In a milestone for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the first students have completed the research-based Ph.D. degree programs the university launched in 2010 – Jaime Rubio Hervas with a Ph.D. in engineering physics and Robert “Buck” Joslin with a Ph.D. in aviation.
During his studies at Embry-Riddle, Rubio Hervas helped develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used in the Galapagos Islands to deter poachers from mutilating sharks for shark fin soup. He also worked on a project in South Africa employing UAVs to monitor great white sharks. His productive research resulted in 20 peer-reviewed papers.
Hervas completed his dissertation research under the supervision of his Ph.D. advisor Dr. Mahmut Reyhanoglu, a Professor of Engineering Physics at Embry-Riddle. Joined by Dr. Reyhanoglu, Hervas will next work as a Research Fellow on a project titled “Automatic Landing System for UAVs” at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Joslin, the university’s first Ph.D. in aviation graduate from its College of Aviation Ph.D. program, finished his dissertation research under the supervision of Dr. Alan Stolzer, Professor and Chair of the Doctoral Studies Department.
Joslin is a chief scientist with the Federal Aviation Administration who used his studies at Embry-Riddle to evaluate technology for preventing aircraft accidents on runways. He will take his findings – that even the latest technology alerting pilots when two planes are on the same runway could stand improvement – back to the FAA to influence the development of future technology.
In an additional role, Joslin will soon become an adjunct professor for one of Embry-Riddle’s worldwide campuses in California and may teach full time after retiring from the FAA.
Nearly 60 other students are currently enrolled in the aviation and engineering physics Ph.D. programs at Embry-Riddle. More students will come on board when the university launches a Ph.D. program in aerospace engineering this August and a Ph.D. program in human factors in 2014, university officials said.