AE Facilities

Offices, Classrooms, and Laboratories

The Aerospace Engineering Department has more than 2000 square meter space for its graduate and undergraduate programs distributed between Buildings 40, 06, 43C, and 106 and AE Southern Building. This space is used for academic and research purposes. The academic space consists of the following functions: classrooms, teaching laboratories, meeting rooms, chair and faculty offices, and staff offices for clerks and teaching assistants. The research space consists of research and support facilities. The students of the AE program have access to classrooms in Buildings 40 (shared with other engineering programs) and the Central KAU Library which is managed by the Deanship of Library Affairs. They are also served by KAU digital library and the Saudi Digital Library, providing comprehensive access to major scientific journal databases and eBooks. The department consistently maintains and updates the facilities allocated to its undergraduate program to ensure that the instructional and learning environment is adequate and safe for the intended purposes as per ABET Accreditation Policy and Procedure Manual (APPM) section I.E.5.b.(1) Facilities.

The General Administration for Security and Safety (GASS) in the university identifies to the Safety and Emergency Committee (SEC) of the Faculty of Engineering the general safety requirements and precautions to be implemented in the various facilities in the college. The identified safety requirements and precautions are based on national and international standard measurements, safety requirements, and vocational health. The SEC of the Faculty of Engineering, on the other hand, publishes the safety brochure and distributes it to the various departments and programs in the college. The chairman of the Aerospace Engineering Department ensures via the program Laboratory Committee and the relevant staff members that the published requirements for safety and protection of employees and students in the program are correctly implemented. Visits by SEC and GASS are made to the program's different facilities regularly to ensure that safety requirements and precautions are fulfilled. Students are also given clear instructions about safety precautions by instructors and technicians during their use of tools, equipment, computing resources, and laboratories. The department head has the authority to take further emergency actions, which he deems appropriate to avoid accidents or damage to personnel or property, pending investigation by the Dean and appropriate safety committees and other officers.

Although the majority of our labs existed over the years in the old buildings with limited space, our faculty has nonetheless consistently demonstrated the ability to perform world-class research and instruction. In the case of research, in particular, this is manifested in successful grants and publication outcomes. In the case of instructions, student outcomes are similarly excellent, as documented earlier in this self-study and as confirmed by other more longitudinal investigations of our students' career trajectories. With the move to the new buildings in 2014 and practically the doubling of the space of our lab facilities, we are confident in improving compliance with the requirements of Criterion 7 and those of ABET Accreditation Policy and Procedure Manual (APPM). The available space is helping to foster faculty-student interaction, encourage professional activities, and provide opportunities to the students to use modern engineering tools and to the faculty members to enhance their research outcomes.

Offices

All faculty, administrative, clerical, and teaching assistants offices house good quality desks, tables, shelves, and chairs and are equipped with a PC and a printer. The department provides most general-purpose office facilities that include facilities for telecommunication, local area networking. All offices have broadband high-speed Internet service, including wireless Internet. Most faculty members keep their computing facilities up to date through their research funding or by the departmental support. Most computer software licenses for faculty and staff are provided by the department, Faculty of Engineering, and the Deanship of Information Technology. Common central office facilities are provided and include photocopying and fax transmission. The size and facilities of all offices allow good interaction with students, including office hours and academic advising time, to support the attainment of student outcomes.

The Aeronautical Engineering Students Club is located in room 24C27 in Building 40. It houses desks, shelves, sofas, and chairs and is equipped with PCs and printers for students' use. The students use this room for a variety of purposes. Primarily, this facility serves as a study room or meeting place that provides a social environment for the students to relax and interact during their free time. The facility is instrumental in providing peer to peer advising due to the interaction of senior and junior students.

Classrooms and Associated Equipment

All classrooms and teaching spaces used by the students of the AE Program are clean, well lit, and air-conditioned. They provide non-crowded seating (up to a maximum of 30 students) and have large and, in some cases, multiple whiteboards. Each classroom is equipped with computer projection equipment and screen for use by the instructor in addition to smart boards. Student presentations also routinely use computer projection. There is convenient access to electrical outlets and Internet connections with a wireless option.

Each AE laboratory includes a small teaching area which is provided with the same classroom facilities mentioned above.

Laboratory Facilities

The program has the following two types of lab facilities located in Buildings 40, 06, 43C, and 106 and AE Southern Building.

     i.         Educational labs that serve the undergraduate program,

   ii.         Special-purpose/research labs for students' senior projects. 

