James Sutherland

University of Maryland

James is a 4th year Ph.D. student and currently works in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center under the advisement of Dr. Anubhav Datta. His research is focused on fabricating, modeling, and testing advanced geometry rotor blades for the Maryland Tiltrotor Rig installed in the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel. The goal of these blades is to alleviate dynamic instabilities and enable tiltrotors to fly at over 400 knots. Before starting his research in June of 2017, James graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. Last year, James was the team captain for UMD’s Graduate Team which won 1st Place in the VFS Student Design Competition, Leonardo’s Aerial Screw: 500 Years Later. Upon graduation, James hopes to be the lead engineer designing rotors for the next generation of rotorcraft.