Paul Slaboch, Ph.D., P.E., director of the Saint Martin’s University Master of Mechanical Engineering Program, is working at NASA’s John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, this summer after being selected for a NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowships awarded this year.
The 10-week-long fellowship, which ends in August, enables qualified faculty members in STEM (science-technology-engineering-math) areas to work alongside NASA engineers to further NASA mission-related research and goals. The benefits are numerous. The fellowship program brings new perspectives and fresh ideas to the research center, enable NASA to keep a finger on the pulse on the education system and also help faculty members stay current with cutting-edge engineering systems research and technology, Slaboch says.
Slaboch is working in the Acoustics Branch of the Propulsion Division of the Research & Engineering Directorate on a project to significantly reduce the noise level of a highly efficient open rotor aircraft propulsion system so it can be adopted for use. Slaboch, whose doctoral dissertation and current research are in the area of acoustics, was sponsored by and is working with a NASA colleague with whom he attended graduate school.
“This is really exciting stuff. It’s a chance for me to use all the skills I’ve honed over the years, and it keeps my technical abilities fresh so that when I’m in the classroom, I’m teaching the most current technologies,” he says. “I think it is incredibly important for engineering faculty to stay current and state-of-the-art. If we don’t, our students won’t be state-of-the-art when they go out into the world.”
Slaboch took time out from his work at the research center in late June to attend the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aviation Forum in Dallas, Texas, a large international conference that draws together about 2,500 people from the industry and related sectors.
At the forum, Jacob Buehn, a Saint Martin’s graduate student in mechanical engineering presented a paper co-authored with Slaboch. The paper, “Computational Study of Active Flow Control of a Flow-Excited Helmholtz Resonator,” was drawn from research Slaboch and mechanical engineering students are currently working on at the University on automobile sidewindow/sun-roof buffeting.