It deserves mentioning that each lab is equipped with a first-aid kit, lab safety manual, and general safety instructions printed on a large scale notice board. Signs showing the lab title and the exit emergency doors are visible within the lab. Safety glasses and ear protectors are available as appropriate.  Fire protection is ensured through centrally installed fire alarm and fire extinguishing water systems as well as CO₂ portable fire extinguishers. Departmental Lab Committee, Faculty of Engineering Safety and Emergency Committee, and the University General Administration for Security and Safety run periodic auditing of safety in laboratories and communicate findings to the head of the department.

Concerning safety outcomes, it is worth noting that there have been no incidents involving injuries to students, staff, or faculty members involved in instructional activities for at least the past 15 years.

Educational Laboratories

The teaching and learning environment in the AE Program is enhanced through an excellent correlation between required course offerings and the laboratory facilities. These integrated laboratory experiences offer students substantial opportunities for hands-on training and experience that makes their theoretical studies more meaningful. Instructional laboratories are spacious and equipped with instruments to perform both basic and advanced experiments and measurements. The student laboratory stations have test and measuring equipment that is appropriate for the designated type of experimentation in the areas of aerodynamics, propulsion flight mechanics and control, structures, and aerospace materials. For the students to effectively apply the concepts learned in the classroom in a laboratory environment in a more conducive and learning environment, the maximum number of students per setup in any laboratory is limited to 5 students.

1-      Aerodynamics Lab I (Bldg. 43C, Ground floor – 120 m²)

This lab is dedicated to the research purposes of the faculty, graduate students, and senior undergraduate students in their final year capstone project and class assignments. A low-speed wind tunnel and cavitation/flow visualization water tunnel are the laboratory's main test facilities and can be utilized in a wide range of applications. The low-speed wind tunnel is suited for instrument calibration, bluff body aerodynamics, airfoil testing, vehicle aerodynamics, and wind engineering studies. The water tunnel serves specialized areas of cavitation studies, hydrofoils, propellers testing, flow visualizations, and hydrodynamics of under-water vehicles.

The low-speed subsonic wind tunnel has 50cm x 70cm test section with a 50m/s maximum speed, a sensitive 6-component high-frequency force transducer for time history load measurements, a three-component static force balance, and electronic multi-channel low-range pressure scanning system, and multi-channel hot-wire and hot-film anemometry for wind speed and turbulence measurements.

The water tunnel has a 30cm x 30cm test section and 6m/s maximum speed with a PIV system for 2D and stereoscopic velocity, multi-channel hot film anemometry for speed and turbulence measurements, flow visualization facilities including multiple dye injection ports, and portable mini LASER tube.

2-      Aerodynamics Lab II: (Bldg. 40, Rooms 24D62 and 24D63 – 228 m²)

This lab provides students with experiments in basic flow measurements and visualization.  Measurements include pressure distribution on circular cylinder and airfoils, lift and drag measurements of wings and bluff bodies, boundary layer measurements, and the use of hot-wire anemometer.  Flow visualization includes the study of the flow pattern around streamlined and bluff bodies. 

Existing stations and major equipment include

• two subsonic tunnels 30cm x 30cm – 25m/s with NACA 0015 airfoils (pressure distribution and sting mounted models), lift and drag dynamometer, pitot and boundary layer probes, multi-bank manometer, and a variety of drag models;
• low-speed portable smoke tunnel, 20cm x 10cm – 5m/s with a variety of models;
• airflow bench, 5cm x 20cm – 30m/s with various working  sections that can be used for boundary layer measurements, flow visualization, flow along a right-angled bend, and static pressure distribution inside variable area ducts;
• air jet and ground effect apparatus, with a round jet diameter of 5cm – 30m/s with static pressure probe and linearly traversed pitot tube and impact plate. Round jet development can be studied; impact force of a jet on a perpendicular surface can be studied in addition to the ground effect phenomena.

3-      Aerodynamics Lab III: (Bldg. 106, Ground floor – 576 m²)

This lab contains a supersonic test facility dedicated to research activities of the faculty, graduate students, and senior undergraduate students in their final year capstone project and class assignments. This facility is utilized to investigate slender body aerodynamics and compressible flow phenomena such as shock-wave/boundary-layer. Measurements include direct force and moment with sensitive internal 6-component high-frequency force balance, pitot-tube pressure, surface pressure, and heat flux. Strain gauge force balance is re-calibrated using a balance calibration rig. 

The wind tunnel is a Ludwieg-tube type with axi-symmetric test section, 240 mm diameter, with a Mach number 3 nozzle. The tunnel is equipped with a high-speed Stereoscopic PIV system (LaVision) for stereoscopic velocity measurements and a Dantec Dynamic Multi-Channel hot-wire system.

