GALCIT: THE FIRST
75 Years
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1891
September—Pasadena
philanthropist Amos Throop (1811–1894)
rents the Wooster Block building in Pasadena for the
purpose of establishing Throop University, the
forerunner of Caltech. In November of that year,
Throop University opened its doors to 31 students
and a six-member faculty.
1903
Astronomer George Ellery Hale (1868–1938)
arrives in Pasadena. He is the first Director of the Mount
Wilson observatory. Hale becomes a member of Throop's
board of trustees in 1907; under Hale's leadership,
the transformation of Throop begins. December 17, 1903—Wright Brothers'
first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Wrights pioneered
many of the basic tenets and techniques of modern aeronautical engineering,
such as the use of a wind tunnel and flight testing as design tools.
 December
17, 1903—Wright Brothers first powered flight at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Wrights pioneered many of the
basic tenets and techniques of modern aeronautical engineering,
such as the use of a wind tunnel and flight testing as design
tools. (Pictured at left: W.Wright and
A. Merrill, 1910.)
1917
Harry Bateman (1882–1946) Professor of Mathematics, Physics, and Aeronautics,
1917–1946. One of the two first faculty members in Aeronautics, he
was already an accomplished mathematical physicist when Hale recruited him.
Bateman taught and carried out research in hydrodynamics, elasticity, and
mathematical methods; authored four textbooks. His shoe boxes full of notes
on special functions kept several mathematicians busy after his death on
the "Bateman Manuscript Project," editing his notes into three
classic volumes entitled Higher Transcendental Functions. Hale solicits donation
and trustees approve construction for the first wind tunnel (4 by 4 foot)
built in southern California.
1918
Albert A. Merrill (1875–1952) Instructor in Aeronautics, 1918–1930,
1940–1952. First Instructor in Aeronautics at Caltech. In 1895, the
Boston Aeronautical Society was formed with Merrill, William H. Pickering,
and James Means forming the executive committee. In 1911, he learned to fly,
first at Squantum and later at the Wrights' place in Dayton. At Caltech,
Merrill operated the first wind tunnel and complemented Bateman's theoretical
instruction with wind tunnel measurement practice and airplane design. He
was self-taught, holding several patents and building several airplanes,
including the "Dill Pickle" with Klein and Millikan.
1920
Donald Douglas starts his aircraft company in Santa Monica.
1921
Hale is joined by chemist Arthur A. Noyes (1866–1936) and physicist
Robert A. Millikan (1868–1953). These three men set the school, which
by then had been renamed the California Institute of Technology, firmly on
its new course. Millikan serves as Chairman (effectively the President) until
1945.
 1926
Daniel Guggenheimsets up $2.5
million fund to jumpstart seven aeronautical schools in
seven universities, including Caltech. A sum of $300,000
is earmarked for Caltech for the construction of a laboratory
and the establishment of a graduate school in aeronautics. (Pictured
at left: Guggenheim building under construction, 1927.)
1927
Arthur Emmons Raymond (1899–1999).
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1927–1934. Chief
Engineer, Douglas Aircraft Company (1925–60). Raymond
works for Douglas during the week and begins teaching a
Saturday class on airplane design to von Kármán,
Klein, Bateman, Clark Millikan, Sechler, and Merrill; serves
as longtime GALCIT connection to Douglas Aircraft for testing
of DC-1 through DC-8 aircraft. Becomes VP of Douglas Aircraft.
Charles Lindbergh completes
first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in May; Roosevelt
Field near New York City to Paris in 33.5 hours.
 1928
Birth of GALCIT through the Daniel
Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics.From
1926–1928,
the Guggenheim Laboratory was built, wrapping itself
around the 10-foot wind tunnel. The academic staff consisted
of mathematician Professor Harry Bateman, Professor Theodore
von Kármán, Assistant Professors Arthur
L. Klein, Clark B. Millikan, and Arthur E. Raymond. Albert
A. Merrill was Instructor. Others on staff included William
H. Bowen, Ernest E. Sechler, and Baily (Ozzie) Oswald. (Pictured
at right: A. Merrill wind tunnel, circa 1928.)
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1929
Clark Blanchard Millikan (1903–1966) (Physics PhD
1928) Founding Member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Professor of Aeronautics 1929–1966. Director of the
Southern California Cooperative Wind Tunnel, 1945–1960.
Second Director of GALCIT, 1949–1966. Caltech physics
graduate student with an early interest in aeronautics.
Produced his thesis, "The Steady Motion of Viscous
Incompressible Fluids," under Bateman. Played a key
role, together with Klein, in the development of the 10-foot
tunnel and the testing programs. Contributed both to practical
aerodynamics and theoretical fluid mechanics including:
effect of turbulence on lift; similarity in turbulent boundary
layer and pipe flow; effect of propeller slipstream on
aircraft performance; development of multi-engine high-altitude
airplanes; jet propulsion; and guided missiles. Supervised
all of the testing research carried out in the 10-foot
wind tunnel, and had a significant influence on the early
development of many of the important airplanes of the 1930s
and 1940s. Effectively directed GALCIT beginning in 1942,
until he passed away in 1966. Saw the need for and proposed
the Southern California Cooperative Wind Tunnel in 1938.
Maintained productive relations with industry and government
agencies; rebuilt GALCIT after the end of WWII.
Arthur
Louis "Maj" Klein (1898–1983) (BS 1921,
MS 1924, PhD 1925) Professor of Aeronautics, 1929–1968.
In addition to his significant contributions as a teacher
of aeronautical engineering, Klein was a legendary designer,
and responsible for the engineering and building of the
GALCIT 10-foot wind tunnel and related equipment (especially
balances and rigging). In 1937 he began spending half his
time with Douglas Aircraft, where he had been an intermittent
consultant since 1932, and he was instrumental in the design
of many of their aircraft over the next 20 years.
 1930
Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963) Professor
of Aeronautics, 1930–1949. First Director of GALCIT,
1930–1949. In 1926 von Kármán was invited
to Caltech to give talks on aerodynamics, and review plans
for the new wind tunnel. In 1928 he returned to Caltech
for an exchange semester, and finally joined the Institute
in 1929 as a research associate in aeronautics. In 1930,
he was appointed Professor of Aeronautics and Director
of GALCIT. von Kármán was a true mechanician
of his time and as such he was as accomplished in fluid
mechanics as he was in the mechanics of solids and structures.
Among his accomplishments were: the first computation of
drag for a supersonic projectile; the Fopplevon Kármán
plate theory for large deflections; application of dimensional
analysis to turbulent flow; the Born-von Kármán
lattice model in crystallography; the log-law and von Kármán
constant for turbulent boundary layer velocity distribution
(law of the wall); the first design of a triaxial testing
configuration for the testing of geomaterials; fundamental
studies on turbulence; the discovery of the similarity
law of transonic flow; and the use of stiffened panels
in aircraft construction. He spent much of his time in
Washington after 1942. Stepped down as Director in 1949
and became Professor Emeritus. In 1962, at age 81, he was
awarded the first National Medal of Science, bestowed in
a White House ceremony by President John F. Kennedy. On
his characteristic of never declining a lecturing opportunity,
he once joked "I can never pass up the opportunity
to dominate the conversation for an entire hour."
December—the first complete scale model airplane,
the Northrop Alpha, was installed in the 10-foot wind tunnel
for design and development testing. (Pictured
below: W. Bowen, C. Millikan, and B. Oswald, 1930.)
