Douglas Hunsaker
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Associate Professor
Contact Information
Office Location: ENGR 419MPhone: 435-797-8404
Email: doug.hunsaker@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Educational Background
Biography
Prior to joining the faculty at Utah State University, Doug worked for four years in industry, which included work at Scaled Composites on the Stratolaunch and SpaceShipTwo programs, as well as consulting work for multiple drone companies. He has done aerodynamic, design, or consulting work for Sandia National Labs, AeroVironment, Flying Sensors, the MAGICC Lab, Vayu, and other non-disclosable companies.
Teaching Interests
aerodynamics, flight dynamics, flight simulation, optimization, and statistics.
Research Interests
Doug Hunsaker is an assistant professor in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering working on improving aircraft design and optimization methods. His research areas focus on computational methods ranging from potential flow to full RANS CFD for both 2D and 3D modeling and optimization. These research efforts are currently directed towards supporting the improved aircraft efficiency interests of NASA and the Air Force Research Lab as well as the rapid design and optimization needs of the emerging drone industry. Doug also has a strong interest in studying unsteady flows as they pertain to flapping flight.
Awards
Best Paper Award, 2022
AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Technical Committee
Teacher of the Year, 2022
USU College of Engineering
Teacher of the Year, 2022
USU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Engineering Educator of the Year Nominee, 2021
AIAA Utah Section
UEC Engineering Educator of the Year, 2021
Utah Engineers Council
Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year, 2020
USU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Researcher of the Year, 2020
USU College of Engineering
Researcher of the Year, 2020
USU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Graduate Mentor of the Year, 2019
USU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Young Investigator Program (YIP) Recipient, 2018
Office of Naval Research
Graduate Mentor of the Year, 2018
USU College of Engineering
Graduate Mentor of the Year, 2018
USU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Summer Faculty Fellow, 2017
Air Force Research Lab
Engineering Educator of the Year Nominee, 2017
AIAA Utah Section
Summer Faculty Fellow, 2016
Air Force Research Lab
Student Fellowship, 2007
International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT)
1st Place Western Regional AIAA Student Competition, Masters Division, 2006
AIAA
Publications | Curriculum
- Goates, J., Hunsaker, D., MacArthur, S., (2018). Discover 4-H Aerodynamics & Model Airplane Clubs.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Goates, C., Hunsaker, D., (2022). Modern Implementation and Evaluation of Lifting-Line Theory for Complex Geometries. Journal of Aircraft, doi: 10.2514/1.C036748
- Harvey, C., Gamble, L., Bolander, C., Hunsaker, D., Joo, J., Inman, D., (2022). A Review of Avian-Inspired Morphing for UAV Flight Control. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 132, doi: 10.1016/j.paerosci.2022.100825
- Moorthamers, B., Hunsaker, D., (2022). Accuracy of Küchemann's Prediction for the Locus of Aerodynamic Centers on Swept Wings. The Aeronautical Journal, 1853 - 1873. doi: 10.1017/aer.2022.34
- Taylor, J., Hunsaker, D., (2022). Comparison of Theoretical and Multi-Fidelity Optimum Aerostructural Solutions for Wing Design. Journal of Aircraft, 59:1, 103-116. doi: 10.2514/1.C036374
- Hunsaker, D., Moorthamers, B., Joo, J., (2021). Minimum-Series Twist Distributions for Yawing-Moment Control During Pure Roll. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik, 101:10, 1-19. doi: 10.1002/zamm.201900177