4-      Fundamental Structural Mechanics Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D19 – 91 m²)

The lab is used to provide students with experiments that supplement undergraduate aerospace structures courses by testing fundamental structures such as beams, frames, and trusses. The students are able to use many small load cells, strain gauges, dial gauges, and fixed loads.

5-      Aerospace Materials Characterization Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D09 – 65 m²)

The lab is used to provide students with experiments that supplement undergraduate and graduate aerospace structures and materials courses such as mechanical properties of components’ test. This lab also caters for necessary research such as fatigue and NDT using a universal test machine and an Acoustic Emission System.

6-      Aerospace Structural Components Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D06 – 65 m²)

This lab provides students with facilities to carry out hands-on work on their graduation projects related to aerospace structures and materials. Some of these projects involve the assembly of sheet metal or carbon-fiber composite wing components or landing gear structures as an example. The students can use a number of machining tools, strain gauges, and data acquisition boxes.

7-      Aerospace Composite Materials Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D12 and 24D15 – 125 m²)

This facility is a research and educational lab to construct composite laminates and components using various fibers and resins, employing manufacturing techniques such as vacuum bagging. The lab is temperature and humidity controlled to similar conditions found at an industrial aircraft manufacturing facility.  The lab produces research-quality nanocomposite specimens with equipment such as an ultrasonicator and a magnetic stirrer. 

8-      Aerospace Control Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D11 – 65 m²)

The lab is dedicated to education and research activities related to control systems design and implementation for aircraft, spacecraft, and uncrewed and autonomous aerial vehicles. The lab provides students with facilities for conducting experiments that focus on the design and real-time implementation of feedback control algorithms, system identification, and data-acquisition and signal processing. Research is pursued in advanced control topics such as robust nonlinear control, adaptive control, predictive control, guidance, navigation, and interception systems. Related equipment includes three degrees of freedom 3D gyroscope, quadrotor system, twin-rotor system, linear and rotary motion control systems, and Quanser and National Instruments platforms for control.

9-      Students’ Computer Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D23 – 87 m²)

The lab provides the students with access to computers and software packages necessary for class instructions and assignment related activities. The students’ computer lab consists of twelve hi-end desktop computers with Internet access. Each computer contains all software packages needed for course instructions and research. The PCs in the computer lab and offices are replaced periodically. With the recent transfer to the new buildings, application software packages are being updated. A list of these packages available or expected to be available by November 2020 is given in Table 7.1. Additional software can be added as per the request of the instructors.

Table 7.1: Software packages available or expected to be available by Nov. 2020

10-  High Speed Computer Lab: (Bldg. 40, Room 24D21 and 24D22 – 133 m²)

The department owns a state of the art High Speed Computing (HPC) facility, used for computational investigation of complex fluid flow with commercial or in-house developed RANS, LES, and DNS codes. Also, analyze data sets relevant to PIV measurement. The system consists of 87 AMD Compute Nodes (4176 CPU cores), 10 Intel/NVIDIA GPU Compute Nodes (240 Intel CPU cores + 10 Tesla M2070 GPUs).

Additionally, the department has access to the university HPC system, Aziz. Aziz supercomputer consists of ~500 computing nodes equipped with about 12,000 Intel® CPU cores with some of the nodes equipped with NVIDIA Tesla K20® GPUs and Intel® Xeon-Phi accelerators.

11-  Special Purpose Labs for Senior Projects

These laboratories are located in AE Southern Building and are summarized in Table 7.2 below.

Table 7.2: Special Purpose Labs in AE Southern Building

Computing Resources

Some inter-departmental courses such as Structured Computer Programming (EE 201) offered by the Electrical Engineering Department have a dedicated computer lab. Our students attend these courses as part of the curriculum and have full access to the computer lab supporting this course. The lab is equipped with more than 50 Quad processor desktop computers and is open during the regular working hours for the staff members. The chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department can also expand the regular working hours of this lab (8:00 AM–2:30 PM) when there is an increased demand on the available facility. This facility can be used by the students of the program as long as the required software is installed. Specialized Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering software like Solid Works, ANSYS, is not allowed to be installed on this facility's computers.       

Students of the program can use the central library two computer lab facilities that include around 200 computers. This facility is open for all students of KAU from 7:30 AM to 10:00 PM. The computers of this facility are equipped with an internet connection, wireless connection, and basic word processing and computing applications. Installations of any specialized software on the hard-disks of this facility are forbidden. Similarly, information storage on these hard-disks is not allowed, and students have no control over this option. However, they can store information on their personal USBs or personal external hard-disks. Meanwhile, the central library computer lab facilities are equipped with free access to most of the international literature databases. Besides, ، faculty and students can access databases from their laptops and computers from inside and outside the university using their accounts. 

