Student Bio
Aman Basawanal chose to go to college to study aerospace engineering because he has always had a passion to make air transport safer and ever more efficient by pushing the boundaries of science and technology, thereby contributing to the increase of globalization and the growth of humankind. In 2021, Aman graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering and a minor in aviation safety. During his time at Embry-Riddle, he conducted funded undergraduate research on the effects of leading and trailing edge flaps on flat plates at low Reynolds numbers for potential applications in Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Aman also worked as a research intern on a German RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) scholarship for a PhD student and conducted computer-based fluid-structure interaction simulations for the PhD student’s research project concerning aeroelastic studies of wind turbines. As part of his senior year capstone, Aman worked on an industry collaboration aircraft design project with Boeing to design a cargo aircraft replacement for the 747-8F. Over the course of two terms, he has also acquired industry experience by working full time as an aircraft performance engineer in the flight operations engineering department at Southwest Airlines.
Since January 2022, Aman has been pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Carleton University. Under the supervision of Dr. Jeremy Lalibertè, as part of his thesis, he is working to experimentally assess the feasibility of using low-cost drone mounted wind sensors to measure wind fields. This work finds its application in studying and categorizing the impact of urban wind flows on the performance of light weight RPAS vehicles in urban environments. The results from this study will help make informed decisions on regulations regarding integration of RPAS into the national airspace. Aman is also currently working with a team of Dr. Lalibertè’s students and NRC research officer Dr. Iryna Borshchova on a project to help develop an air traffic density model of the Canadian airspace for Transport Canada and other partners.
Although Aman’s experience so far has primarily involved fixed wing aircraft, his recent exposure to numerous applications of other types of aircraft in the broad UAS spectrum has piqued his interest. Inspired by the versatility of these UAS vehicles, he chose to center his research around the operation of UAS in urban environments for various missions and eventual integration into the national airspace.