Penn State University is engaged in a wide range of research and education activities related to vertical flight technology. In 1996, a Penn State team was competitively awarded one of the three Rotorcraft Centers of Excellence (RCOE) by the newly formed National Rotorcraft Technology Center (NRTC). Since that time, Penn State research and graduate student enrollment has grown 10 fold, having been
competitively awarded RCOE and VLRCOE (Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence) Cooperative agreements from the NRTC in 2001, 2006, and 2011. Penn State also receives strong support from the US Office of Naval Research, NAVAIR, US Army Research Office, AATD, AED, NASA (Ames, Glenn and Langley Research Centers), and the Vertical Lift Consortium (formerly RITA and CRI). Approximately 1/3 of our funding is competitively awarded from DoD 6.2 or industry IRAD programs. Approximately 60 full-time graduate students (50% PhD, 50% MS, and 80% US Citizens or Permanent Residents) working on $6M per year (in 2013) in projects related to dynamics, aerodynamics, acoustics, flight control and simulation, icing, HUMS, and advanced design of rotary-wing vehicles.
