By Susan Hickman

Minister Lisa Raitt in flight simulator

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt picked National Aviation Day on Feb. 23 to tour Carleton University’s aerospace facilities.

Recognized internationally as a leader in aerospace education and research, Carleton approaches the field from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining electrical and computer engineering with psychology and human computer interactions.

Raitt, who studied environmental biochemical toxicology and law, told a gathering of aerospace students and faculty the federal government needs “informed science” in order to make good policy.

“Think about public policy in the future,” Raitt said during a tour that included Carleton President Roseann Runte, Vice-President (Research and International) Kimberly Matheson, Aerospace Director Daniel Feszty and Research Associate Matt Brown.

“I value my background in science for the opportunity to understand the work from that point of analysis. And safety is going to be part of your culture forever if you are in aerospace. The focus of Transport Canada is safety and pushing policy in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).”

Raitt toured the Advanced Cognitive Engineering Laboratory (ACELAB) in the Visualization and Simulation Building, where she “piloted” a full motion cormorant helicopter simulator (“I did better than I thought,” she said), and the sixth-floor Rotorcraft Laboratory, where she examined a blade manufactured by Carleton’s Rotorcraft Unmanned Aerial System research group.

Carleton is the only university in Canada to offer an undergraduate rotorcraft course. Prof. Jeremy Laliberté told the minister the university has been working on UAV research since the 1990s, offering hands-on experience with aircraft, as well as research tools for students.

“We are Canadian. We work on a shoestring budget,” added Feszty. “We build our blades in-house to design medium-sized UAV helicopters.”

Carleton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering offers innovative interdisciplinary curricula and world-class laboratories for more than 800 undergraduate and more than 200 graduate students of mechanical, aerospace, sustainable energy and biomedical engineering.

Aerospace research draws on the expertise of many disciplines, including information technology, biology, psychology, cognitive science, public affairs, chemistry and business.

Taking advantage of its unique location in the nation’s capital, Carleton has developed collaborations with federal and provincial government departments, the National Research Council, NAV Canada, aerospace and aviation manufacturers and suppliers, the airline industry, and high-tech, defence and security sectors.

Carleton was the first in the country to offer a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering program in 1988 and the first to build a whirl tower facility. Its state-of-the-art facilities include seven wind tunnels, one of which is a new $1.25-million structure, and seven flight simulators. It boasts the largest graduate aerospace population in Canada (80 students), the largest undergraduate aerospace program (125 students annually) and the largest group of professors conducting aerospace research in the country.

“I do a lot of work on the policy side of UAVs and aerospace,” Raitt said after the tour. “And it’s invaluable to get this perspective today and to see the next generation of scientists, researchers and public policy-makers.”

Raitt’s presence at Carleton on Monday “acknowledges the pre-eminence of our program,” said Runte. “It demonstrates the interest of the government in aerospace as both an important part of our transportation portfolio, and also as part of Canada’s leading research in the world.”

Matheson noted the multidisciplinary approach is essential to addressing issues in the industry today.

“The industry is going through a lot of change. No longer can a single engineer hand over an answer. This is one of the beauties of Carleton. We have a culture of bringing people together from different perspectives so we can address some of the bigger issues around aerospace.”

Media Contact
Steven Reid
Media Relations Officer
Carleton University
613-520-2600 ext. 8718
613-265-6613
Steven_Reid3@Carleton.ca

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