 1932
Maurice Biot (1905–1985) (PhD 1932; student of von Kármán)
Biot earned the first PhD awarded by GALCIT. He would become well known in
solid mechanics, large deformation continuum mechanics (geology), thermodynamics
of solids, and dynamics applied to earthquake engineering. He was a research
associate and technical adviser to the National Defense Research Committee
at Caltech, 1940–43. Biot wrote three books, including a textbook on
applied mathematics co-authored with von Kármán, as well as
more than 178 scientific and engineering papers on various topics including
elasticity theory, thermodynamics, applied mathematics, soil mechanics, wave
propagation and scatter, wing flutter, geophysics, and seismology.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1932
Boeing Aircraft Company tests the YO-31A airplane in the
10-foot tunnel.
GALCIT Meteorology program, 1932–1944.
Caltech was one of the five principal centers for training
personnel for the Army and Navy during WWII.
1933
Wiley Post completes first
solo flight around the world, July 1933; 7 days, 19 hours.
1934
The Douglas DC-1, DC-2development
begins. Over the years, Douglas Aircraft uses the GALCIT
10-foot tunnel more than any other company.
1935
Amelia Earhart becomes the
first person to solo the 2,408-mile distance across the
Pacific between Honolulu and Oakland, California; first
flight where a civilian aircraft carried a two-way radio.
 1936
The Suicide Squad—John W. Parsons, Edward S. Forman,
and Caltech graduate students Frank J. Malina, Apollo Milton
Olin Smith, and Hsue-shen Tsien carry out their first rocket
firing on Halloween, 1936, in the Arroyo Seco, the site
of the future JPL. The initial tests sparked von Kármán's
interest, and he set up Molina with a rocket test facility
on campus. Twice their experiments resulted in explosions;
the group was sent to the Arroyo Seco. Malina, Tsien, and
Smith carry out theoretical analyses on the feasibility
of rocket propulsion and flight. From these modest origins,
JPL was soon to take form.
1937
Ernest Sechler (1905–1979).
(BS 1928, MS 1929, PhD 1933; student of von Kármán)
Professor of Aeronautics 1937–1976. Sechler became
well known in the aircraft structures field through his
pioneering work (initially with von Kármán
1930–35) on buckling of stiffened plates of basic
interest in metal aircraft construction and advanced to
buckling of cylindrical shells (airplane fuselage and rocket
applications). He was an early proponent of using continuum
mechanics to analyze structures rather than the then-dominant
strength-of-materials approach. Guided by the observation
of a failed rocket launch where asymmetrical forces prevailed
without buckling of the external structure, he instituted
intense efforts to understand the large difference between
theoretical and measured buckling loads of cylindrical
structures. This culminated in the findings of one of his
students, C.D. Babcock. In the words of Y.-C. Fung, Sechler
was a person who always found a simpler way to deal with
a complex problem, guided and checked by experiment rather
than theory alone. This philosophy has become a mainstay
of GALCIT teaching and functions.
Start of boundary layer transition work at Caltech, funded
by NACA, to look at effect of curvature on transition.
Initial studies by Frank Wattendorf, Francis and Milton
Clauser, and subsequently, Liepmann.
 1938
William Rees Sears (1913–2002).
(PhD 1938; student of von Kármán) Assistant
Professor of Aeronautics, 1940–1941. Served as an
instructor at Caltech between 1937–1940 before becoming
a professor. Chief of aerodynamics and flight testing at
Northrop; headed the team that designed the P-61 (Black
Widow) and the flying wing. Joined the faculty of Cornell
University in 1946 as the founder and first director of
its Graduate School of Aeronautical Engineering. Within
a surprisingly few years, the Cornell Graduate School of
Aeronautical Engineering was ranked among the world's
best. Pioneered research in "ground effect," nonsteady
airfoil response and flutter (with von Kármán),
wing theory, unsteady flow, magnetohydrodynamics, and wind
tunnel design to study transonic flight. (Pictured:
Lockheed XP38 model, 1938.)
The growing use of thin metal structures in airplane manufacture,
particularly at Northrop Aircraft, promoted von Kármán
to revisit the problems of nonlinear buckling, the subject
of his inaugural dissertation at Gottingen. With a team
consisting of Tsien, Sechler, and Dunn, notable progress
was made at GALCIT in understanding the failure of the
linear theory and in establishing the appropriate view
of post-buckling loads.
1939
GALCIT was approached by Palmar C. Putnam, who was backed
by electric utilities, to design a large windmill to
generate electrical power. von Kármán had
Sears and Rannie carry out the aerodynamic design. The
final product, a windmill 170 feet in diameter, was erected
on Granpa's Knob in Vermont and functioned as planned.
After an unusually high wind bent one blade, the sponsors
withdrew their support.
Albert Eaton Lombard (?–1983) (BS 1928, MS 1929,
PhD 1939) Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical
Engineering, 1939–1946. Consulting Engineer to Curtiss-
Wright Corporation 1929–1939. Lombard eventually
joined McDonnell Aircraft Company.
Hans Wolfgang Liepmann, Theodore von Kármán
Professor of Aeronautics, 1945–1985, Emeritus. Third
Director of GALCIT, 1972–1985. A member of the National
Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.
Recipient of the National Medal of Science and of the National
Medal of Technology. Research includes: boundary layer
transition; effect of curvature; turbulent shear flow;
transonic flow and boundary layer separation on airfoils.
Early work done using 2 by 20-inch transonic tunnel; motivated
by "compressibility burble" and buffeting problems
on the P-38. Later work with his students in skin friction
in supersonic flow; aircraft buffeting; rarified gas dynamics;
magnetohydrodynamics and plasma physics; liquid helium;
chemistry in turbulent mixing; active boundary layer control.
With Roshko wrote classic text, Elements of Gasdynamics.
Over 60 PhD students studied under him, and a large academic
family has developed through the years. Many went on to
be leaders in education and research, in universities,
industry, and governments throughout the world.
1940
Homer Joe Stewart (1915–2007) (PhD 1940; student
of von Kármán) Professor of Aeronautics,
1942–1980. Starting as a graduate assistant at the
GALCIT 10-foot wind tunnel, Stewart worked on meteorology,
theoretical and applied aerodynamics, particularly unsteady
flow around supersonic airfoils and bodies of revolution.
He also participated in many pioneering rocket projects
largely through his contributions in orbital mechanics,
becoming a section manager of the analytical missile aerodynamics
group at JPL. As chief of the research analysis section
at JPL, he participated in many rocket projects, including
the WAC Corporal, the Corporal, the Sergeant, and the Jupiter
C. He was chief of JPL's liquid propulsion systems
division when JPL and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency
(now the Marshall Space Flight Center) developed and launched
Explorer 1.
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed following severe oscillations
induced by wind. von Kármán, who was convinced
that the accident resulted from aerodynamic instability,
was appointed to a commission investigating the collapse.
von Kármán had Rannie and Dunn carry out
analyses and wind-tunnel experiments, the results of which
proved vital in the redesign of the bridge.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
 1941
2-1/2 by 2-1/2 inch Supersonic Tunnel was
designed by Tsien and Serrurier starting in 1940 and operated
by Puckett in 1941–1942. First continuously operated supersonic
wind tunnel to reach M > 4 in the U.S. Used by students
until demolition in 1997.
