Vita wins Best Modeling and Simulation from Vertical Flight Society

e’re not sure how two of Vita’s Engineering superstars found time to research, write, and publish an academic research paper for the prestigious Vertical Flight Society. But Dr. Christy Ivler (Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Portland, mother of two… and longtime Vita advisor) teamed up with Vita CTO and Co-Founder Derek Sikora on what turned out to be the best paper, Modeling and Simulation group.

They would never say it themselves, so we will: this is kind of a big deal. The typical authors of the winning papers come from some of the Biggest Names in Aerospace, Aviation and Vertical Lift. We were honored to be included, and pleasantly surprised by the win.

Titled “Real-Time System Identification Methods of Slight Length on the Load Stabilization System (LSS),” the paper filled a gap in research on modeling and simulation.

“As integrated systems grow in complexity, real-time system identification becomes increasingly important, especially for aerospace systems,” Christy told us. .“We were focused on single-control systems in hoist operations. As we looked into the research, we were surprised to find very little published work on the topic, so it seemed like a problem worth tackling.”

“We spent a lot of time getting it right, because it turns out to be a crucial indicator of optimal system performance,” she added.

Derek notes that “The real-time system identification methods explored could potentially enhance our stability system’s performance and broaden the scope of similar adaptive control systems. Similar methods may even identify potential issues in the system, either retroactively or pre-emptively.

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