- Leal, P., Schrass, J., Giblette, T., Hunsaker, D., Shen, H., Logan, T., Hartl, D., (2021). Effects of atmospheric profiles on the perceived loudness of low-boom supersonic vehicles. AIAA Journal, 9. doi: 10.2514/1.J059209
- Taylor, J., Hunsaker, D., (2021). Low-Fidelity Method for Rapid Aerostructural Optimization and Design-Space Exploration of Planar Wings. The Aeronautical Journal, 125:1289, 1209-1230. doi: 10.1017/aer.2021.14
- Harvey, C., Baliga, V., Goates, C., Hunsaker, D., Inman, D., (2021). Gull-inspired joint-driven wing morphing allows adaptive longitudinal flight control. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 18:179, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0132
- Brincklow, J., Hunsaker, D., (2021). Aileron Size and Location to Minimize Induced Drag During Roll Initiation. The Aeronautical Journal, 125:1287, 807-829. doi: 10.1017/aer.2020.139
- Reid, J., Hunsaker, D., (2020). General Approach to Lifting-Line Theory, Applied to Wings with Sweep. Journal of Aircraft, 1-13. doi: 10.2514/1.C035994
- Hunsaker, D., Montgomery, Z., Joo, J., (2020). Adverse-Yaw Control During Roll for a Class of Optimal Lift Distributions. AIAA Journal, 58:7, 2909-2920. doi: 10.2514/1.J059038
- Taylor, J., Hunsaker, D., (2020). Minimum Induced Drag for Tapered Wings Including Structural Constraints. Journal of Aircraft, doi: 10.2514/1.C035757
- Phillips, W.F, Hunsaker, D., Taylor, J., (2020). Minimising Induced Drag with Weight Distribution, Lift Distribution, Wingspan, and Wing-Structure Weight. The Aeronautical Journal, 124:1278, 1208-1235. doi: 10.1017/aer.2020.24
- Hunsaker, D., Montgomery, Z., Joo, J., (2019). Analytic and Computational Analysis of Wing Twist to Minimize Induced Drag During Roll. Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 234:3, 788-803. doi: 10.1177/0954410019886939
- Hunsaker, D., Pope, O.D, Taylor, J., Hodson, J.D, (2019). Aerodynamic Centers of Arbitrary Airfoils Below Stall. Journal of Aircraft, 56:6, 2158–2171. doi: 10.2514/1.C035579
- Hunsaker, D., Montgomery, Z.S, Joo, J.J, (2019). Geometric Definition and Ideal Aerodynamic Performance of Parabolic Trailing-Edge Flaps. International Journal of Astronautics and Aeronautical Engineering, 4:1, doi: 10.35840/2631-5009/7526
- Phillips, W.F, Hunsaker, D., (2019). Designing Wing Twist or Planform Distributions for Specified Lift Distributions. Journal of Aircraft, 56:2, 847-849. doi: 10.2514/1.C035206
- Phillips, W.F, Hunsaker, D., Joo, J.J, (2019). Minimizing Induced Drag with Lift Distribution and Wingspan. Journal of Aircraft, 56:2, 431-441. doi: 10.2514/1.C035027
- Hunsaker, D., Phillips, W.F, Spall, R.E, (2019). Smooth-Wall Boundary Conditions for Energy-Dissipation Turbulence Models. International Journal of Astronautics and Aeronautical Engineering, 4:1, doi: 10.35840/2631-5009/7525
- Tong, O., Yanagita, Y., Harris, S., Katz, A., Hunsaker, D., (2018). High-Order Strand Grid Methods for Shock Turbulence Interaction. International Journal of Computational Fluid Dynamics, 2-16. doi: 10.1080/10618562.2018.1490411
- Hunsaker, D., Phillips, W.F, (2016). Propulsion Theory of Flapping Airfoils, Comparison with Computational Fluid Dynamics. Journal of Aircraft, 53:5, 1411-1418. doi: 10.2514/1.C033247
- Phillips, W.F, Hunsaker, D., (2013). Lifting-Line Predictions for Induced Drag and Lift in Ground Effect. Journal of Aircraft, 50:4, 1226-1233. doi: 10.2514/1.C032152
- Phillips, W., Fowler, E., Hunsaker, D., (2013). Energy-Vorticity Turbulence Model with Application to Flow near Rough Surfaces. AIAA Journal, 51:5, 1211 – 1220. doi: 10.2514/1.J052068
- Phillips, W., Hunsaker, D., Niewoehner, R., (2008). Estimating the Subsonic Aerodynamic Center and Moment Components for Swept Wings. Journal of Aircraft, 45:3, 1033-1043. doi: 10.2514/1.33445
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | MultiMedia
Video
- Jensen, M., Hunsaker, D., (2019). Utah State University AeroLab . *
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Teaching
Creative Works | Other
- MachUp: 3D Airframe Design Software: http://aero.go.usu.edu, Other,