Biography

Derek Safieh is an MS student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park. His research interests are in experimental rotary wing aerodynamics with a focus on UAV and RAM applications.

In his free time he likes to sail, fly, and go outdoors.

Research

Derek researches electric ducted fan (EDF) characterization for UAM/RAM applications. This research focuses on studying the performance of isolated EDFs as well as their integration on to RAM/UAM applications.

Publications

Safieh, D. and Rauleder, D., “Aero-Propulsive Coupling on Wing Integrated Electric Ducted Fan System,” AIAA SciTech Forum, Orlando, Florida, January 2024, DOI: 10.2514/6.2024-1726

Safieh, D. and Rauleder, J., “Effects of Aero-Propulsive Coupling on High Solidity Electric Ducted Fan Performance for Various Wing Integrations,” 49th European Rotorcraft Forum Proceedings, Bückeburg, Germany, Sept 2023.

Safieh, D., Hrishikeshavan, V., and Chopra, I., “Aerodynamic Investigation of Non-Planar Wing Configurations for Quadrotor Based Tail-Sitters”, Vertical Flight Society 76th Annual Forum Technology Display, October 2020. DOI: 10.4050/F-0076-2020-16480

Phillips, B., Safieh, D.,Hrishikeshavan, V., Yeo, D., and Chopra,I., “Performance and Control of Variable Pitch Proprotors for Multi-Scale Quadrotor Biplane Tail-Sitters (QBiTs),” Vertical Flight Society 75th Annual Forum Technology Display, May 2019. DOI: 10.4050/F-0075-2019-14751

Safieh, D., and Hrishikeshavan, V., “Experimental Testing Methods for the Scalability of Quadrotor Biplane Tail-Sitter Vehicle”, AIAA Region I Student Conference, April 2019

Favorite Cereal

Crunchy Nut