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Seminar: Getting Started with Aircraft Design - Feb. 9

Divya Bhargava

Divya Bhargava
Assistant Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel
Thursday, Feb. 9 | 10 a.m. | AERO 111

Abstract: There are three major phases of Aircraft Design: (1) conceptual design, (2) preliminary design, and (3) detail design. The Aircraft Design process starts with identifying requirements and performing initial calculations to generate the overall concept of the aircraft. Then, we move onto preliminary design where we design the aircraft’s systems and subsystems. Finally, in detail design, we specify how the aircraft will be fabricated and tested.

This lecture summarizes the aircraft design process and delves into the initial stages of conceptual design. The lecture guides in writing effective need statements and converting them into requirements. Then, it introduces Aircraft Sizing, a rough method to estimate the aircraft’s gross takeoff weight.

Bio: Dr. Bhargava (pronounced: Bar-gov-aa) is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Drexel University. She completed her PhD from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. Her research focuses on aviation safety, accident and incident investigation, and human factors.

Through her research, she has developed expertise in systems engineering, engineering design process, new product development, accident and incident investigation, human error analysis, accident data analysis, human-computer interaction, user testing, and qualitative testing methods. Her teaching focuses on design, product development, and systems engineering. Dr. Bhargava is also a certified Private Pilot with 125+ hours of flight in a single-engine land aircraft.