Highly decorated UC engineering student presents at global conference

“Mechanical engineering made the most sense for robotics applications,” she said. “Robotics is a mix of several areas of engineering. You have mechanical, you have aerospace, you have electrical and computer science — all working together.”

UC engineering students alternate between classroom instruction and work experience in their field each semester as part of the cooperative education (co-op) program. Many students complete their co-ops in industry, working all around the world. Gilligan, however, opted to take an alternate route and complete most of her co-ops working in research.

As Gilligan was finishing high school, she was presented with an opportunity to work in one of UC's research labs, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Multi-Agent Systems Technology Research (UAV MASTER) Lab with Kelly Cohen, professor of aerospace engineering. Once Gilligan got to UC, she completed her first official co-op rotation at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in the Space Mechanisms Division and realized how much she enjoyed the research she did in the UAV MASTER Lab. 

Luckily, the UAV MASTER Lab offers co-ops to students. Gilligan completed the rest of her co-ops working with Cohen in the lab on her own project named All-Terrain Aerial Robotic Interface, or ATARI. With this project, she has a collaborative aerial vehicle and a ground vehicle with a leveling platform. 

These vehicles are used for things like space exploration (the rovers on Mars), search and rescue missions and other emergency response situations. However, Gilligan explained that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) like hers have very short flight times due to their batteries. Additionally, these vehicles must land on flat surfaces because of the vehicle’s physics. If they try to land on an inclined surface, such as a hill, they can tip over or bounce during takeoff or landing. The leveling platform on Gilligan’s ground vehicle allows hill landings to happen safely. The ground vehicle can drive up the hill and provide a flat space for the UAV to land.

Along with safer landings, the ground vehicle can also conserve the UAV’s flight time by transporting it between tasks.

"Say you want to do am imagery task where you are, and there's another task to do further away, but your battery doesn't provide enough flight time for both," Gilligan said. "If you can land the UAV on that ground vehicle and transport it in between tasks, then you can conserve some of that battery." 

Gilligan has been working on this project for three years, and in January 2023, she presented it at the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Conference, the world’s largest event for aerospace research. Gilligan was given the opportunity to present at the conference after being awarded first place in the undergraduate category at the regional conference in March 2022.  

“Working in research here at UC I’ve learned so much,” Gilligan said. “You get paid less in research co-ops compared to industry, but it’s worth it because of all the experience you get.”

Gilligan’s research co-op gave her the opportunity to present at SciTech, learn how to apply for grants and learn flight testing and systems engineering. This invaluable experience led her to choose to remain at UC to continue working with Cohen and earn her doctoral degree in aerospace engineering.

“I’m just dying to learn more,” she said. “The more I learn, the less I know.”

Along with presenting in the International Student Competition at SciTech, Gilligan has been awarded a Rindsberg fellowship, multiple Ohio Space Grant Consortium Awards, an undergraduate fellowship from UC’s Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration (SRIDE) and the AIAA Daedalus 88 Scholarship.

Ultimately, Gilligan’s goal is to work at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on robotics. The research experience Gilligan is developing in the UAV MASTER Lab is preparing her for her graduate program and hopefully, NASA.

“My undergrad research experience really puts me ahead. I’ll be able to hit the ground running with my graduate program,” she said.

Featured image at top: Rebecca Gilligan during a test flight for the UC Aerial Vehicles team. Photo/provided.