Chris Fuller
Virginia Tech College of Engineering
Christopher R. Fuller, the Roanoke Electric Steel Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, is the newly appointed Samuel P. Langley Professor of Engineering at the National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, Va. The Langley Professorship is dedicated to a Virginia Tech faculty member who works at the institute and leads research and technology thrusts of substantial interest to NASA.
Fuller, an expert in acoustics and noise and vibration control, works on control of the interior noise and vibration in aerospace applications, launch vehicle payload noise, and other related concerns in the automotive and marine industries. Much of his research is conducted for NASA, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Boeing, and Intel. More recently Fuller has been working on medical applications of acoustics.
Fuller already conducts research and advises some of the institute’s graduate students. For example, Fuller is the program manager for the institute’s research program with Airbus on smart intelligent airframes. This position oversees the work of six additional researchers from three of the institute’s member universities.
Fuller also teaches video linked courses between Virginia Tech and the Hampton facility and conducts research with NASA Langley Research Center and local industries such as Newport News Shipyard.
Fuller was also the first principal investigator on one of the initial local industry projects through the institute, one that teamed with Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard, which as of March 30, 2011 became the Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. “The project remains ongoing with Virginia Tech, and serves as an example of how these types of projects can benefit the Institute, industry, and academia,” Fuller said.
“We are very pleased to present this Virginia Tech professorship to Chris Fuller, an internationally acclaimed educator and researcher in the acoustics field,” said Richard Benson, dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. “Dr. Fuller’s research interests and long association with NASA made him an ideal candidate for this position.”
“Chris has been associated with NIA prior to this appointment, conducting research and leading NIA’s work in smart/intelligent airframes for the commercial aviation industry,” said Robert Lindberg, president and executive director of the NIA. “Professor Fuller’s appointment is great news for Virginia Tech, NIA and NASA. This is a great opportunity to further expand his research and contribute more centrally to the graduate education program at NIA.”
The Langley professorships were conceived and implemented by NIA’s member universities to serve as the foundation for its unique academic research program that directly supports NASA Langley Research Center. Today there are Langley professorships at NIA representing Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia in addition to Virginia Tech.
Fuller said, “I am honored to accept a professorship named after such an eminent aeronautical researcher and aviation pioneer as Samuel Langley and I look forward working with the NASA Langley Research Center to help further its goals.”
Previously, the position was held by Kathryn Logan, a professor of materials science and engineering at Virginia Tech, who has retired