UPDATE 6/20/12, 10 A.M.: first flight of the day unofficially timed at 35 seconds, which would beat last year's world record. More flights to come later in the day.
WHAT: A team of A. James Clark School of Engineering students will fly their new human-powered helicopter, Gamera II. The vehicle is an improved version of Gamera I, which last year set world records for flight duration. Like Gamera I, Gamera II is an enormous hand- and pedal-powered X-shaped vehicle that has four rotors and is 103 feet across diagonally. But Gamera II weighs only 71 pounds, an amazing 35 pounds lighter than the previous vehicle, and features enhanced rotor design, an improved transmission and a redesigned cockpit. The team expects that Gamera II is capable of flights lasting longer than 60 seconds, a major step towards competing for the AHS Sikorsky Prize and remaining ahead of competitors. Learn more about Gamera II here: http://www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/gamera2/index.html
WHO: A team of more than 40 graduate and undergraduate students led by faculty advisors V.T. Nagaraj, Inderjit Chopra, Gordon Leishman and Darryll Pines (dean of the Clark School, one of the nation's top rotorcraft research institutions). This year, there are three pilots participating in the flights: Dennis Bodewits, Kyle Gluesenkamp and Colin Gore. All three are UMD staff or students and are profiled on the Gamera II web site: http://www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/gamera2/gamera2-team.html.
WHEN: Reporters and photographers are invited to watch the team test the vehicle between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20.
WHERE: Reckord Armory, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 Directions to Parking: CALL AHEAD for parking information
WHY: The team has been working for three years to compete for the Sikorsky Prize, offered by the American Helicopter Society. The Clark School team is one of at least three teams planning to attempt flights this summer. No team has succeeded since the prize was first offered in 1980.
The Clark School of Engineering, situated on the rolling, 1,500-acre University of Maryland campus in College Park, Md., is one of the premier engineering schools in the U.S., with graduate and undergraduate education programs ranked in or near the Top 20. In 2012, the Clark School was ranked 14th in the world by the Institute of Higher Education and Center for World-Class Universities in its Academic Ranking of World Universities. Three faculty members affiliated with the Clark School were inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2010.
The school, which offers 13 graduate programs and 12 undergraduate programs, including degree and certification programs tailored for working professionals, is home to one of the most vibrant research programs in the country. The Clark School garnered research awards of $171 million last year. With emphasis in key areas such as energy, nanotechnology and materials, bioengineering, robotics, communications and networking, life cycle and reliability engineering, project management, intelligent transportation systems and aerospace, the Clark School is leading the way toward the next generations of engineering advances.
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