James D. DeLaurier is an inventor and professor emeritus of the

University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. He is a leader in design and analysis of lighter than air vehicles and flapping winged aircraft.

Career

He received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

and Astronautics from

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. He then worked at the NASA Ames Research Center during the Apollo Program in 1965–66. In 1970 he began working with Sheldahl Corporation to develop scientific balloon designs and he designed a wing shaped balloon that would later be the inspiration for a new design of solar hybrid airship. In 1974 DeLaurier established a research team at UTIAS, and was in charge of the Low-Speed Aerodynamics Laboratory. The DeLaurier lab developed wind tunnel models and flying prototypes for a new breed of airships including the Magnus Airship in the mid 1980s. His team designed flight-dynamic simulation for airships and aerostats that have been used for the certification of new commercial airships in England, the U.S. and Germany. The team, along with

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, designed the first successful free-flying aircraft solely powered by microwave power transmission. This project was the initiative of the

Communications Research Centre The Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC; french: Centre de recherches sur les communications Canada) is a Canadian government scientific laboratory for research and development in wireless technologies, with a particular focus on the effic ...

, and was called SHARP (Stationary High-Altitude Relay Platform). The DeLaurier lab, along with Jeremy M. Harris, designed and built a proof-of-concept scaled ornithopter that is recognized by the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

as the world's first successful remotely piloted engine-powered flapping-wing aircraft (

UTIAS Ornithopter No.1 __NOTOC__ The UTIAS Ornithopter No.1 (Aircraft registration, registration ''C-GPTR'') is an ornithopter that was built in Canada in the late 1990s. On 8 July 2006, it took off under its own power, assisted by a turbine jet engine, making a flight ...

or, more commonly, "Mr. Bill"). The team then went on to design and build an engine-powered human-carrying ornithopter, called "The Great Flapper", which took off from the ground and sustained flight on 8 July 2006. The thrust from the flapping wings was boosted by a model-aircraft jet engine.

Recognition

*"Diplôme d'Honneur" from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – 1988 (SHARP project) and 1991 (ornithopter project) *

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

"Best of What's New" award – 1992 (ornithopter project) and 2002 (Mentor MAV) * Popular Mechanics "Design and Engineering" award – 1993 (ornithopter project) *Rolex "Spirit of Enterprise" Award – 1993 (ornithopter project) *Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute “Romeo Vachon Award” – 1994 (ornithopter project) and “McCurdy Award”- 2007 (achievement in creative aspects of aeronautical engineering) *Berblinger Prize for innovative aircraft from Ülm, Germany – 1998 (ornithopter project)

References

''Toronto Star'' article about first human-carrying ornithopter flightUTIAS faculty directory

External links

Official site of Project Ornithopter, the team that built the first human-carrying ornithopter
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni American aerospace engineers Living people Stanford University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-engineer-stub