship for Spring/Summer 2021. This competitive fellowship awards $20,000 over the span of 8 months , in addition to covering tuition and fees. All graduate research assistants within the department of aerospace engineering pursuing a PhD starting in Spring 2021 were considered for this Fellowship.
Leshikar has been an active member of VSCL since Spring 2017, focusing on system identification and nonlinear multiple-time-scale control theory. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering with Engineering Honors in December 2020. As a graduate research assistant in VSCL, Leshikar will be focusing his research on control of uncertain nonlinear multiple-time-scale systems and near real-time online system identification. Dr. John Valasek will serve as his research Advisor and Chair of dissertation committee.
VSCL graduate student Hannah Lehman inducted into the AIAA Intelligent Systems Technical Committee
VSCL Graduate Research Assistant and Ph.D. student Hannah Lehman has been inducted into the AIAA Intelligent Systems Technical Committee (ISTC). The ISTC is a group within AIAA that addresses the application of Intelligent System (IS) technologies and methods to aerospace systems, the verification and validation of these systems, and the education of the AIAA membership in the use of IS technologies in aerospace and other technical disciplines. Lehman was inducted due to her technical experience in IS and involvement with AIAA. She was previously a member of the AIAA Software Technical Committee.
Lehman’s undergraduate research experience and doctoral research aligns with the ISTC’s activities. She is the recipient of the AIAA Foundation Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics Scholarship for her research contributions in Reinforcement Learning for the intelligent control of Unmanned Air Systems, and a Co-Inventor with Collins Aerospace on two patents for IS applied to airplane ground operations at airports. Lehman researched IS for the 2019 NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, and for a 2020 summer internship with Sandia National Laboratories. Her doctoral dissertation is sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories on the project Tightly Integrated Navigation and Guidance for Multiple Autonomous Agents.
Lehman earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering Summa Cum Laude in 2020 from Texas A&M University as a University Scholar, Engineering Honors, and 2019 Gathright Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Junior in the College of Engineering. As a first year graduate student Lehman was awarded the College of Engineering Graduate Merit Doctoral Fellowship for 2020-2023. She has been conducting research in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory with her research Advisor and Chair of dissertation committee, Dr. John Valasek, since her sophomore year.
Valasek Inducted Into Cal Poly Engineering Hall of Fame
Dr. John Valasek, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and director of the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory, has been inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame, College of Engineering, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Valasek was one of nine engineering alumni so honored. The college’s Hall of Fame recognizes, honors, and preserves the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of alumni engineers and engineering technologists who have distinguished themselves in the community through leadership and professional achievement. From helping usher in the era of digital television to guiding the development of California’s most recognizable structures, each inductee has made meaningful contributions deserving of honor and preservation.
Valasek graduated with the B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from Cal Poly, Pomona in 1986. While a student at Cal Poly he served as Chairman of the AIAA Student Branch, and was the Student Chairman of the 1985 AIAA Region VI Student Paper Conference. He worked part-time during his senior year in the Flight Controls Research Group at Northrop Corporation, Aircraft Division, before joining that group at Northrop upon graduation.
Valasek Appointed to Dean’s Leadership Board
Dr. John Valasek, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and director of the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory, has been appointed to the Dean’s Leadership Board (DLB) of the College of Engineering, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The DLB is an advisory board of high-level executives that bring their expertise and knowledge in their respective engineering fields. This group of alumni and industry experts secure resources for the college and to help define its strategies and goals.
Valasek graduated with the B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from Cal Poly, Pomona in 1986. While a student at Cal Poly he served as Chairman of the AIAA Student Branch, and was the Student Chairman of the 1985 AIAA Region VI Student Paper Conference. He worked part-time during his senior year in the Flight Controls Research Group at Northrop Corporation, Aircraft Division, before joining that group at Northrop upon graduation.
VSCL Alumni Vinicius G. Goecks Receives Best Student Paper Award
VSCL paper “Combining Visible and Infrared Spectrum Imagery using Machine Learning for Small Unmanned Aerial System Detection”, by Vinicius G. Goecks, Grayson Woods, and John Valasek, has been selected as the winner of the 2020 SPIE Automatic Target Recognition Best Student Paper Award. This paper presented a novel approach to combine data from RGB and long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras to detect drones through previously difficult environments such as flying above and below the treeline/horizon, in the presence of birds, and glare from the sun.
