Dr. Brad Burchett specializes in autonomous vehicles, fin-stabilized projectiles, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, neural networks and Kalman filtering. He served 12½ years of active duty in the U.S. Air Force, including seven as a B-52 pilot and three as an instructor of mechanical engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is a registered professional engineer and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. He has been a visiting researcher at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army Research Laboratory. Dr. Burchett also organizes the annual Engineers in Concert event, which features a variety of instrumental, vocal and dance performances by Rose-Hulman students and faculty.
Academic Degrees
- PhD, Oregon State University, 2001
- SM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
- BS, United States Air Force Academy, 1987
Awards & Honors
- Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Oregon State University Mechanical Engineering Department, 2001
- Meritorious Service Medal, U. S. Air Force
- Air Medal (twice), U.S. Air Force
Research Experiences
- Fin stabilized projectiles
- Kalman filtering
- Modeling and fault detection for launch vehicles
- Brute force optimization of control systems
Select Publications & Presentations
- Nash, A. L., and Burchett, B. T, "Euler-Lagrange Optimal Control of Indirect Fire Symmetric Projectiles," American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Science and Technology Forum, San Diego, 2016
- Burchett, B. T., "Predictive Optimal Pulse-jet Control for Symmetric Projectiles,” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Science and Technology Forum, National Harbor, Maryland, 2014
- Burchett, B. T., “Aerodynamic Parameter Identification for Symmetric Projectiles: An Improved Gradient Based Method,” Aerospace Science and Technology, Vol. 30 (1), 119-127, 2013
- Burchett, B. T., "QZ Based Algorithm for System Pole, Transmission Zero and Residue Derivatives," American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal, Vol. 47 (8), 1,889-1,901, 2009
- Burchett, B. T., "Fuzzy Logic Trajectory Design and Guidance for Terminal Area Energy Management," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 41 (3), 444-450
- Burchett, B. T., and Costello, M., "QR-Based Algorithm for Eigenvalue Derivatives," American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal, Vol. 40 (11), 2,319-2,322, 2002
Teaching Interests
- Control systems
- Mechatronics
- Statics and dynamics
- System dynamics
- Neural networks
- Fuzzy logic
- Genetic algorithms