Garth Thompson (Schedule)
Professor
Degrees:
Ph.D. 1967, Mechanical Engineering Purdue University
M.S. 1962, Mechanical Engineering Purdue University
B.E.S. 1960, Mechanical Engineering Brigham Young University
Years of Service:
37 years of service at KSU
Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, KSU (1978-present)
Department Head, Dept. of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering (1997-2001)
Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, KSU (1971-1978)
Department Head, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, KSU (1971-1974)
Related Experience:
Courses Taught:
Taught 13 different undergraduate courses since 1971. Recent courses include:
ME 574 Industrial Design Projects I
ME 575 Industrial Design Projects II
ME 635 Dynamics of Flight – Stability and Control
ME 728 Computer Control of ElectroMechanical Systems
Industrial Experience:
President and CEO, ICADA Technologies, Inc., Manhattan, KS (1987-92);
Director, Center for Research in Computer Controlled Automation, Manhattan, KS (1984-89);
Engineer, Spacecraft Attitude Controls Group, TRW Corporation, Redondo Beach, CA (1961-62)
Consulting and Patents: none.
States in Which Registered: none
Principal Publications in Last Five Years:
- Gorder, P.J., J. G. Thompson, and H. K. Fathy. “Implementation of an Attitude-Heading Reference System State Estimate Filter Using Dissimilar Sensor Types and Sampling.” Proceedings International Association of Science and Technology Development (IASTED) International Conference on Modeling, Identification and Control, Innsbruck, Austria, February 15-18, 1999.
- Thompson, J.G., H. P. Stough III, and W. Green. “Analytical Study of the Reliability of General Aviation Cockpit Instrumentation Systems.” Proceedings at SAE 1999 World Aviation Congress, San Francisco, CA, October 19-21, 1999.
- Thompson, J.G., P. J. Gorder, and H. K. Fathy. “Direct Determination of Aircraft Quaternion Parameters Using a Combined Inertial-GPS Instrumentation System.” Proceedings ION GPS ’99, Nashville, TN, September 14-17, 1999.
- Thompson, J.G., P. J. Gorder, and H. K. Fathy. “A Uniform Mathematical Basis for Aircraft Navigation and Control.” Proceedings SAE 1999 World Aviation Congress, San Francisco, CA, October 19-21, 1999.
- Thompson, J.G., and X. Zhang. “Coordinated Flight Control along a Complex Flight Path.” Proceedings 19th IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference, Philadelphia, PA, October, 7-13, 2000.
Memberships:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Honors and Awards:
NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow in Aeronautics and Space Research, NASA Langley Research Center, (1995, 1997, 2000);
Hewlett Packard Research Award (1990);
Halliburton Award (1977‑78);
Ralph R. Teetor (SAE) Award (1970);
Standard Oil Award for Teaching Excellence (1969);
Engineering Foundation Research Award (1967)
Institutional and Professional Service in Last Five Years:
University: none.
College: (1) Member, College Committee on Planning, (2) Member, Honors Program Committee, (3) Member, College Diversity Committee.
Department: (1) Chair, Committee on Learning/Teaching Methods, (2) Chair, Industrial Advisory Board Committee, (3) Member, Promotion and Tenure Committee, (4) Member, ABET Professional Component Subcommittee, (5) AIAA Student Chapter Faculty Advisor, (6) Department Honors Research Advisor.
Professional: Member, Dynamic Systems and Controls Division, ASME.
Professional Development in Last Five Years:
Sabbatical, Stanford University, Global Positioning System Laboratory (2002)
Project LEA/RN (2001)
Academic Chairpersons Conference, Orlando, FL (1999)
ABET 2000 Visitors and Dept. Heads Training Session, Baltimore, MD (1998).
Other Notable Achievements in Last Five Years:
Major professor for 5 M.S. students;
PI on $54K KNEP Research Grant (2000);
PI on $422K NASA EPSCoR Research Grant (1996-03);
CO-PI on $240K NASA EPSCoR Research Grant (2004-06);
Each year I secure and manage industrially funded projects for the Interdisciplinary Industrial Design Projects courses. In the past two years I have personally secured and managed 18 projects. Funding from the companies has ranged from $1000 per year on the least expensive project to $25,000 per year for the most expensive project.