Out of the initial work by Malina's group on rocket
propulsion, GALCIT Project No. 1 was organized to apply
jet propulsion to assisting the take-off of aircraft. The
JATO rocket was born and first solid-propellant rockets
shortened the take-off distance of aircraft by up to 50%. (Pictured:
S. Corrsin, circa 1943.)
 1942
Frank Joseph Malina(1912–1981)
(MS 1935 and 1936, PhD 1940; student of von Kármán)
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1942–1946. Co-founder
GALCIT Rocket Research Project and Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL). As a graduate student, he led the group that did
the initial research on propellants, rocket motors, and
theoretical rocket performance. Gave the first theoretical
demonstration (with von Kármán) that long-duration
solid propellant rockets were possible. Became the first
Acting Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and led
effort to build the WAC Corporal. Developed with Parsons
the basic formulations of solid and liquid propellants,
variations of which have found widespread use up to the
present time. (Pictured at right: Frank J. Molina)
Aerojet Engineering Corporation founded by von Kármán
and colleagues to manufacture jet-assisted take-off systems
for the military.
1943
At the request of the Air Technical Service Command. Army
Air Force, von Kármán organizes a graduate curriculum
in Jet Propulsion for a group of military officers. The courses
and laboratories were taught by Caltech and JPL personnel.
Tsien edited these courses into a massive book, "Jet
Propulsion," which served as the standard for over
ten years.
The GALCIT rocketry group under von Kármán,
Tsien, and Malina draft a proposal (dated November 20, 1943)
to the military to fund work to develop missiles. This document
(the first official memo in the U.S. missile program) was the
first to use the name "Jet Propulsion Laboratory."
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1944
Transonic wind tunnel, 2-in
by 20-in, built by Liepmann. Used by Liepmann with H. Ashkenas
and J. Cole to carry out pioneering studies on shock-wave/boundary
interactions on high-speed flow over airfoils. Demonstrated
the importance of the state of the boundary layer, laminar
vs. turbulent, on resulting shock-wave pattern and pressure
distribution. Later converted to 4-in by 10-in operation
by Ashkenas, Satish Dhawan, and Roshko.
C. C. Lin (PhD 1944) Comprehensive analysis of the stability
of two-dimensional parallel flow and stability of compressible
boundary layer (with Lees), summarized in his book, The
Theory of Hydrodynamic Instability.
1945
Louis Dunn (1908–1979) (BS 1936, MS ME 1937, MS Ae
1938, PhD 1940). Professor of Aeronautics 1945–1954.
Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1947–1954.
Dunn was a close colleague of Sechler and participated
with him in the evolution of the "equivalent panel
width" characterization of plates undergoing buckling.
He became Assistant Director of JPL in 1945–1946
and the Director from 1947–1954, presiding over its
early program in rocketry leading up to the development
of the Sergeant missile. He left JPL to take over the beginning
Atlas missile project for the recently formed Ramo-Wooldridge
Corporation.
Southern California Cooperative
Wind Tunnel. Clark Millikan,
Director, 1945–1960. Joint venture financed by five
Southern California aircraft companies and managed and
operated by Caltech. It was one of the first large supersonic
wind tunnels. Upgraded to transonic operation in 1955,
shut down in 1960 when it became uneconomical to operate.
 1946
Paco A. Lagerstrom (1914–1989)
Professor of Aeronautics 1952–1966. Professor of
Applied Mathematics 1967–1981.
Educated as a pure mathematician; recruited by Liepmann
from Douglas Santa Monica in 1946. Applied elegant mathematical
methods, including asymptotic expansions and similarity
solutions based on group theory, to fluid mechanics problems.
Wrote classic section on "Laminar Flow Theory" for
Princeton Handbook series. Lagerstrom, Cole, van Dyke,
and Kaplun pioneered the use of matched asymptotic expansions
in solving fluid-flow problems.
Lee A. DuBridge (1901–1994) President of Caltech,
1946–1969.
1947
W. Duncan Rannie (1914–1988) (PhD 1951; student of
von Kármán and Tsien) Robert H. Goddard Professor
of Jet Propulsion 1947–1981. Early work while still
a student on the aerodynamics of suspension bridges and
wind power (unfortunately, his analytical findings regarding
the stability of the giant windmill were not incorporated
into the final design). Went to Northrop to work on the "Turbodyne" project
and developed the theories and design procedures for axial
compressors that became the basis for much of the progress
in gas turbine technology that followed. Became chief of
ramjet and combustion research at JPL in 1945, and a member
of the GALCIT faculty in 1947. His thesis on heat transfer
in turbulent flow was interrupted by the war; was accepted
and published in 1951.
Charles Yeager completes
first supersonic flight on October 14, 1947, over dry Rogers
Lake in California. Yeager rode the X-1, attached to the
belly of a B-29 bomber, to an altitude of 25,000 feet.
After releasing from the B-29, he rocketed to an altitude
of 40,000 feet. He became the first person to break the
sound barrier, safely taking the X-1 to a speed of 662
mph, faster than the speed of sound at his altitude.
RAND Report No. 1 U.S. Army Air Forces receive the Douglas
study proposing early development of an American communications
satellite and attesting to the feasibility of the undertaking.
A number of GALCIT faculty and alumni, including Frances
Clauser, Paco Lagerstrom, and Hans Liepmann, were involved
in the study.
The first analytical study of the detailed flow in axial
turbomachines was published by Marble, leading to an extensive
program of internal aerodynamics. This work included analysis
and experiments of distorted inlet flow by Rannie, Marble,
Katz, and Heiser, and extensive experiments by Iura and
analysis by Oates and Burggraf to confirm the mechanism
of stall propagation in compressor blade rows.
1948
Frank E. Marble (MS 1942,
AE 1947, PhD 1948; student of Liepmann) Member of the National
Academy of Engineering. Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Jet
Propulsion, 1948–1989,
Emeritus. Marble was appointed Instructor in Aeronautics
in 1948 and Assistant Professor of Jet Propulsion and
Mechanical Engineering in 1949 at the time the Jet Propulsion
Center was established. That same year he organized a
joint effort between the Jet Propulsion Center and JPL,
which was the focus of combustion research in propulsion
systems over a period of ten years. He has carried out
extensive research in the fluid mechanics of turbomachinery,
combustion fluid mechanics, acoustics, dynamics of heterogeneous
media, and a wide variety of problems associated with
high Mach number propulsion systems. In 1999 was awarded
the Daniel Guggenheim Medal for Notable Achievements
in the Advancement of Aeronautics.
A continuously operating hypersonic tunnel was built in
an extension to the original Guggenheim building. This
had a 5-in by 5-in test section; the M = 6 leg was put
into operation first, followed later by the M = 11 leg.
These were operated as the Hypersonics Lab (funded by the
Army) up to 1953 under Nagamatsu, and from 1953 to 1970
under Lees. Under Lees' leadership, extensive experimental
and theoretical work was carried out on various hypersonic
flow topics.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1949
Clark Blanchard Millikan becomes
second director of GALCIT (1949–1966).
Hsue-shen Tsien (PhD 1939; student of von Kármán)
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1943–1946; Robert
H. Goddard Professor, 1949–1955. Director of the
Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Center, 1949–1955. Scientist
who was von Kármán's protégé,
colleague, and heir-apparent. Became the first Director
of the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Center
established at Caltech in 1949. Seminal work in many areas,
including aeronautics, applied mechanics, rocketry, and
control. Discovered similarity laws of hypersonic flow;
designed GALCIT's first supersonic tunnel. Was instrumental
in advising the U.S. military during WWII. Sadly, Tsien
was forced to leave the U.S. in 1955; subsequently played
a key role in developing Chinese missile research. In addition,
he is widely considered the father of the modern Chinese
space program.
