Lt Col Michael D. Zollars, PhD
Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Lt Colonel Mike Zollars is an Assistant Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Lt Col Zollars entered the Air Force through the Reserve Officer and Training Corps (ROTC) at the Pennsylvania State University in 2003 where he earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. He began his active duty career at Holloman AFB as a flight test engineer testing GPS capabilities. After two years, he was accepted to the graduate school at AFIT and earned a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. His follow-on assignment was at the Air Force Research Lab working on automated air refueling with autonomous vehicles. Next, he spent three years as a Master Instructor teaching Statics, Dynamics, and Strength of Materials at the United States Naval Academy before heading to Los Angeles AFB to work in the GPS program office. While at LA AFB, he was accepted to AFIT and returned to WPAFB to earn his PhD in Aeronautical Engineering. Before starting his faculty assignment at AFIT, he spent 2 short years at AFLCMC/EN as a special projects engineer focused on navigation solutions to include GPS and alternative navigation. Lt Col Zollars’s research interests include dynamics, optimization and control systems for aeronautical systems, guidance and control algorithms, and stochastic estimation and control.
Education
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Penn State University (2003); M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology (2007); Ph.D. Aeronautical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology (2018)
Publications
Journal Articles
Michael D. Zollars, Richard G. Cobb, and David J. Grymin. Optimal Path Planning for Unmanned Aircraft Target Observation through Constrained Urban Environments. Journal of Air Transportation, 27(3), (2019), doi:10.2514/1.D0141.
Michael D. Zollars, Richard G. Cobb, and David J. Grymin. Optimal SUAS Path Planning in Three-Dimensional Constrained Environments. Unmanned Systems, 7(2), (2019), pp.105-118, doi: 10.1142/S2301385019500031.
Michael D. Zollars, Richard G. Cobb, and David J. Grymin. Simplex Solutions for Optimal Control Flight Paths in Urban Environments. Journal of Aeronautics and Aerospace Engineering, 6(3):8, (2017) p.8 doi:10.4172/2168-9792.1000197
Conference Papers
M. D. Zollars, R. G. Cobb and D. J. Grymin, Optimal Path Planning for SUAS Target Observation through Constrained Urban Environments using Simplex Methods, 2018 Annual American Control Conference (ACC), Milwaukee, WI, 2018, pp. 5094-5099, doi: 10.23919/ACC.2018.8430987.
M. D. Zollars, R. G. Cobb and D. J. Grymin, Optimal Path Planning for SUAS Waypoint Following in Urban Environments, 2018 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, 2018, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1109/AERO.2018.8396483.
M. D. Zollars, R. G. Cobb and D. J. Grymin, Simplex Optimal Control Methods for Urban Environment Path Planning, AIAA Sci-Tech Information Systems Conference, Orlando, FL, 2018, pp. 1-16, doi:10.2514/6.2018-2259.
M. D. Zollars, R. G. Cobb and D. J. Grymin, Simplex Methods for Optimal Control of Unmanned Aircraft Flight Trajectories, ASME Dynamic Systems and Controls Conference, Tysons Corner, VA, 2017, pp. 1-10, doi:10.1115/DSCC2017-5031.
Theses
Zollars, M., Simplex Control Methods for Robust Convergence of Small Unmanned Aircraft Flight Trajectories in the Constrained Urban Environment, PhD Dissertation, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB OH, September 2018.
Zollars, M., Optimal Wind Corrected Flight Path Planning for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles, Master’s Thesis, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB OH, March 2007.