How has the balance between the fields of Fluid Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, and Aerospace Engineering changed?
I think we have a much better balance in the areas than when I first came here. That’s not to say what we were doing at that time was bad – at the time, the pendulum of engineering had swung to applied math and theory as opposed to actual engineering, now it has swung back. Those are the kind of things I like to do, so I’m happy with that. Most of our faculty members do excellent research and most of it has some identifiable application, even though it may be somewhat theoretical. When I came here, the biggest area was fluid mechanics, solid mechanics was second, and there were only a few of us working in what was called dynamical systems and controls. We had a person who did parachute research – Dr. Heinrich – whose work I basically inherited. He literally dropped dead one day after receiving a very prestigious award from the AIAA. The aerospace stuff was looked down on back then, and that’s changed. Long before I came here the department was extremely applications-oriented. They actu
