Zhenyu Gao "Computational Paradigms Towards Sustainable Aeronautics"

4:00 pm
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
104A Surge Hall
Faculty Host:  Dr. Rakesh Kapania

Abstract:  As technology and the environment rapidly evolve, the aerospace industry is actively seeking solutions to three significant opportunities and challenges. First, the data-intensive transformation will reframe the aerospace industry with big data technologies, analytical methods, and high-performance computation. Second, future aerospace systems must be environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Third, aerospace systems of diverse types and capabilities will grow robustly and operate at larger scales. In this talk, I will share a series of recent studies which leverage data-driven and computational methods for the design and analysis of sustainable aeronautical systems. This includes (1) a machine learning approach for efficient and accurate aviation environmental impact modeling, (2) a data-driven optimization approach for holistic and equitable advanced air mobility noise management, and (3) a modeling and simulation approach for sustainable and safe 3D urban airspace design. This research highlights the significance of data-driven approaches for the sustainable development of novel aerospace systems.

Bio:  Dr. Zhenyu Gao is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin. His areas of research encompass sustainable aviation, data-driven aerospace engineering, and intelligent transportation systems. He earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.S. in Operations Research from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. His doctoral dissertation was awarded the 2023 Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Best Ph.D. Thesis Award. He has also served as a visiting researcher at the National University of Singapore and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). During his time at Georgia Tech and UT Austin, he has contributed to over ten research projects funded by entities such as the FAA, NASA, and industry corporations like The Boeing Company.