Kurt S. Anderson

Associate Professor, Mechanical, Aerospace & Nuclear Engineering

Education:

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 1982
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 1984
Ph.D., Applied and Computational Mechanics, Stanford University, 1990

Career Highlights:

Anderson began his career working in dynamics, structural dynamics, and controls for TRW Space and Technology in Redondo Beach, Calif. After completing his doctorate degree, he accepted a position as a researcher and principal dynamics engineer at TRW and worked with various spacecraft and research programs. He then spent two years in Darmstadt, Germany as a visiting scholar, lecturer, and research fellow at the Technische Hochschule. Following that role, Anderson served two years as a faculty member in The Ohio State University's Department of Aerospace Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Aviation. He joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1995. He is a member of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the United States Association of Computational Mechanics (USACM), the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Xi.

Research Areas:

Professors Anderson's primary research goals are associated with development of advanced algorithms for modeling, simulating, and analyzing the behavior of complex dynamic systems such as spacecraft, robotic systems, automotive applications, the human body, and manufacturing operations. These analysis and simulation tools emphasize the use of algorithms, which obtain the desired accuracy, while requiring far fewer computational operations than their more traditional counterparts. Resulting simulations run much more quickly and allow a level of modeling and analysis that would otherwise be cost prohibitive. Results are accomplished through the use of special low operational order algorithms, multirate temporal integration methods, and intelligent exploitation of parallel computing.

Selected Publications:

K. S. Anderson and S. Duan, "Highly Parallelizable Low Order Dynamics Algorithm for Complex Multi-Rigid-Body Systems," AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics. Vol. 23, No. 2, March-April, 2000, pp. 355-364.

K. S. Anderson and S. Duan, "A Hybrid Parallelizable Low Order Algorithm for Dynamics of Multi-Rigid-Body Systems: Part I, Chain Systems," journal Mathematical and Computer Modeling vol. 30, 1999, pp. 193-215.

K. S. Anderson and S. Duan, "Parallel Implementation of a Low Order Algorithm for Dynamics of Multibody Systems on a Distributed Memory Computing System," journal Engineering with Computers, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2000, pp 96-108.

K. S. Anderson and S. Duan, "A New Order-N, Order-N³ Hybrid Parallelizable Algorithm for Multi-Rigid-Body Dynamics," submitted to ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, in review.

K. S. Anderson and Y. H. Hsu, "Analytical Full-Recursive Sensitivity Analysis for Multibody Chain Systems," Multibody Systems Dynamics, in press.

K. S. Anderson and Y. H. Hsu, "Domain Approximation and Deterministic Progression in Genetic Crossover," accepted for publication in the journal Engineering Optimization.

Y. H. Hsu and K. S. Anderson, " Recursive Sensitivity Analysis for Constrained Multi-rigid-body Dynamic Systems Design Optimization," accepted for publication in Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization.

Y. H. Hsu and K. S. Anderson, "Low Operational Order Analytic Sensitivity Analysis for Tree-Type Multibody Dynamic Systems," AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 24, No. 6. pp. 1133-1143.

O. Kopmaz and K. S. Anderson, "On the Eigenfrequencies of a Flexible Arm Driven by a Flexible Shaft," Journal of Sound and Vibrations, Vol. 240, No. 4, pp. 679-704, 2001.

K. S. Anderson,"Improved Order-n Performance Algorithm for the Simulation of Constrained Multi-Rigid-Body Systems," Multibody Systems Dynamics, in review.

Contact Information:

Kurt S. Anderson
4006 Jonsson Engineering Center
(518) 276-2339
anderk5@rpi.edu
www.rpi.edu/~anderk5/