Occupant Detail Information

           Back to faculty list

Name: Suzanne W.  Smith
Position Type: Professorship
Appointment Start Date: 07/01/04
Appointment End Date: 06/30/09
Area of Specialty: Nonlinear Structural Dynamics; Computer modeling and testing of extremely flexible structures including cable-stayed bridges in Maysville and Owensboro, KY and large flexible spacecraft including solar sails and solar arrays.
Summary Vita: Suzanne Weaver Smith, Ph.D., P.E. Donald and Gertrude Lester Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Kentucky EDUCATION B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1978, Clemson University M.S. Engineering Mechanics, 1980, Clemson University Ph.D. Engineering Mechanics, 1988, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 1996- Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky 1990-1996 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Engineering Mechanics, University of Kentucky 1988, 1989 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow, Langley Research Center 1988-1990 Visiting Professor, Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1985-1988 Graduate Assistant, Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1980-1984 Senior and Lead Engineer, Harris Corporation, Melbourne, Florida 1978-1980 Instructor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS Professional Engineer, No. PE00034936, in Florida, by the 1984 NCEE examination, Associate Fellow American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); AIAA Structural Dynamics Technical Committee Chair, 1995-1997; NSF Young Investigator Award; University of Kentucky Henry Mason Lutes Award for Undergraduate Engineering Education, 1992-1993; Virginia Tech Certificate of Teaching Excellence, 1990. SELECTED RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS Thota, P., J. Leifer, S.W. Smith and J.K. Lumpp, "Pattern Evaluation for In-Plane Displacement Measurement of Thin Films," Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 45, No. 1, February 2005. Campbell, J.E., S.W. Smith, J.A. Main, and J. Kearns, "Staged Microgravity Deployment of a Pressurizing Scale Model Spacecraft," AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 41, No. 4, July-Aug 2004, pp534-542. Smith, S.W. and J.A. Main, "Modeling the Deployment of Inflating Space Structures," Gossamer Spacecraft: Membrane/Inflatable Structures Technologies for Space Applications, Ed. C.H. Jenkins, AIAA, Washington, DC, 2001, pp. 203-241. Smith, S.W., J. Jacob, J. Lumpp, and W. Smith, "Aerospace Workforce Development Through a Multidisciplinary Student Demonstration of Autonomous Mars Airplane Technology," AIAA Infotech@Aerospace Conference, AIAA-2005-6983, accepted, Arlington, Virginia, September 2005. Simpson, A.D., J.D. Jacob and S.W. Smith, "Inflatable and Warpable Wings for Meso-Scale UAVs," AIAA Infotech@Aerospace Conference, AIAA-2005-7161, accepted, Arlington, Virginia, September 2005. Campbell, J.E., J.T. Black and S.W. Smith, "Toward Field Videogrammetry of Rivulets on Bridge Stay Cables," EURODYNE 2005, Paris, France, September 4-7, 2005. Smith, S.W. and J.E. Campbell, "Short-Time Record Analysis for Condition Monitoring of Bridge Stay Cables," Twelfth International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV12), Lisbon, Portugal, July 11-14, 2005. Smith, S.W., H. Song, J.R. Baker, J.T. Black and D.M. Muheim, "Flexible Models for Solar Sail Control," AIAA-2005-1801, AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, Austin, TX, April 2005. Lore, K.F., P. Navalpakkam and S.W. Smith, "Efficient Computation of Dynamic Response of Large Flexible Spacecraft," AIAA-2005-2051, AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, Austin, TX, April 2005. Usui, M., J.D. Jacob and S.W. Smith, S. Scarborough and D. Cadogan, "Second Generation Inflatable/Rigidizable Wings for Low-Density Flight," AIAA-2005-1883, AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, Austin, TX, April 2005. Simpson, A., Jacob, J.D., and Smith, S., "Morphing of Inflatable Wings." AIAA 2005-2110, AIAA SDM Adaptive Structures Conference, Austin, TX, April, 2005. Simpson, A.D., et. al., "BIG BLUE: A High-Altitude UAV Demonstrator of Mars Airplane Technology," IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, March 6-10, 2005. Campbell, J.E., S.W. Smith and J.T. Black, "Photogrammetric Characterization of Laboratory Rivulets for Cable-Stayed Bridges," International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC), February 2005. Gagel, J.C., J.R. Baker and S.W. Smith, "Simulations of Cable/Anchor Designs for Cable-Stayed Bridges," International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC), February 2005. Simpson A., O. Rawashdeh, J.D. Jacob, Lumpp, Smith and Smith, "BIG BLUE II: Mars Aircraft Prototype with Inflatable-Rigidizable Wings" AIAA-2005-0813, AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, Jan 10-13, 2005. Simpson, A., et.al., "Flying on Air: UAV Flight Testing with Inflatable Wing Technology," AIAA 2004-6570, AIAA Unmanned Unlimited Conference, Chicago, IL, September 2004. Simpson, A.D., Usui, M., Smith, S.W., Jacob, J.D., "Aeromechanics of Inflatable Wings," AIAA-2004-2233, AIAA 34th Fluid Dynamics Conference, Portland, OR, June 2004. Kearns, J.D., M. Usui, S.W. Smith, S. Scarborough, T. Smith and D. Cadogan, "Development of UV-Curable Inflatable Wings for Low-Density Flight Applications," AIAA-2004-1503, AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, Palm Springs, CA, April 2004. Campbell, J.E., J.R. Baker and S.W. Smith, "Simulations and Tests of Bridge Stay Cable Dynamics Based on Experimental Deck