“The main insight of our approach is that it enables detection and tracking of vehicles at any time of the day, around-the-clock, and in real-time.” says Dr. Goecks. “It also can be built on top of any existing camera system with minimal computation overhead.”
A summary video of the system can be found here, along with videos with all predictions for the single-vehicle case and multiple-vehicle case.
The paper was presented at the 2020 SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing Conference Digital Forum held 27 April – 8 May 2020. The paper is available at the SPIE Digital Library and the preprint version is available at arXiv.
VSCL graduate student Garrett Jares Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Garrett Jares, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and Graduate Research Assistant in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory, has been awarded a 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based Master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. NSF Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering.
Garrett earned the BS degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University with a minor in Cybersecurity and a minor in Mathematics, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2017. He has been working in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory (VSCL) with his advisor, Dr. John Valasek, since his undergraduate senior capstone project in 2017. During his undergraduate education, Garrett studied extensively in cybersecurity including research in cryptography topics. Garrett’s work with VSCL has been developing embedded systems for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS), and overseeing the operation of the Engineering Flight Simulator Laboratory. Garrett is combining his undergraduate knowledge with his experience in VSCL to investigate Cybersecurity for air and space vehicles.
Garrett’s doctoral dissertation will investigate cyber-attacks designed that are designed to take control of an aircraft by targeting the vehicle’s sensor data. This research will help identify and better understand the vulnerabilities in current systems and develop safeguards against such attacks. Garrett is a recipient of the Crawford & Hattie Jackson Foundation Scholarship, the Edward C. Clay ’47 Memorial Scholarship, and the 2018 Lechner Graduate Fellowship.
VSCL undergraduate Hannah Lehman awarded Texas A&M University College of Engineering Graduate Merit Fellowship for 2020- 2023
Hannah Lehman ‘20, a senior in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and an undergraduate research assistant of the Texas A&M Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory, has been awarded the Texas A&M University College of Engineering Graduate Merit Fellowship for 2020- 2023. This highly competitive fellowship funds $30,000 per year for 3-4 years (Ph.D.) in addition to health insurance costs, and tuition and fees. All competitive domestic applicants who applied for a fall semester matriculation are considered for this prestigious fellowship. One student is awarded for each participating department.
Dr. John Valasek will serve as her research Advisor and Chair of dissertation committee. As a Graduate Research Assistant Hannah will research Tightly Integrated Navigation and Guidance for Multiple Autonomous Agents, which is sponsored by Sandia National Laboratory. She will also do a 2020 summer internship at Sandia National Laboratory.
Hannah has been an active member of VSCL since Fall 2017, focusing on human-machine interaction and the control of UAS with Machine Learning. She will graduate with the B.S. degree in aerospace engineering as a University Scholar, University Honors, and Engineering Honors in May 2020. She has been awarded the 2019/2020 AIAA Foundation Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics Scholarship, the 2019 Gathright Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Junior in the College of Engineering, and placed 1st in the 2018 AIAA Region IV Student Paper Conference.
VSCL undergraduate Hannah Lehman to pursue Ph.D. in aerospace engineering starting Fall 2020
Hannah Lehman ‘20, a senior in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and an undergraduate research assistant of the Texas A&M Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory, has accepted a Graduate Research Fellowship and will join the Ph.D. program in aerospace engineering in Fall 2020. Dr. John Valasek will serve as her research Advisor and Chair of dissertation committee. As a Graduate Research Assistant Hannah will research Tightly Integrated Navigation and Guidance for Multiple Autonomous Agents, which is sponsored by Sandia National Laboratory. She will also do a 2020 summer internship at Sandia National Laboratory.
Hannah has been an active member of VSCL since Fall 2017, focusing on human-machine interaction and the control of UAS with Machine Learning. She will graduate with the B.S. degree in aerospace engineering as a University Scholar, University Honors, and Engineering Honors in May 2020. She has been awarded the 2019/2020 AIAA Foundation Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics Scholarship, the 2019 Gathright Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Junior in the College of Engineering, and placed 1st in the 2018 AIAA Region IV Student Paper Conference.