Dr. Curt Kothera has been an extremely productive, creative and innovative industrial scientist since his graduation with the PhD from Virginia Tech. After graduation, he took a position at Techno-Sciences in the Aerospace Division, where he worked for 8 years. He currently works at InnoVital Systems Inc. He has published 25 journal articles, 35 conference papers, 4 book chapters, and 6 patents with several patents pending. These are in topics ranging from magnetorheological lag dampers, pneumatic artificial muscles for trailing edge flaps in rotor blades and UAVs, soft actuators for robotics applications for battlefield casualty extraction robots and robotic manipulators. However, there are some specific accomplishments that merit special mention. First, he developed the first control algorithm that successfully compensates for varying temperature in a helicopter lag damper in order to maintain damping at appropriate levels across a range of flight conditions. In addition, he developed a control algorithm that compensates for delay dynamics in a trailing edge flap system for a helicopter rotor actuated using pneumatic artificial muscles. Both studies are extremely innovative and original, and are just two examples of the very high quality of work that Dr. Kothera has done. Papers describing these results appeared in AIAA journals, and resulted in patents. Dr. Kothera is highly regarded as one of the rising superstars in aerospace technology, research and development, and he has been recognized as such for his accomplishments. In 2010, Dr. Kothera was awarded the AIAA National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year Award for pioneering research in advanced pneumatic actuation and semi-active damping applied to rotorcraft control; mechanized skins for shape morphing wings for unmanned air vehicles and rotor blades; and for technical leadership and program management. This is the premier award of the National Capital Section recognizing an outstanding engineer under the age of 35, and over a dozen outstanding AIAA members are nominated each year. Mike Griffin, current AIAA president, and Mark Lewis, past AIAA president, were past recipients of this award. Dr. Kothera received the 2012 ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Best Paper Award for his paper entitled

Dr. Curt Kothera has been an extremely productive, creative and innovative industrial scientist since his graduation with the PhD from Virginia Tech. After graduation, he took a position at Techno-Sciences in the Aerospace Division, where he worked for 8 years. He currently works at InnoVital Systems Inc. He has published 25 journal articles, 35 conference papers, 4 book chapters, and 6 patents with several patents pending. These are in topics ranging from magnetorheological lag dampers, pneumatic artificial muscles for trailing edge flaps in rotor blades and UAVs, soft actuators for robotics applications for battlefield casualty extraction robots and robotic manipulators. However, there are some specific accomplishments that merit special mention. First, he developed the first control algorithm that successfully compensates for varying temperature in a helicopter lag damper in order to maintain damping at appropriate levels across a range of flight conditions. In addition, he developed a control algorithm that compensates for delay dynamics in a trailing edge flap system for a helicopter rotor actuated using pneumatic artificial muscles. Both studies are extremely innovative and original, and are just two examples of the very high quality of work that Dr. Kothera has done. Papers describing these results appeared in AIAA journals, and resulted in patents. Dr. Kothera is highly regarded as one of the rising superstars in aerospace technology, research and development, and he has been recognized as such for his accomplishments. In 2010, Dr. Kothera was awarded the AIAA National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year Award for pioneering research in advanced pneumatic actuation and semi-active damping applied to rotorcraft control; mechanized skins for shape morphing wings for unmanned air vehicles and rotor blades; and for technical leadership and program management. This is the premier award of the National Capital Section recognizing an outstanding engineer under the age of 35, and over a dozen outstanding AIAA members are nominated each year. Mike Griffin, current AIAA president, and Mark Lewis, past AIAA president, were past recipients of this award. Dr. Kothera received the 2012 ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Best Paper Award for his paper entitled

Dr. Curt Kothera has been an extremely productive, creative and innovative industrial scientist since his graduation with the PhD from Virginia Tech. After graduation, he took a position at Techno-Sciences in the Aerospace Division, where he worked for 8 years. He currently works at InnoVital Systems Inc. He has published 25 journal articles, 35 conference papers, 4 book chapters, and 6 patents with several patents pending. These are in topics ranging from magnetorheological lag dampers, pneumatic artificial muscles for trailing edge flaps in rotor blades and UAVs, soft actuators for robotics applications for battlefield casualty extraction robots and robotic manipulators. However, there are some specific accomplishments that merit special mention. First, he developed the first control algorithm that successfully compensates for varying temperature in a helicopter lag damper in order to maintain damping at appropriate levels across a range of flight conditions. In addition, he developed a control algorithm that compensates for delay dynamics in a trailing edge flap system for a helicopter rotor actuated using pneumatic artificial muscles. Both studies are extremely innovative and original, and are just two examples of the very high quality of work that Dr. Kothera has done. Papers describing these results appeared in AIAA journals, and resulted in patents. Dr. Kothera is highly regarded as one of the rising superstars in aerospace technology, research and development, and he has been recognized as such for his accomplishments. In 2010, Dr. Kothera was awarded the AIAA National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year Award for pioneering research in advanced pneumatic actuation and semi-active damping applied to rotorcraft control; mechanized skins for shape morphing wings for unmanned air vehicles and rotor blades; and for technical leadership and program management. This is the premier award of the National Capital Section recognizing an outstanding engineer under the age of 35, and over a dozen outstanding AIAA members are nominated each year. Mike Griffin, current AIAA president, and Mark Lewis, past AIAA president, were past recipients of this award. Dr. Kothera received the 2012 ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Best Paper Award for his paper entitled