Allen Puckett (PhD 1949; student of von Kármán)
Built 2-1/2 -in by 2-1/2 -in supersonic tunnel during 1941–1942
and designed a larger tunnel (3-ft by 3-ft) in 1942 that
was built at Ballistic Research Laboratories, Aberdeen
Proving Ground, MD. Also designed smaller tunnels for JPL.
Conducted supersonic airfoil studies and developed delta
wing theory with H. J. Stewart. Taught compressible flow
theory with Liepmann to Kelly Johnson and others at Lockheed
at end of WWII. Co-author (with Liepmann) of pioneering
text, Aerodynamics and Compressible Flow. Went on to become
CEO and Chairman of Hughes Aircraft.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003
1950
Max L. Williams (MS 1947,
AE 1948, PhD 1950; student of Sechler) Member of the National
Academy of Engineering. Professor of Aeronautics, 1951–1966.
Considered, along with George Irwin, to be the father of
fracture mechanics. With Sechler, generalized formulation
of the Kirchhoff/Timoshenko plate equations for bending
and in-plane loading. Investigated the stress distribution
at the corner of the wing-fuselage connection for arbitrary
re-entrant angles. The limit case of zeroincluded angle,
simulating a crack, led him to the first analytical publication
of the square root singularity in fracture problems,
which established the similarity of all (brittle) fracture
problems in terms of a stress intensity factor which
characterized the severity of stresses at the tips of
cracks. Established one of the first dynamic fracture
laboratories in the U.S. Examined the nature of the stress
singularity at interface cracks between dissimilar materials
(earthquake applications); became a seminal contribution
to adhesive fracture issues in the 1990s. His research
led to far-reaching changes in design practices regarding
the structural integrity of solid propellant rocket motors
in terms of mechanics principles, via both fracture and
adhesion investigations. Became a major force behind
instituting viscoelastic material characterization and
extension to viscoelastic fracture mechanics. Had a major
international influence on the evolving understanding
of the time-dependent behavior of polymers. Founded The
International Journal of Fracture.
 Yuan-Cheng
Fung (PhD 1948; student of Sechler) Member
of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy
of Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine. Professor of
Aeronautics, 1951–1966. Considered the father of
biomechanics. His early interest in shell structures focused
initially on stability issues of curved plates and shells
of variable thickness. His interest in airplane stability
and fluid-structures interaction precipitated by von Kármán
vortices lead to an extended and long involvement in aeroelasticity
as documented through his 1955 Introduction to the Theory
of Aeroelasticity and which provided leadership into the
supersonic age. Author of Fundamentals of Solid Mechanics.
Significant work in formulating structural stability problems
in statistical terms, especially in connection with supersonic
aircraft. His interest in shell structures had a profound
influence on his research when he observed in Harold Wayland's
laboratories (Caltech Mechanical Engineering) the ease
with which blood cells moved through blood vessels of much
smaller diameter; observing that a blood cell exhibits
a low (~zero) internal pressure to allow the relative flexibility
of its shell/membrane. On sabbatical leave in Germany in
1958–1959, he observed that the disciplines of neither
medicine nor biology dealt with the concept of mechanical
forces in their endeavors. This observation ultimately
led to a new career in biomechanics, which he started in
the Caltech Firestone Laboratories with the mechanics of
lung tissue and its function, but which he then continued
very successfully at the University of California, San
Diego. (Pictured above: M. Williams
and Yuan-Cheng Fung, 1970.)
The Jet Propulsion Center and JPL establish a joint research
program on combustion problems in propulsion systems directed
by Marble. Among its accomplishments during the next decade
were the first analysis of ignition and combustion in mixing
layers between combustible gas and hot combustion products
(Adamson); demonstration of the mechanism by which flames
are stabilized in the wakes of solid bodies; development
of scaling laws which allowed sizing and spacing of flame-holders
in air-breathing propulsion engines (Zukoski and Broman);
establishment of the mechanism of high-frequency combustion
instability in gas turbine afterburners (Rogers and Barker).
The final investigation of this program was a series of
combustion instability experiments in solid propellant
rockets by Brownlee, the data from which constitute the
most complete set of organized rocket firings.
Merrill Wind Tunnel Closed-return tunnel used for teaching
and research projects; 200 mph, 3-ft by 4-ft test section.
Named after Albert Merrill, who helped with the design,
the tunnel was installed in 1950 and was decommissioned
a little more than 50 years later.
1951
Julian Cole (MS 1946, PhD 1949) Professor of Aeronautics,
1951–1967, Professor of Applied Mathematics, 1967–1971.
Contributions to transonic aerodynamic theory and singular
perturbation methods.
1952
Tsien introduces the concepts of contemporary control theory
into the control of propulsion systems. Among the consequences
of these studies were the introductory investigations
of servostabilization of combustion instability in monopropellant
and bipropellant liquid rocket motors.
1953
Lester Lees (1920–1986) Professor of Aeronautics
and Environmental Engineering, 1953–1985. As director
of the Hypersonics Laboratory from 1953–1970, he
led investigations into key technological aspects of ballistic
missiles and reentry body design including leading-edge
shock-wave influence on boundary layers, hypersonic wakes,
shock-wave/boundary interactions, rarified flow about blunt
slender bodies, and physics of ablation. Director of Caltech's
Environmental Quality Laboratory from 1970 until 1974.
 1954
William H. Pickering (1910–2004) (BS 1932, MS 1933,
PhD 1936) Professor of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus,
1940–1980. Director of JPL, 1954–1976. In 1944,
Pickering organized the electronics efforts at JPL to support
guided missile research and development, becoming project
manager for Corporal, the first operational missile JPL
developed. From 1954 to 1976 he was Director of JPL, and
oversaw the development of Explorer 1, Pioneer 4 (the first
successful U.S. circumlunar space probe), the Mariner flights
to Venus and Mars in the early to mid-1960s, the Ranger
photographic missions to the moon in 1964–65, and
the Surveyor lunar landings of 1966–67. In 1975,
recalling the achievement of Explorer 1 and its impact
on a new era of space exploration, Pickering stated "The
event was symbolic of the mixing process between engineering
and science, between the world and the research laboratory...it
had mixed rocket technology with the universe, and reduced
astronautics to practice at last."
1955
Anatol Roshko (MS 1947, PhD
1952; student of Liepmann) Member of the National Academy
of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Theodore von Kármán Professor
of Aeronautics, 1955–1994, Emeritus. Acting Director,
Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories, 1985–87. Experimental
fluid mechanics. Shock-wave boundary-layer interaction.
Boundary-layer effects in shock-tube design. Subsonic
and supersonic separated flows: wake structure, base
pressure, bluff-body modelling, vortex shedding, flow-induced
vibration. New insights into turbulent-shear-flow structure
and mixing, with Garry Brown and Gene Broadwell. With
Liepmann wrote classic text, Elements of Gasdynamics.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1956
Donald Coles (MS 1948, PhD
1953; student of Liepmann) Member of the National Academy
of Engineering. Professor of Aeronautics, 1956–1996, Emeritus. Known for his
meticulous experimental studies and analysis of data,
particularly in turbulent boundary layers. Discovered
the "Law of the Wake" (1956); the complex
transition between states in Taylor-Couette flow (1965);
key participant in the influential 1968 Stanford Boundary
Layer Conference; study of similarity structure of entrainment
in turbulent spot (with Cantwell and Dimotakis); synthetic
turbulent boundary layer (with Barker, Savas, Arakeri);
wake structure of stalled airfoil (Wadcock) and cylinder
(Cantwell) with the "flying hot wire" technique;
writing monograph tentatively now titled Topics in Turbulent
Shear Flow.
