How do you describe your job when you meet people at a party?
I describe my job as an instructor and a professor of aeronautics and astronautics.
What is ‘cutting-edge’ about your work?
The ‘cutting-edge’ about my work is the Intelligent Micro Aerial Vehicles (IMAV), where nano materials and bio-inspired structures are used for smart sensing for combat operations
What are the biggest implications your work will/could have in the future?
With an eye towards homeland defense needs and space exploration, the growing use of smart and intelligent structures has arisen from their ability to sense very small changes in their environment. This allows them to detect and track prey, to form hydrodynamic images of the environment, and the ability to shape and tailor their structure to produce more aerodynamically efficient structural configurations. This is too scientific, isn’t it? In simple terms the biggest implication will be the ability to trace and track down the bad guys combat operations
Describe some of the highlights of your average day.
Teaching, research and mentoring student at all levels
Describe briefly how your career has progressed to date.
My career has progressed steadily thus far: named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT in 2008. I earned B.S/M.Sc. with Highest Honors in Mechanical Engineering from Soviet Academy of Science, Donetsk State Technical University in 1990 and Ph.D. from Queen Mary, University of London in 2000. After working as a Research Scientist at French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), European Space Agency (ESA), and a short period at Cranfield University from 2000 to 2004, I joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of California as a Visiting Professor in 2005 through the University of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. I taught and held several administrative positions at the said universities, making seminal contributions to aerospace composites, structural dynamics, RLV design, nanomaterials, bio-inspired and intelligent structures with applications to morphing aircraft, intelligent unmanned area vehicle (IUAV). I am currently serving as a member of AIAA Academic Affairs Committee, Materials Technical Committee, Space Transportation Technical Committee and International Aeronautical Forum (IAF) Space Transportation Committee. I am elected Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Institute of Materials, and Associate Fellow of the American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics
How is your job cross-disciplinary?
My work is interdisciplinary in nature, particularly Bio-Inspired Structures, which span across all disciplines (aeronautics, mechanical, materials, and biological and chemical engineering departments)
How well is your job compensated? What is the starting salary for your field, and how much can this be expected to rise?
Engineering professors are generally compensated well. Salary can fluctuates based on location and type of institutions. According to US department of labor, the average starting salary for professor of aerospace engineering is approximately $90K
How do you see your field developing over the next 5-10 years?
There will exponential increase in the use of composites materials in commercial aircraft, cars and electronic devices with multifunctional capabilities
What’s the most unexpected thing about your job?
Unexpected thing about my job is exiting discovery in research findings.
What’s the biggest achievement of your career so far?
The biggest achievement of my career is to be named MIT Martin Luther King Jr Visiting Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in recognition of my achievements in aeronautic engineering, engineering education, management, and advancing academic cultural diversity. Another achievement is my election to a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Institute of Materials, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
