Cornel Sultan

Cornel Sultan is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on Tensegrity Structures, Rotorcraft Modeling and Control, and Energy Harvesting. He earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University. Sultan has advised numerous Ph.D. students, with recent graduates contributing to academia and industry. He holds awards including AIAA Associate Fellow (2017) and Fellow of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering (2016).

Education: Ph.D., M.S. (Applied Mathematics) from Purdue University; B.S./M.S. from Polytechnic University, Romania.

Research Interests: Tensegrity Structures (prestressable, dynamics, membrane integration); Rotorcraft Control (helicopter models, shipboard operations); Energy Harvesting (ocean current turbines, vibration energy). Key publications include works on tensegrity deployment, helicopter control algorithms, and ocean energy systems. His work spans theoretical mechanics, control theory, and applied engineering solutions.

Professional Contributions: Technical chairs for AIAA conferences (2015-2016), member of AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee. Grants supported by NSF and ONR, focusing on hydrokinetic power systems and structural dynamics.

Labs/Teams: Active in Virginia Tech’s aerospace robotics and autonomous systems research, collaborating on projects like ocean current turbine arrays and tensegrity-based robotics.