Motion Measurements," International Modal Analysis Conference, IMAC XXII, Dearborn, Michigan, January 2004. Usui, M., A. Simpson, S.W. Smith and J.D. Jacob, "Development and Flight Testing of a UAV with Inflatable-Rigidizable Wings," AIAA-2004-1373, AIAA Aerospace Sciences Conference, Reno NV, January 5-8, 2004. Campbell, J.E. and S.W. Smith, "Comparison of Field Survey Test Results of Four Cable-Stayed Bridges: Deck/Cable Response and Controlled/Ambient Traffic Excitation," Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Cable Dynamics, Santa Margarita Ligurre, Italy, September 2003. Jean, D.P., J.R. Baker, S.W. Smith and J. Li, "Phased Development of Nonlinear Finite Element Simulations of Deck-Excited Response of Bridge Stay Cables," Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Cable Dynamics, Santa Margarita Ligurre, Italy, September 2003. SELECTED RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED Externally-funded grants and contracts (PI or Co-PI) include the following: Whitlock, Dalrymple, Poston, Austin, TX (consulting project), August 2004, $5,000; Field Survey Testing of the Fred Hartman Bridge with Installed Cable Dampers Center for Rural Justice/Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation, 2004-2006, $100,293; Technologies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Changing Environments (with 3 co-PIs) NASA Kentucky Space Grant Consortium, 2002-2004, $180,000; BIG BLUE: Flight Demonstration of Mars Airplane Technology (with 3 co-PIs) NASA Langley Research Center, 2004, $50,000; Computational Modeling of Attitude Control Systems for Solar Sails (with J.R. Baker) United Applied Technologies (NASA SBIR), 2002-2004, $100,490; Large Inflatable Self-Rigidizing Polymer Film Structures Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 2002-2004, $25,000; Field Testing and Baseline Modeling of the Owensboro Cable-Suspended Bridge Cables NASA Langley Research Grant, 2001-2002, $126,594; A Verified Design Tool for Large Aperture Membrane Telescope Mirrors: Phase I Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 2000-2002, $17,000; Field Testing and Baseline Modeling of the Maysville Cable-Suspended Bridge Cables NASA/SBIR (Co-PI, with J.A. Main and United Applied Technologies), 1999-2000, $72,000; Modeling the Deployment of Inflating Tubes NSF Young Investigator Award, MSS-9257833, 1992 - 1998, $312,500; Nonlinear System Identification and Testing Boeing Corporation (McDonnell- Douglas Aerospace) Contracts, 1993 - 1998, $219,900; Mir Structural Dynamics Experiment (MiSDE), Spacecraft Structural Inspection and Model Correlation Procedure Improvement, Autonomous Damage Detection and Applications, Integrated Damage Detection Demonstration (ID3), Integrated On-Orbit Damage Detection for Large Space Structures Whitlock, Dalrymple, Poston and Associates, 1996-1998. $35,113; Structural Dynamics Analysis of Two Cable Stayed Bridges: Fred Hartman and Veterans
Highest Degree: Ph.D.
Professional Affiliations: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Society of Experimental Mechanics (SEM) American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Technical Chair, AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, Austin, TX, April 2005 (note: General Chair, AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum, Newport, RI, May 2006)
Primary Research Focus: The primary research conducted with the support of the Donald and Gertrude Lester Professorship is focused on development and application of techniques for modeling and measurement of the dynamic response of highly flexible nonlinear structures such as cable-stayed bridges and ultralightweight spacecraft. This professorship also includes the following activities: 1) development and coordination of complex, multi-disciplinary capstone design project involving over 60 students focused on designing and testing a Mars Airplane prototype 2) development of partnership with the UK Visualization Center for media student interns to produce research documentary videos of the student design project. Efforts also include activities toward securing support funding for a collaborative research center for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Key Contributions: Application of multiple-image photogrammetry to measure running water on the surface of bridge stay cables (one of the exciting mechanisms of large-amplitude cable vibrations), enabling field testing to better understand and mitigate effects of high-amplitude wind-induced vibration. Developing an approach for verification of computer models of emerging class of ultra-lightweight, stiffened spacecraft structures. Several research documentary videos, including a 6-minute video broadcast by Kentucky Education Television (KET) Kentucky Life program in June 2006.
Publications: Leifer, J., Black, J.T., Smith, S.W., Ma, N., and J.K. Lumpp, “Measurement of In-Plane Motion of Thin-Film Structures Using Videogrammetry,” Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, under review, 06/2006. Song, H., J.A. Main and S.W. Smith, “Dynamic Testing of a Self-Stiffened Inflatable Torus Using Non-contact Modal Data Acquisition,” Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 29, No. 4, July-August 2006, pp. 839-845. Jacob, J.D., Simpson†, A. and Smith, S., “Design and Flight Testing of Inflatable Wings with Wing Warping,” SAE Transactions Journal of Aerospace, 2005, 2005-01-3392, pp. 1306-1315. Thota, P.†, J. Leifer, S.W. Smith and J.K. Lumpp, “Pattern Evaluation for In-Plane Displacement Measurement of Thin Films,” Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 45, No. 1, February 2005.