Student Bio
Trevor Phair completed his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace and Electrical Systems Engineering at Carleton University in April 2022. This program has allowed him to learn about the complex systems involving drones such as sensors, integrated circuits, programmable computer chips, aerodynamics, structures, and control theories. He is excited to utilize this knowledge to create drone designs and controllers that meet the requirements in the evolving drone industry.
For over 10 years, Mr. Phair has been experimenting with remote control vehicles and drones. He started with ready to fly kits but has always wanted more capabilities from the aircraft. To get models that met his own requirements, he began designing and building custom aircraft. This includes a waterproofed flying wing with a pivoting propeller so it could takeoff and land from water. This involved programming the controller for elevons (combined elevators and ailerons) and a motor mount that could angle the motor based on a yaw input. His desire to fly the aircraft he constructed led him to complete the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada (MAAC) Wings Program and acquire his basic operations pilot certificate. This initial experience is what inspired him to enroll in aerospace engineering and continue his learning through a master’s program.
Mr. Phair’s first co-op position was with the Department of National Defence. He was tasked with writing a program to optimize drone and maritime helicopter schedules using mixed integer linear programming and genetic algorithms. The program considered the performance of the different aircraft available, their maintenance and refuelling procedures, as well as randomized failures utilizing a Monte Carlo simulation. Schedules were then created that maximized the time in which the aircraft would be completing the objective. This created an interest in machine learning techniques and led to his first two scientific reports.
After which Mr. Phair spent 16 months working with the Aerospace Research Centre at the National Research Council Canada under the supervision of Dr. Zekai Hong. There he developed a novel architecture that enables tail sitting drones to transition and operate with increased stability. It accomplishes this by efficiently utilizing blown wing interactions to increase the lift produced at high angles of attack. A prototype was built and flown to test the performance of the design, teaching him and his colleagues more about the aircraft’s abilities. The next step for this project aligns with his research interests which include the optimization of the aircraft’s structure, aerodynamics, and developing a flight controller to operate the aircraft that takes advantage of its unique architecture.
In the UTILI Program, Mr. Phair is continuing the project he started at the NRC under the joint supervision of Prof. Eric Lanteigne and Dr. Zekai Hong. This involves designing and building a second protype aircraft that improves on the first by reducing the weight of components and increasing overall rigidity. Additionally, he wants to create a flight controller that utilizes the performance benefits of the architecture to create a stable transition period. The flight controller will utilize machine leaning so it can be used with similar designs, or for delivery operations where the weight of the aircraft will change significantly. One of the major benefits of the UTILI Program is the ability to learn from experienced professionals in the industry, some of which have been developing modern UAS solutions that utilize artificial intelligence and deep learning. Mr. Phair is hopeful to learn from these experts so he can continue to investigate my project and research impactful technologies for the drone industry.