John Berg named Condit Scholar for holistic aircraft controls research

PhD student's research on holistic aircraft control systems earns prestigious fellowship for advancing aviation safety.

Ph.D. student John Berg has been selected as this year's recipient of the prestigious Condit Dissertation Year Fellowship. This distinction, made possible through Phil and Geda Condit's generous support, recognizes exceptional doctoral candidates who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and research potential in aerospace.

Berg's research tackles one of commercial aviation's most complex challenges: developing control systems that can simultaneously manage multiple aircraft control objectives. While traditional approaches often examine single control objectives in isolation and then integrate those results, Berg's work takes a holistic view, investigating how these objectives can be addressed simultaneously and in the presence of real-world operating conditions.

"What makes this research particularly valuable is its practical application to modern commercial aircraft," Berg explains. His dissertation employs a sophisticated flexible wind tunnel model to study the intricate balance between four critical control objectives: maneuver load alleviation, gust load alleviation, handling qualities, and passenger ride comfort. This comprehensive approach mirrors the actual challenges faced by commercial aircraft manufacturers and operators.

“What sets John’s research apart is his attention to real-world applications,” says Professor Eli Livne, one of Berg’s two faculty co-advisers. “By anchoring his work in FAA certification requirements with comprehensive modeling and wind tunnel testing, he’s creating a robust framework for future flight control system design.”

The Condit Fellowship will support Berg through the final phase of his dissertation work, which promises to advance our understanding of integrated aircraft control systems. His research could pave the way for more efficient, safer, and more comfortable commercial flights by providing new insights into how multiple control objectives can be integrated together harmoniously.

"This work represents a significant step forward in how we approach aircraft control systems," observes Professor Kristi Morgansen, Berg's other faculty co-adviser. "By examining how these control tasks can be achieved in an integrated way in actual flight conditions, John is helping bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical industry applications."