Edward E. Zukoski (1927–1997) (MS 1951, PhD 1954)
Professor of Jet Propulsion and Mechanical Engineering,
1957–1995. Thesis work in the problem of combustion
stability in ramjet engines and gas turbine afterburners.
His work laid the foundations of the flame-holding mechanism.
He and his students made major contributions to magneto-gasdynamics,
aeroacoustics, problems of propellant control under microgravity
conditions, and hydrogen/air mixing in supersonic combustion
ramjet propulsion systems. Zukoski researched building
fires in the 1960s, and with Kubota developed the first
comprehensive description of convective fire plumes.
1957
Max L. Williams publishes
classical paper on the structure of the crack tip stress-field,
which forms the basis of modern fracture mechanics. This
was followed in 1959 by the identification of the stress-field
for an interface crack which became the foundation of adhesion
mechanism and fracture of heterogeneous materials, composites,
and thin films. Sputnik 1—October 4, 1957, Russian
launch of first artificial satellite of the Earth, Sputnik
1. This event began the space race by galvanizing interest
and action on the part of the American public to support
an active role in space research, technology, and exploration.
1959
 Explorer
1—the first U.S. Earth satellite was developed
by Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and carried
the US-IGY (International Geophysical Year) experiment
of James A. Van Allen that resulted in the discovery of
the radiation belt around the Earth.
Toshi Kubota (1927–1999) (MS 1952, PhD 1957; student
of Lees). Professor of Aeronautics, 1959–1990. From
1957 to 1959 Kubota was a research associate. He became
a faculty member in 1959 and was promoted to full Professor
in 1971. Kubota worked on fluid mechanics, with an emphasis
on hypersonic flows, including wakes and shock layers.
He also worked on supersonic turbulent shear flows and
supersonic boundary layer separation. He supervised a number
of students that worked in the Hypersonics Laboratory.
The 17-in shock tube was designed to operate at very low
pressure in order to carry out shock-wave structure measurements
with electron beams and mass spectrometry. The large size
has been used to advantage at atmospheric pressure to study
the focusing of weak shocks, shock-wave propagation through
turbulence density fluctuations, and shock-wave induced
instability; currently being used in converging shock studies.
The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) of India was
established in 1959; its first three directors were GALCIT
alumni: founding director P. Nilakantan (MS 1942), director
from 1959–1964; S. R. Valluri (MS 1950 PhD 1954),
director from 1965–1984; and R. Narasimha (PhD 1961),
director from 1984–1993. The early years (1960–67)
were spent in setting up wind tunnels across Bellandur
Lake; notably the 1.2 meter trisonic blowdown wind tunnel
which is operational to this day. Then followed a decade
of facility build-up and the creation of R&D divisions
encompassing practically every facet of aeronautics: theoretical
and experimental aerodynamics, structures, materials, propulsion,
electronics and systems. Beginning in the 1980s, NAL was
further transformed, making its mark in civil aviation,
parallel processing, aerospace electronics, surface technologies,
and computational fluid dynamics.
(Pictured above: C. Millikan, 1960.)
1961
GALCIT is renamed and G now stands for "Graduate" rather
than "Guggenheim."
 Yuri Gagarin First person to orbit the Earth, April 12,
1961. The mission's maximum flight altitude was 327,000
meters. The maximum speed reached was 28,260 kilometers
per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. Reentry was controlled
by computer. Gagarin did not land inside of Vostok 1; he
ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute.
Kármán Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics and
Jet Propulsion dedicated. Funding provided principally
by the Aerojet Corporation.
1962
Firestone Flight Sciences Laboratory dedicated. Funding
provided principally by the Firestone Corporation with
the support of Leonard Firestone.
Gerald B. Whitham, Fellow of the Royal Society. Charles
Lee Powell Professor of Applied Mathematics, 1962–1998,
Emeritus. Approximate methods in wave propagation stimulated
experimental and numerical studies, particularly in shock
dynamics, nonlinear steepening, wave focusing, and sonic
boom propagation. Wrote influential text, Linear and Nonlinear
Waves.
Bradford Sturtevant (1933–2000) (MS 1956, PhD 1960;
student of Liepmann) Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics,
1962–2000. Worked on 17-in shock tube as a graduate
student and faculty member. Taught and researched shock
waves and nonsteady gas dynamics. His projects included
experimental and theoretical investigations of the propagation
of shock waves through nonuniform media, including shockexcited
Rayleigh-Taylor instability; hydrodynamic sources of earthquakes
and harmonic tremor; sonic boom, the effects of dissociation
relaxation in hypervelocity flow; shock-wave physics of
extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, including the focusing
of weak shock waves; the fluid mechanics of explosive volcanic
eruptions, including the explosive evolution of dissolved
gas from rapidly depressurized liquids.
Peter Lissaman (MS 1954, PhD 1966; student of Millikan)
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1962–1968. Research
into applied aerodynamics and ground effect.
1963
Fred E. C. Culick, Richard
L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering
and Professor of Jet Propulsion, 1963-2004, Emeritus. Beginning
with his M.I.T. Sc.D. thesis, has worked on both theory
and experiment for the general problem of unsteady motions
in combustion chambers. His own work and surveys of international
works are covered in a monograph published by Cambridge
University Press on combustion instabilities and related
problems in gas and liquid rockets, ramjets, gas turbines
and thrust augmentors. Work on active control of combustion
dynamics grew out of earlier research on problems of
robotics and control of dynamical systems. Actively involved
for three decades in research and advisory activities
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Personal international
collaborations have led to editing translations of two
Russian monographs on theory and experiment of combustion
instabilities in liquid propellant rockets. Interests
in fundamentals and history of aerodynamics and aircraft
dynamics motivated a monograph on basic airfoil theory
also to be published by Cambridge University Press. Serves
as Chairman of an AIAA project he co-founded in 1978
to construct two full-scale replicas of the 1903 Wright ‘Flyer,' one
of which is displayed in the FAA building in Los Angeles,
and the second, a flying replica, is nearly completed,
at Flabob Airport, California. Built the first complete
(1/6 scale) wind tunnel model of the ‘Flyer' and
acquired data to explain the flight dynamics of the first
airplane. Has authored numerous papers and presentations
on various aspects of aeronautical history.
 Charles Babcock (1935–1988) (MS 1958 PhD 1962; student
of Sechler) Professor of Aeronautics and Applied Mathematics,
1963–1988. Reconciled theory and experiments on buckling
of cylindrical shells through the use of exceedingly closely
toleranced shells (electroplating process) and control
of the edge boundary conditions. Used imperfection theory
to place the problem of shell stability and structural
reliability on a different level. Applications to buckling
of large liquid storage tanks under earthquake conditions
and collapse of sea-bed deployed oil pipe lines. Knauss
and Babcock studied the important problem of layer delamination
in damaged composite panels under in-plane compression
from a combined fracture mechanics and bucking point of
view. Vice Provost of Caltech under R. Vogt until Babcock's
untimely death in 1988.
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1964
Applied Mathematics is established as a new graduate Option
and splits off from GALCIT.
