Jayant Sirohi, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, has been named a Technical Fellow of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS) for 2021. The society, which was originally established as the American Helicopter Society in 1943, is the world’s oldest and largest technical society dedicated to the understanding and advancement of vertical flight technology.
Technical fellowships are granted to VHS members who are leading careers and developing technology that significantly advances the interests of the vertical flight community. Sirohi was selected for “pioneering contributions over 20 years on the theory and application of smart sensors and actuators in vertical lift, and experimental research of coaxial rotor systems, which have greatly expanded and enriched the body of knowledge.”
Sirohi’s work focuses on investigating the fundamental physics of different types of vertical lift aircraft, such as coaxial, counter-rotating helicopters and electric aircraft for urban air mobility, by means of various experimental and computational tools. His group’s goal is to expand the capabilities and understanding of the complex aeroelastic behavior of future vertical take-off aerial vehicles. He is the principal investigator of the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence funded by U. S. Army, Navy and NASA and is currently developing new rotor technology for the next generation of vertical lift aircraft.
Before joining the Cockrell School of Engineering, Sirohi worked at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, where he was a staff engineer in the Advanced Concepts group. At Sikorsky, he was involved with the conceptual design of next-generation vertical take-off aircraft, as well as the performance enhancement of existing rotorcraft using advanced technologies.
Sirohi earned a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park and joined the department in 2008. He holds the M.J. Thompson Regents Professorship in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. Learn more about Sirohi’s research.