The Deanship of Information Technology central support unit provides many other computing resources. Examples of these resources are providing internet connections at all campuses, wireless connections over the university's whole landscape, internet security for all university computers, and information storage for all activities, including educational and research activities. Moreover, this deanship provides a shared software library that contains the most used software within the university. Examples of these software packages are (1) Microsoft Office Professional Plus (Arabic/English), (2) Microsoft Project Professional (Arabic/English), (3) Microsoft Visio Premium (Arabic/English), (4) Microsoft Visual Studio (English), (5) SQL Server (English), and (6) Adobe Photoshop (English). The computer services provided by the Deanship of Information Technology are available to all students and faculty members as soon as they get their ID numbers. Upon application, a computer number and a password are assigned to permit users access to the computer services that are available all around the university.

All the AE faculty members have PCs in their offices. They are connected through the college's backbone network to the computational facilities in the college computer center and other departmental labs.

Guidance

The AE program has one full-time engineer and four teaching assistants who provide the programs' students with appropriate guidance regarding the use of tools, equipment, computing resources, and laboratories. In addition, the teaching assistants in the program participate in the guidance process mentioned above during their stay in the program before getting admission to continue their graduate studies. The faculty members of the program participate effectively in guiding the students to use equipment and laboratories. Their roles are vital in monitoring the performance of the engineers and technicians during the running of the experiments. 

AE program has one full-time engineer dedicated to the AE computer laboratory. He manages to guide the students on how to use the different available computing resources. For any hardware or network related problems, the Faculty of Engineering Scientific Equipment Maintenance Center (SEMC) is asked to handle and solve them.

Maintenance and Upgrading of Facilities

Maintenance of AE Facilities

Equipment maintenance and management in each AE lab is the responsibility of the laboratory manager and technicians. They must keep the equipment in good and safe working conditions.

Any equipment repair beyond the capabilities of the AE program personnel is forwarded to the Faculty of Engineering Scientific Equipment Maintenance Center (SEMC), which is responsible for all lab and technical equipment. If the SEMC is incapable of the equipment repair, the original supplier is contracted for repair. The university maintenance crew only handles building maintenance and utility related problems.

Upgrading of Facilities

The program is committed to the continuous upgrading and development of its labs including equipment, staff, and space wherever possible. The program has a Laboratory Committee pursuing and specifying future plans. This committee consists of faculty members and engineers in the program.

The Laboratory Committee is responsible for establishing and enforcing general laboratory policies. The committee also allocates the laboratory-specific resources to purchase materials, software, and equipment for both the undergraduate teaching laboratories and the special purpose labs and support facilities and to upgrade facilities. The program faculty members, engineers, and technicians are continuously encouraged to make suggestions or to submit requests for whatever they feel is needed for equipment maintenance, course work, or facilities upgrades.

The budget allocated to the program for equipment acquisition and running of the program laboratories and other facilities varies from year to year. This budget depends on several factors, including previous year total expenditures and equipment loss/permanent. Under normal conditions, the allocations for both running of the laboratories and purchasing new tools or small equipment are about SR 100,000 per year.

Major equipment can be purchased through the University Central Laboratories Initiative or as a part of funded research grants. Money from the program’s allocated budget and funding from the above sources are adequate for our current needs and future development.

Library Services

The central library of King Abdulaziz University, maintained and operated by the Deanship of Library Affairs, is available for all KAU students. The library houses a full collection of engineering books, journals, and databases. Library material is shelved as an open stack policy using the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme. The library collection is accessible to faculty members and students alike at their leisure. Professional librarians are available to assist.

The references staff handles Inter-Library Loans with other libraries in the Kingdom. The library contains nearly one million Arabic and non-Arabic books, reference materials, manuscripts, dissertations, and reports in different branches. The central library subscribes to various databases and has a wide range of periodicals, books, and other publications in aerodynamics, propulsion, control, materials, and structures. Reference services are available to the students and the faculty as well as access to PC networks. The Deanship of Library Affairs typically requests the program each year to provide it with up to one hundred new book titles related to the program to purchase in the following year.

The Deanship of Library Affairs has a digital library that allows students and faculty to access all information resources through the Internet and intranet. Examples of these resources include the Saudi Digital Library (SDL), ScienceDirect, Web of Science (ISI), IEEE, SpringerLink – Springer, Wiley, E-Journals, E-books and different databases such as EBSCO, Cambridge Journals, and others. These resources may be accessed through the web page of the Deanship of Library Affairs at   http://library.kau.edu.sa.