Philip
G. Saffman,
Fellow of the Royal Society. Theodore von Kármán
Professor of Applied Mathematics and Aeronautics, 1964–1999,
Emeritus. Influential teacher and researcher on fluid mechanics.
Emphasized role of vorticity and vortex dynamics in fluid
mechanics. Studied vortex instability, reconnection, and
dynamics of arrays of vortices. Author of Vortex Dynamics,
based on his course of the same name.
Miklos Sajben, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1964–1970.
Student of Lees, research into inlet aerodyamics. Went
to Douglas Research Laboratory and eventually joined the
University of Cincinnati as a professor.
1965
Wolfgang G. Knauss (BS 1958,
MS 1959, PhD 1963; student of Williams) Member of the National
Academy of Engineering. Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics
and Applied Mechanics, 1965–2004, Emeritus. Motivated
by the need to understand failure of solid propellant
rocket fuels, provided the main experimental background
for understanding the role of viscoelasticity in fracture
propagation, and established the first comprehensive
(linearly) viscoelastic fracture theory. Studied high-rate
crack extension in brittle solids and resolved a longstanding
dichotomy in dynamic fracture. Detailed highspeed photography
demonstrated that the theoretically modeled fracture
process was unrealistic and that multiple fractures at
the crack tip controlled both the speed and the phenomenon
of crack branching. Demonstrated the important influence
of dilatational changes on the time dependence of the
constitutive relationships for polymers in the nonlinear
range. Pioneered work in nano-mechanics and reliability
through the use of probe microscopy. Early diversions
into geology and biomechanics (radial keratotomy, human
intervetebral disk) investigations attest to the breadth
of mechanics supported by the GALCIT spirit.
The 6-inch shock tube built to study ionized gases at
high shock Mach numbers (Roshko, Smith). Used also to study
focusing of strong shock waves in cones (Storm, Setchell),
refraction of shocks through density gradients (Haas),
and numerous student projects.
1967
Wilhelm Behrens (PhD 1966;
student of Lees) Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1967–1973.
Research into hypersonic flow including the structure and
stability of hypersonic wakes, separated flow on lifting
bodies, and viscous interactions. Joined TRW in 1973; held
positions including Manager of Fluid Thermophysics Department,
Northrop Grumman.
1969
Francis Clauser (BS 1934,
MS 1935, PhD 1937; student of von Kármán) Professor of Engineering, 1969–1980;
Clark Blanchard Millikan Professor of Engineering, Emeritus.
Francis Clauser's early career included a job as
research aerodynamicist at Douglas Aircraft after which
he went on to teach at Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins
he founded and chaired the Department of Aeronautics.
From there he went to the University of California, Santa
Cruz, where he was a vice chancellor and professor of
engineering. He returned to Caltech in 1969 to become
the Chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied
Science.
Gordon Harris, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 1969–1972.
Research into vehicle aerodynamics.
Apollo Program successful, first astronauts land on the
Moon and return to Earth.
Harold Brown becomes Caltech's third President (1969–1977).
1970
At the request of the National Bureau of Standards, a study
was undertaken by Marble, Rannie, and Zukoski to formulate
a long-term program of analytical and experimental research
aimed at a rational understanding of fire propagation
in large building structures. This work led, in turn,
to detailed experiments and computations by Zukoski and
Kubota of fire spread in single rooms.
1972
Hans Wolfgang Liepmann becomes
third Director of GALCIT (1972–1985).
In 1972, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
was brought under the Department of Space, and in the same
year, GALCIT alumnus S. Dhawan (Engineer 1949, PhD 1951)
became the Chairman of ISRO. He served in that capacity
until 1995. Prior, he served as the Director of the Indian
Institute of Science (1962–1981).
1973
Cyrogenic shock tube used to study first and second shock
waves in liquid He(II). Fluid mechanics of liquid helium
studied for the next decade by Liepmann and students, Cummings,
Dimotakis, Laguna, Moody, Rupert, Turner, Torcyzinski,
and Wise.
Candel and Marble establish that the passage of regions
of non-uniform entropy through a choked nozzle produced
a large acoustic source and made a significant contribution
to the noise emitted by jets from propulsion devices.
1974
Brown and Roshko discover two-dimensional coherent structures
in high Reynolds number shear flow, upsetting traditional
views of "fully turbulent flow." Later studies
show streamwise streaks, highly intermittment entrainment,
and the existence of a "mixing transition" at
a critical Reynolds number. (Pictured
above: coherent structures in shear layer, and pictured
below: turbulent spot.)
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1975
Paul E. Dimotakis (BS 1968,
MS 1969, PhD 1973; student of Liepmann) John K. Northrop
Professor of Aeronautics and Professor of Applied Physics,
1975–present.
Chief Technologist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2006–present.
His investigations include work on liquid helium superfluid
mechanics, turbulence and turbulent mixing, chemically
reacting flows and combustion, flow control, and aerooptics.
Contributed developments in instrumentation and data
acquisition, laser diagnostics, high-speed digital imaging
technology, image correlation and particle-streak velocimetry.
1976
Bruce Murray, Professor of
Planetary Science and Geology, 1960–2001, Emeritus. Director of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, 1976–1982. Oversaw the Viking landings
on Mars and the Voyager mission through Jupiter and Saturn
encounters.
1977
Garry L. Brown, Professor
of Aeronautics, 1977–1982.
Contributions to structure and mixing in turbulent shear
flow; innovative design of experimental facilities. Became
director of the Australian Aeronautical Research Laboratory.
Returned to the U.S. to serve as Chair of the Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University.
The study of the distortion and stretching of flames in
vortex structures was begun by Marble, Karagozian, and
Candel.
Paul J. MacCready (1925–2007) (PhD 1952) With Lissaman,
created the first practical human-powered aircraft, the
Gossamer Condor, and thereby won the Kremer prize in 1977.
The award-winning plane was built out of piano wire, bicycle
parts, and mylar.
1978
Marvin L. Goldberger becomes
the fourth President of Caltech (1978–1987).
Structure of sublayer and entrainment in turbulent spot
determined by Cantwell, Coles, and Dimotakis.
(Pictured below left: F. Culick and Wright Flyer model, 1979;
below right: H.Hornung, ABC Nightline, 1987.)
 
1980
Super Sonic Shear Layer Facility established. Designed
for the study of molecular mixing in high-speed flows
from high subsonic to supersonic. Unique facility that
relies on the fast chemical kinetics between hydrogen
and fluorine to mark fluid that is mixed at a molecular
level.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1981
Launch of Columbia, first space shuttle.
1982
Lew Allen, Jr., Director of
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1982–1991.
Ares J. Rosakis, Theodore von Kármán Professor
of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, 1982–present.
Fifth Director of GALCIT, 2005– present. The 2005
William M. Murray Medalist and Lecturer for the Society
for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), in recognition of his
contributions to the development and application of advanced
methods for accurate measurement of transient, dynamic
phenomena. Developed the Coherent Gradient Sensing (CGS)
method for optically determining deformation gradients
under arbitrarily rapid loading conditions. Provided applications
in determining the curvature of silicon wafers used in
micro-electronics industry. Experimental development (with
Ravichandran) of high-speed thermography to follow the
evolution of energy conversion at the tips of rapidly moving
cracks and in the evolution of shear bands. Other interests
include dynamic fragmentation, shear dominated intersonic
rupture of inhomogeneous solids, rupture mechanics of crustal
earthquakes, shielding of spacecraft from hypervelocity
micrometeoroid impact threats, and reliability of thin
films. His most recent work in seismology has resulted
in the discovery of the phenomenon of super-shear fault
rupture and in the experimental visualization of propagating,
self-healing, frictional ruptures.
