Rise Above: A New Generation of Aeronautics Research

This half-hour documentary follows a team of UK College of Engineering faculty and students pushing the boundaries of engineering and mathematics to new levels. 

The documentary opens as a group of senior engineering students begin their attempt to design and build a remote controlled aircraft capable of speeds up to 100 miles per hour to collect research data. As the story follows their yearlong attempt to fly this research plane, we meet other students who, along with their faculty mentors, are creating new solutions for practical problems in aeronautics.

The film features engineering faculty including Suzanne Weaver Smith, Sean Bailey, Jesse Hoagg, and Michael Siegler, along with graduate students Mark Miller, John Calhoun and B.J. Wellman. 

The documentary was produced as a collaborative project between UK Research Communications and the Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments. Producer Julie Martinez described the yearlong documentary effort as a unique challenge: “Producing this type of a video focused on long-term research of highly technical material can be challenging. However, having the opportunity to follow these exciting stories gives us a chance to showcase the amazing research that is happening right here in Kentucky in the area of aeronautics.”

Suzanne Weaver Smith (director of the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR, and the Donald and Gertrude Lester Professor of Mechanical Engineering) provided the filmmakers with access to the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Laboratory along with other faculty members and students. Smith said, “The value of this project was in the opportunity to demonstrate how students at all levels are integrated into the UK research endeavor, benefitting both research and education.”

The documentary premiered on KET on January 5, 2014.