MAE Ph.D. Student Henry Jia Named a 2019 Vertical Flight Society/Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarship Recipient
The UC Davis Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department congratulates Ph.D. student Henry (Zhongqi) Jia upon being named a 2019 Vertical Flight Society/Vertical Flight Foundation scholarship recipient.
The foundation chose top undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. applicants for scholarships of up to $6,000 each, with Jia selected as a Ph.D. recipient.
“I was very excited when I received the news,” said Jia, who is a third-year Ph.D. student of Professor Seongkyu Lee in the Computational Flow Physics and Aeroacoustics Lab. “It was my second time to win this prestigious award. More importantly, I am the first person from UC Davis to win this scholarship, and I feel very honored to represent my school.”
Jia’s research primarily focuses on acoustic analysis of a lift-offset coaxial rotor and quadrotor electrical take-off-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicles. His research is funded by the U.S. Army through the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE). In recent years, there is an increasing investment in the rotorcraft industry due to 1) Future Vertical Lift (VFL), an initiative established by the United States Secretary of Defense in 2008 to replace the aging fleets with a new family of helicopters, and 2) Urban Air Mobility (UAM) or urban air taxi operations. One of the forerunners of FVL is a lift-offset coaxial rotor design; quadrotor eVTOL designs are considered for urban air taxi operations. Jia’s research outcomes will serve as a basis to understand the fundamental acoustic characteristics of these designs.
“What I enjoy the most about my research is that I get to work on practical problems using the knowledge learnt from the graduate-level courses,” he said. “My research may help to improve noise reduction of modern rotorcraft and benefit the rotorcraft community. While working on my research, I frequently discuss my ideas with other rotorcraft experts and receive feedbacks from the experts. I find this learning process enjoyable, and it provides me with a great opportunity to improve my technical skills and broaden my network in the rotorcraft community. Lastly, I also enjoy helping other undergraduate and graduate to learn more about rotorcraft aerodynamics and acoustics.”
“This Vertical Flight Foundation scholarship is a highly competitive and prestigious award, which is given to top students working on rotorcraft,” added his advisor Professor Seongkyu Lee. “I’m very glad to see Henry recognized in this way.”
Jia will join other 2019 foundation honorees at the Vertical Flight Society’s 75th Awards Banquet May 15 in Philadelphia.
Founded in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society, Inc., the Vertical Flight Society is the world’s only international technical society for engineers, scientists and others working to advance vertical flight technology. Since 1977, the Vertical Flight Foundation – the Vertical Flight Society’s philanthropic arm -- has awarded over 500 scholarships to students from throughout the world who have demonstrated an interest in pursuing engineering careers in the vertical flight industry.
Congratulations, Henry!