1984
High-Speed Imaging Facility This facility specializes in
the real-time visualization of dynamic deformation and
failure events using laser interferometry, ultra-high-speed
photography of various types, and high-speed infrared
thermography. It is unique since it is capable of simultaneously
measuring both deformation and temperature fields in
the sub-microsecond regime.
1985
Anthony Leonard (BS 1959)
Theodore von Kármán
Professor of Aeronautics, 1985–2005, Emeritus. Numerical
simulation of fluid motion. Direct simulation of the Navier-
Stokes equations and studies of turbulence and mixing.
Vortex element and vortex particle methods for separated
flows. Discovered the role of the "Leonard Stresses" in
large-eddy simulations. Simulation of flow-structure interactions
near wake regions of oscillating bodies.
Among the problems posed by the hypersonic ramjet propulsion
system was the injection and rapid mixing of the hydrogen
fuel with air at Mach numbers on the order of six. Marble
proposed a mechanism by which the mixing of low density
hydrogen with air could be greatly enhanced by carefully
controlled weak shock waves. Over a period of five years
the shock-enhanced injection system was developed by Marble,
Zukoski, and their students, and was successfully demonstrated
by Waitz at the NASA Langley Research Center.
1987
Hans G. Hornung, C. L. "Kelly" Johnson Professor
of Aeronautics, 1987–2005, Emeritus. Foreign Member
of the National Academy of Engineering. Fourth Director
of GALCIT, 1987–2003. After serving as director of
the DFVLR in Gottingen from 1980–1987, Hornung became
the fourth Director of GALCIT. With a special interest
in hyper-velocity and nonequilibrium flow, he initiated
construction of the F.E.C. Culick and Wright Flyer model,
1979.
T5 shock tunnel and a series of investigations into chemical
reaction rate effects on shock standoff, boundary layer
stability and transition, transverse jet interactions,
facility characterization and advanced diagnostics, and
vorticity production behind curved shocks.
Thomas E. Everhart becomes the sixth President of Caltech
(1987–1997).
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
1989
The T5 facility at GALCIT is a free piston shock tunnel,
and is named T5 because it is the fifth in a series of
shock tunnels built by or under the supervision of R.
J. Stalker, H. G. Hornung, and colleagues (the previous
four are in Australia). The facility is capable of producing
flows of air or nitrogen up to specific reservoir enthalpy
of 25 MJ/kg, reservoir pressure of 100 MPa, and reservoir
temperature 10,000 K. It achieves this by using a free
piston to adiabatically compress the driver gas of the
shock tunnel to very high pressure, as high as 130 MPa.
These conditions are needed to simulate the real gas
effects of chemical dissociation and reaction that occur
in flows about vehicles flying at sub-orbital speeds
through the atmosphere. The test section can accommodate
models up to 8 inches in diameter and the useful test
time is 1–2 ms. Construction started in 1989 and
the first test was in 1990.
1990
Guruswami Ravichandran, Professor
of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, 1990– present; John E. Goode, Jr.,
Professor, 2005–present. Experimentalist whose
work has covered dynamic response characteristics of
materials; thermodynamics of the energy conversion process
in large deformation and rate dependent plasticity phenomena.
In deviating from the standard test routines associated
with uniaxial compression behavior, his interest has
centered on generating multiaxial stress states dynamically
using high-strain rates, with applications to impact
and penetration problems in metals, ceramics, and heterogeneous
materials including composites and sandwich structures.
Experimental development (with Rosakis) of highspeed
thermography to follow the evolution of energy conversion
at the tips of rapidly moving cracks and in the evolution
of shear bands. Time-dependent and multiaxial behavior
of amorphous metals and metallic glasses. Investigation
of large deformation elastostriction behavior in materials
that can potentially be used as actuators. Investigation
of 3D deformation in biomaterials and cell motility.
High Strain Rate Laboratory This facility was established
to investigate the dynamic deformation, damage, and failure
of materials. It consists of Split-Hopkinson (Kolsky) bars,
plate impact facilities, gas and propellant guns, and a
variety of high-speed diagnostics. Specific contributions
include the study of the conversion of plastic work into
heat, techniques for investigating the dynamic multi-axial
behavior of ceramics and composites, and the study of shock
waves through heterogeneous media.
1991
Edward C. Stone, David Morrisroe
Professor of Physics, Vice Provost for Special Projects.
Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1991–2001.
Dale Pullin, Professor of Aeronautics, 1991–present;
Theodore von Karman Professor of Aeronautics, 2006–present.
Research interests include: Computational and theoretical
fluid dynamics, vortex dynamics, theory and simulation
of complex turbulent flow including mixing, compressible
turbulence, shock-driven turbulence. Structure-based methods
for large-eddy simulation and multiscale modeling of turbulent
flows. Numerical simulation and modeling of wall-bounded
flows at ultra-high Reynolds number. Dynamics of vortex
and dipole sheets. Geometrical structure of turbulence,
application of differential geometry, multiscale diagnostic
and automated clustering techniques to the characterization
and classification of eddy geometry in turbulence over
all scales. Hydrodynamic stability, shock-driven instabilities,
vorticity deposition mechanisms and transition to turbulence
in impulsive unstable flows. Large-eddy simulation of Richtmyer-Meshkov
instability in converging geometries and in fluids with
exotic equations of state. Development of high-order, asymptotically
and energy stable, finite-difference stencils with step
changes in grid resolution for fluid simulation. Direct
numerical simulation of compressible flows including full
resolution of internal shock structure. Hybrid, shock-fitting,
shock-capturing but smoothly non-dissipative numerical
schemes for detonation driven and other flows. Eulerian
description of mixed phase solid/fluid flows including
phase-change modeling.
1992
Morteza Gharib (PhD 1981;
student of Roshko) Professor of Aeronautics, 1992–2001; Professor of Aeronautics
and Bioengineering, 2001–2002; Hans W. Liepmann
Professor of Aeronautics and Bioengineering, 2002–present.
Research interests have included advanced sensors and
diagnostic systems such as digital particle image velocimetry,
thermometry, 3-D particle velocimetry and micro-optical
systems. His fluid mechanics research interests include
vortex flows, unsteady aerodynamics, two-phase flows,
and flow-induced vibration. Biomechanics work includes
cardiovascular mechanics and fluid dynamics, eye optics
and fluid mechanics. Co-founder of the Bioengineering
Option at Caltech and Director of the Charyk Laboratory
of Bio-Inspired Design at GALCIT.
1993
Joseph E. Shepherd (PhD 1981;
student of Sturtevant) Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical
Engineering, 1993–present.
Developed Explosion Dynamics Laboratory and studies combustion,
fuel properties, and fluid dynamics relevant to explosion
initiation and propagation. Applications include: novel
propulsion systems (pulse detonation engines); evaluation
of explosion hazards in industrial processes, transportation
systems, and nuclear facilities; and investigation of
accidental explosions. Experimental studies are being
carried out on ignition and propagation of flames, transition
from flames to detonation, propagation of detonations
and shock waves, response of structures to explosions,
application of detailed chemical chemistry to combustion
modeling, and the simulation of high-explosive detonation.
