SKYTOP Aerospace is a private consulting firm specializing in the design, fabrication and test support of wind tunnel models for aerodynamics research. Fiberglass/Carbon reinforced epoxy models and Aluminum/Steel models. Custom instrumentation support, including distributed wall-normal static pressure ports, dynamic pressure sensors, and accelerometers. Our primary goal is to support low-speed aerodynamics research in the low-speed, low-turbulence wind tunnel facility at Penn State University. We also specialize in custom winglet fabrication and other drag-reduction devices for retrofit to experimental composite aircraft. General consulting services are available upon request.

• Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) programs: Propulsor design and performance testing of Virginia-Class and Ohio-Class Replacement submarine platforms. Advanced undersea weapons.• United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) programs: Principal Investigator, subject matter expert and primary liaison to SOCOM HQ flag officer. Managed multi-year support activities on development of efficient propulsion and maneuvering control for undersea vehicles. Office liaison to ARL Director.• U.S. Army, Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE): Co-Principal Investigator, managed 5-year award supporting research on rotorcraft hub drag reduction technologies, Academic advisor two M.S. and one Ph.D graduate student(s). • Office of Naval Research (ONR) programs: Technical oversight on several high-efficiency, long-range, long endurance undersea unmanned vehicles. Managed manpower allocations and in-house funding. Primary liaison to sponsors.• United States Department of Energy (DOE) programs: Technical oversight on several multi-year programs focused on development of large-scale undersea ocean-current turbines and wave-energy devices. Managed manpower allocations and in-house funding. Primary liaison to sponsors.• Director, ARL Graduate Student program, Fluid Dynamics and Acoustics Office (2010-2016). Managed recruitment of graduate students, academic stipends, and coordinated all funding with academic advising faculty.• Invited Instructor, Unmanned Undersea Vehicles Short Course hosted annually at Penn State, on “Hydrodynamics and Propulsion of UUVs” (2012-2014). Educating sponsors and industry partners on state-of-the-art capabilities of undersea vehicles.

• Lead Engineer on multiple undersea vehicle test programs, including submarine platforms, torpedo systems, and unmanned undersea vehicles. Focused efforts on drag reduction and propulsion efficiency.• Design of advanced, multi-stage, wake-adapted turbomachines for undersea vehicles. Completed designs from conceptual modeling through detailed three-dimensional solid models and CFD Analysis.• Lead developer, SUBPERF undersea vehicle hydrodynamics prediction tool. MATLAB-based, multi-dimensional physics code. Hybrid analytical/empirical/computational input and analysis methods for developing hydrodynamic models of generic undersea vehicles. Geometry-based inputs, Taylor-series coefficients and convolution integrals representing the hydrodynamic forces and moments over a broad range of body angles. Linear and non-linear hydrodynamics. Added-mass acceleration terms. In-plane and out-of-plane propulsion models. Experimental data look-up options. Speed-dependent dynamic stability analysis including Reynolds number effects. Direct output tables for implementation to Standardized Undersea Vehicle Dynamic Equations of Motion.• Co-Principal Investigator, Tightly-Coupled Unsteady RANS and 6DOF (TCURS) model. Unsteady Fluid Dynamics modeling of undersea vehicles, time-step coupled to six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) equations of motion. Control surfaces, propulsion, and multi-vehicle flow field interactions. OVERSET grid methodology for CFD modeling. Model validations conducted through sub-scale vehicle testing.• Design and water tunnel testing of cavitation-resistant hydrofoils. Quantification and verification of in-water static and dynamic (reduced-frequency) lift, drag, and pitching moment during non-cavitating, partially-cavitating, and super-cavitating conditions.• Proposal preparation lead for new technical programs, specializing in advanced undersea vehicle drag reduction, propulsion, vehicle stability, vehicle control, and maneuvering performance.

• Lead Project Engineer on acoustic quieting technology for advanced undersea propulsion systems. Noise control technologies. Analytical and computational assessments. Testing in closed-loop wind tunnel and water tunnel facilities.• Lead Test Engineer on multiple undersea vehicle systems, including test plan development, intrusive and non-intrusive sensors for radiated noise and vibration, steady and unsteady force measurements, data reduction and reporting.• Lead Development and Test Engineer for Westinghouse Closed-Loop Pump Research Facility. Unsteady pump noise source quantification through custom embedded in-blade pressure sensor arrays, spectral analysis, frequency correlations, and force-frequency decomposition methods.• Field testing experience at several U.S. Navy facilities: Large-Cavitation-Channel (LCC) facility, Memphis, TN, David Taylor Model Basin, Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Bethesda, MD, Acoustic Research Detachment (ARD), Bayview, ID, Navy Sonar Range, Lake Erie.