October 7, 2005 Source: Brock University:
http://www.carleton.ca/duc/News/news10070501.html Carleton University Aerospace Alumnus Flying High (Ottawa)--Carleton alumnus Adam Rasheed is having a great year. He just got married. He just bought a new house. And he has just been nominated to the MIT Technology Review magazine’s "Top 35 Innovators Under 35". These innovators' achievements, as described by Technology Review, are "a road map to what's hot in emerging technology--and their achievements will shape the world we live in for decades to come." "I am deeply honoured to be selected to the TR35," says Rasheed. "I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to grow my childhood passion for aerospace into an exciting and rewarding career. Although this is a great personal recognition, this honour really is a tribute to the efforts of our entire team working towards the next evolution in aerospace propulsion." Rasheed graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from Carleton in 1995. He worked at GasTOPs Limited, and then went on to do grad studies at Caltech and is now working with GE Global Research, in Niskayuna, NewYork (or upstate New York). In addition, he is serving on the Airbreathing Propulsion Technical Committee for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Rasheed has made fundamental improvements to an aircraft propulsion system based on a pulsed-detonation engine. This is a technology in which a fuel-air mixture is compressed and exploded as many as 100 times per second. This kind of pulsed detonation creates vastly higher pressures than the slower burn of a conventional engine’s combustion chamber. In theory, it offers a five percent efficiency gain. Rasheed built a prototype that operates longer and without the oxygen enrichment required by other research efforts – a critical enabler for aircraft applications. And he was the first person to use this kind of technology to drive the turbines that are at the heart of today’s jet engines. "Adam is an example of the topnotch alumni that have graduated from our program which continues to be a Canadian leader in preparing people for a career in the aerospace industry," says Jonathan Beddoes, Chair of the School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Carleton University. "I have always felt that Carleton’s aero engineering program prepared me exceptionally well for my career and gave me the grounding I needed to successfully tackle any challenging technical problem that came my way," says Rasheed. "The quality of teaching was superb and, in particular, the profs always found time to answer my questions – even outside of class or their regular office hours. In fact, I sometimes still use my notes – I keep them within arms reach on my top shelf at work." Rasheed routinely returns to Ottawa to visit his family and continues to stay in touch with the faculty at Carleton University to share perspectives on aerospace research and always encourages students to pursue graduate education. -30- For more information:
Lin Moody
Media Relations
Carleton University
613-520-2600 ext. 8705
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