Aerospace program
Petros Voulgaris leads aerospace program to new heights
Petros Voulgaris came to Reno in 2020 after a distinguished, 29-year career at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A seasoned professor with degrees in aeronautics as well as extensive research in the area of advanced control systems, he joined the 夜色视频 College of Engineering to start an aerospace engineering program.
Right guy, crazy time.
A whole pandemic later, the highly anticipated aerospace program is getting ready to launch, with a major assist in 2023 when the George W. Gillemot Foundation gifted $36 million to the University. The Gillemot gift, stewarded by Tom Hall, one of the Foundation trustees, will support the aerospace program as well as provide new technology in the Fleischmann Planetarium, part of the College of Science.
“I’m thrilled to see this happening,” Voulgaris said. “Of course, there is still a lot of work to do, but we are dedicated to this effort.”
Voulgaris is working to grow the program, which will offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering. The College has offered a minor in aerospace engineering since 2021.
Interests lead to aerospace
Voulgaris’ path in aerospace began years ago, when he was an undergraduate at the National Technical University of Athens in Greece. His interests were fluid dynamics (the study of how liquids and gases move and interact with solid surfaces); aerodynamics (how air moves around solid objects); and control systems (how to respond to external inputs such as disturbance forces and other uncertainties to remain stable and operate in a safe envelope).
“Flight dynamics and control was a prime domain that combined all of the above, and that was key in fully attracting me to aerospace,” he said.
He went on to earn a master’s degree and then a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). There, his research focused on control systems (mechanisms and processes used to manage or regulate the behavior of an aircraft or spacecraft), particularly decentralized and distributed control structures; networked system architectures; and reliable and robust control methods.
His work won him awards and accolades: Voulgaris was named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2011, among other honors. He participated in IEEE, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and other professional societies. He also served stints as associate editor for the journals IEEE Transactions of Automatic Control and ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement of Control.
Voulgaris was established at UIUC, but in late 2019, former Engineering Dean Manos Maragakis was able to woo him to Reno, with an eye to start an aerospace engineering program in Nevada. The state didn’t have an aerospace program, but such a program was a longtime dream of many community members, according to Hall. In addition, Nevada’s burgeoning aerospace industry and its proximity to regional Air Force bases have been cited as favorable to establishing an aerospace engineering program in the Silver State. Voulgaris was sold.
“At this stage in my career I felt it will be exciting to challenge myself in assuming a leadership role to build from ground zero a new academic program in aerospace,” Voulgaris said in 2019, after his appointment was announced.
University Leadership Initiative
In addition to planning the program, Voulgaris has continued his research on control systems, particularly the efficiency and security of multi-agent systems. Along with Computer Science & Engineering Assistant Professor Christos Papachristos, Voulgaris has been working with UIUC and other academic institutions on NASA’s University Leadership Initiative. The three-year project, which began in 2022, has the group working to develop a framework that effectively guides autonomous aerial vehicles when they face uncertainties or abnormal situations, to ensure a safe flight.
For Voulgaris, aerospace never gets old. When asked what keeps drawing him to the field, his response retains the enthusiasm of the young undergraduate from Greece: “the amazing, high-end technological developments that allow you to build safe and high-performance systems to travel in and out of the atmosphere.”