Chance C McColl
Dr. McColl is a Professor of the Practice at Georgia Tech. With over 30 years’ experience as an aircraft loads engineer, Dr. McColl also serves as President for TDA (Technical Data Analysis, Inc.; MD and GA) and oversees TDA’s loads engineering (fixed wing, rotary wing, UAS) and aircraft structural fatigue life tracking application development for US military (USN, US Army, USAF) and government (NASA, NOAA), international (Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Korea) and industry (Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin). Dr. McColl has been with TDA since 2001. Prior to that, he was a lead aircraft loads engineer, both at Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Since 2004, Dr. McColl has developed and taught numerous aircraft external loads and aeroservoelasticity/controls short courses for the US Navy, US Air Force, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Korean Aerospace Industries.
Professor McColl's teaching interests include foundational and advanced topics in aerospace engineering, with an emphasis on system dynamics, controls, flight dynamics, aircraft structures, and rotorcraft design. He integrates his 30+ years of industry experience to enhance learning and encourages student engagement in practical and theoretical aspects of aerospace systems and their design considerations.
Professor McColl's research focuses on the development of innovative methods for structural fatigue life tracking of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
Disciplines:
- Aeroelasticity & Structural Dynamics
- Flight Mechanics & Controls
- Structural Mechanics & Materials
AE Multidisciplinary Research Areas:
- Large-Scale Computations, Data, and Analytics
- Vertical Lift and Urban Air Mobility
- Georgia Tech, PhD, 2012
- Georgia Tech, MSAE, 1993
- University of Colorado at Boulder, BSAE, 1992
Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering 2021 Most Valuable Professor (MVP) Award, May 2021 NAWCAD (Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division) Innovation Team Award, Dec 2019 The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) Team Achievement Award, Nov 2014 Lockheed Martin Eagle Award, 2000
1. Matricciani, E., Kelley, D., Thaiss, C., Sarkar, S., Kim, S., Chase, C., Kwon, S., Phan, N., Hocut, T., Normyle, K., McColl, C., “Predictive Model Based Control System for High-Speed Dynamic Airframe Testing,” AA&S 2025 Conference, May 2025.
2. Griendling, K., McColl, C., “Hands-On & Heads Together: Fueling EM Through Collaborative Experiential Learning,” 2025 KEEN National Conference, Austin, TX, Jan 2025.
3. Matricciani, E., Thaiss, C., McColl, C., Hong, C., Kasprzak, J., Phan, N, “Predictive model-based control system for high-speed dynamic airframe testing,” 79th VFS Annual Forum & Technology Display, West Palm Beach, FL, May 2023.
4. McColl, C., Thaiss, C., Ju, C., Kim, Y., and Selvaratnam, R., “An Innovative Rotorcraft Usage Spectrum Methodology with Application to Fatigue Life Assessment of Critical UH-60A Rotating Frame Components based on Fixed System Measurements,” AIAA SciTech Forum, San Diego, CA, Jan 2022.
5. McColl, C., Bauchau, O., Sonneville, V., deMontfort, C., Harper, B., McGinty, R., and Bazilevs, Y., “The Load Confluence Algorithm Applied to a Combined Rotor/Fuselage Loads Model with Extended Application to Structural Fatigue Life Tracking,” Vertical Flight Society’s 75th Annual Forum & Technology Display, Philadelphia, PA, May 2019.