• Mark Costello
  • Associate Professor
  • Sikorsky Associate Professor

Contact Information

Office: SST/Weber 211F
Phone: 404.894.4303
Fax: 404.894.9313

Education

  • B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 1987, Pennsylvania State University
  • M.S., Aerospace Engineering, 1989, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, 1992, Georgia Institute of Technology

Biography

Dr. Mark Costello is currently an associate professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering working in the area of flight mechanics, control, and air vehicle design.  He is the Sikorsky Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the Center of Excellence in Rotorcraft Technology at Georgia Tech.  He has earned national recognition for a substantial research program in the development of innovative flight mechanics and controls technologies for a variety of flight vehicles, including rotorcraft, projectiles, parafoils, and unmanned air vehicles.  He is the P.I. for a long standing joint research program with the Army Research Laboratory in the area of smart weapons and unmanned air vehicles.  Findings from his group’s research endeavors are summarized in over 75 papers in archival journals, conference proceedings, and technical reports.  Prior to his appointment at Georgia Tech, he was on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University and the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He also worked as a research engineer in the Helicopter Division of the Boeing Company and at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.  He is an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control and the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. He is an Associate Fellow of AIAA as well as a member of AHS and ASME.

Research

Research at the intersection of aerospace systems design and air vehicle flight dynamics and control with specific focus on the following:
  • Understanding the dynamic behavior of new air vehicle configurations
  • Creating new physical control mechanisms for air vehicles
  • Creating new, highly integrated air vehicle sensor systems
  • Developing advanced flight control systems for rotorcraft, smart weapons, micro air vehicles, and autonomous parafoils

Honors and Distinctions

  • Associate Fellow of the AIAA

Selected Publications

  • N. Slegers, J. Kyle, M. Costello, “A Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Technique for Unmanned Air Vehicles,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, To Appear, 2006.
  • J. Kyle, M. Costello, “Comparison of Measured and Simulated Motion of a Scaled Dragline Excavation System,” Mathematical and Computer Modeling, To Appear, 2006.
  • G. Frost, M. Costello, “Control Authority of a Projectile Equipped with an Internal Unbalanced Part,” Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, To Appear, 2006.
  • M. Costello, C. Webb, “Angular Rate Estimation Using an Array of Fixed and Vibrating Triaxial Acceleration Measurements,” Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol 42, No 6, pp 1133-1137, 2005.
  • L. Hainz, M. Costello, “Modified Projectile Linear Theory for Rapid Trajectory Prediction,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol 28, No 5, pp 1006-1014, 2005.