1995
Michael Ortiz, Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Aeronautics
and Applied Mechanics, 1995–2000; Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical
Engineering, 2000–2004; Dotty and Dick Hayman Professor,
2004–present. Computational methods in mechanics.
Scalable adaptive finite element software. Quasi-continuum
software for advanced mixed atomistic-continuum simulations.
Multiscale models of material failure, particularly the
behavior of individual atoms and their electrons. Other
focal areas of activity: the development of informed
continuum models for plasticity and fatigue crack growth;
the development of appropriate cohesive zone models for
cracks and interfaces under fatigue and corrosion conditions;
and the incorporation of continuum mass transport methods
in the quasicontinuum method. Advanced numerical methods
for the computation of shells and flexible structures.
1997
David Baltimore, Robert Andrews
Millikan Professor of Biology, becomes the seventh President
of Caltech (1997–2006).
Demolition of 10-foot tunnel and rehabilitation of basement
and subbasement of Guggenheim begins.
 1998
Ludwieg Tube This facility allows Mach 2.3 flow in an 8-in
by 8-in in test section with a test time of 80 milliseconds.
The flow is produced by unsteady expansion following
the bursting of a diaphragm separating the test section
from the dump tank. A novel suction scheme removes the
boundary just upstream of the throat. The concept was
first proposed in 1955 by Hubert Ludwieg. Construction
started in 1998; the first test was in 2001. (Pictured:
Lucas Wind Tunnel inaugural.)
2000
Micro Device Reliability Laboratory (MDRL) A class one
clean room area which houses the new MDRL is established
in the basement of Firestone. This facility specializes
in the fullfield interferometric measurement of wafer
curvature and thinfilm stress in large 300-mm production
wafers as well as in the in-situ inspection of large
space mirror segments.
2001
Charles Elachi (MS 1969, PhD
1971; student of Papas) Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Planetary Science. Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
2001–present.
Lees-Kubota Lecture Hall dedicated
on January 8, 2001. Located in the Guggenheim Building
on the site of the old Aero Library, this was made possible
by donations of former students, particularly Denny R.
S. Ko. (Pictured
below: detail from exterior of Guggenheim building.)
2002
John W. Lucas Adaptive Wall Wind
Tunnel commissioned on
October 3, 2002. It was built as a replacement for the
10-foot tunnel. The Lucas AWWT uses adaptive wall technology
in the test section to reduce and even eliminate the
need for data corrections required in straight-wall tunnel
tests. While the tunnel is operating, pressure measurements
are taken along the floor and ceiling of the test section;
combined with the current displacement profiles, a one-step
predictive algorithm determines the required wall contour
for the current model configuration and adapts the walls
to match. The system effectively "tricks" the
air into thinking it is in an infinite flowfield, rather
than confined by the walls of the tunnel. This idea was
developed by Sears in the 1970s.
2003
75th Anniversary of the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories
celebrated at Caltech.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
2004
Ares J. Rosakis becomes the fifth Director of GALCIT.
Small Particle Hypervelocity Impact
Facility (SPHIR) SPHIR
is a joint GALCIT/JPL facility which was established in
Firestone to study the phenomenon of hypervelocity impact
(2–10 km/s) as it relates to micro-meteoroid and
space debris strikes on spacecraft and orbiting assets.
2005
GALCIT reengages JPL in both teaching and research and
launches a new graduate program in Space Engineering.
GALCIT faculty and JPL engineers and scientists jointly
engaged in curriculum design and teaching. The first
GALCIT Master's class in Aerospace is admitted
for the 2006–07 academic year.
John O. Dabiri (MS 2003, PhD 2005; student of Gharib)
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Bioengineering,
2005–present. Experimentalist working at the intersection
of fluid mechanics, biology, and bioinspired engineering
design. Recent efforts have led to development of noninvasive
methods to characterize the mechanics of propulsion in
swimming and flying animals in situ. Research interests
include unsteady fluid-structure interactions, small-scale
underwater and aerial vehicles, geophysical fluid dynamics,
and cardiovascular flows. Oversaw renovation of the Keck
40-Meter Flume, completed in 2007.
2006
Beverley McKeon, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, 2006–present.
Fluid mechanician with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches
to the description and control of boundary layer flows.
Her interests include the use of modern materials to provide
novel surface actuation mechanisms including "morphing" surfaces
capable of providing small geometric or morphological changes
as a control input, non-normal mode amplification descriptions
of turbulence, experimental measurements of canonical boundary
layer flows at high Reynolds numbers and the accuracy of
classical measurement techniques under these conditions.
Sandra M. Troian, Professor of Applied Physics, Aeronautics
and Mechanical Engineering, 2006–present. Theoretical
and experimental studies of micro/nanoscale transport phenomena
in thin liquid films with applications to microfluidic
devices, optofluidic sensing, and thin film lithography.
Film patterning by thermocapillary, Marangoni and electrohydrodynamic
stresses. Spear-headed the field of microfluidic devices
based on free surface flows. Confinement effects which
trigger instabilities and phase transitions in thin viscous
films. Influence of non-normality on branching instabilities
in spreading films. Commensurability and slip boundary
conditions at liquid/solid interfaces. Evanescent wave
sensing and trapping at liquid/solid interfaces.
Chiara Daraio, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and
Applied Physics, 2006–present. Her research interests
reside at the interface of materials science, condensed
matter physics, and solid mechanics, emphasizing in particular
the highly nonlinear regime of wave propagation in solids.
Her experimental work focuses on the design, development,
and testing of multi-scale metamaterials and phononic crystals
for use as tunable acoustic lenses and shock mitigating
devices. Her work extends to the synthesis and assembly
of nanomaterials and nanostructured systems and to their
mechanical and electronic testing. Nanomaterials characterization
includes also the study of carbon nanostructures found
in sedimentary rocks to identify the oldest signatures
of life preserved.
Jean-Lou Chameau becomes eighth President of Caltech.
Paul Dimotakis appointed JPL's Chief Technologist;
succeeds Erik Antonsson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
2007
Sergio Pellegrino Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering,
Professor of Aeronautics and Civil Engineering, 2007–present.
Studies of structural rigidity, with applications to
prestressed mechanisms such as cable nets and tensegrity
structures. Computations for statically and kinematically
determinate/indeterminate structures. Research in deployable
lightweight structures. New concepts for deployable space-based
radar and antennas, retractable roofs, and multi-configuration
structures. Self-deploying antennas made of ultra-thin
composite materials that are folded elastically. Studies
of deployment and stability of stratospheric balloons.
Founder of Deployable Structures Laboratory (DSL) at
University of Cambridge, 1990.
The Aerospace Historical Society is incorporated into
GALCIT. The "International Wings of von Kármán
Award" returns home.
Phase Two of the renovation of all GALCIT facilities commences
in June. New laboratories and facilities include: the Laboratory
for Large Space Structures, the Allen Puckett Laboratory
of Computational Fluid Mechanics, the Gordon Cann Laboratory
of Experimental Innovation, the Charyk Biomechanics Laboratory,
and the new Karman Conference and GALCIT Archives room.
Fifty Years in Space GALCIT in collaboration with the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Northrop Grumman celebrated
the first 50 years of space technology by hosting Fifty
Years in Space, an aerospace conference. It was attended
by over 600 people and speakers included an international
pantheon of space agency leaders, technologists, scientists,
and politicians.
1891–1920 | 1921–1940 | 1941–1960 | 1961–1980 | 1981–2003 | 2004 –2007
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