Mark Sheplak's Research Group

This Center of Excellence (COE) will conduct fundamental research that transforms the way in which conventional distributed sensing, state estimation, morphing structures, and control are applied to high-speed aerospace systems. Our team will address the limitation of conventional feedback loops using novel sensing motifs and inherent coupling to adaptive structures to create an agile and robust aerospace system with integrated sense, assess, and respond functionality.

A diverse team led by three ECE Florida faculty members is set to receive funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design and fabricate dynamic pressure sensors capable of performing at temperatures upwards of 800 °C (1472 °F), over a factor of 6X higher than any integrated pressure sensor currently in use.

As the field of hypersonic vehicle design develops, having shear stress data can aid in the minimization of 
drag source effects and verify results from computational fluid dynamics simulations. Transducer size, 
placement, and narrow bandwidth currently limit accurate shear stress measurements due to the small 
length and time scales seen in turbulent fluid motion and the issue of flow disruption. Shock wave and 
boundary layer effects also produce large thermal loads in hypersonic flows. The proposed research plan 

Understanding the character and dynamics of hypersonic boundary layers poses a considerable challenge to the design of hypersonic vehicles.  Specifically, being able to predict the location of laminar-to-turbulent transition is of critical concern as it affects heating rates, aerodynamic loading, and skin-friction drag, therefore impacting the design of the thermal protection system and thus the overall weight and performance of the vehicle.