Parks College Parachute Research Group

Press Releases, News, and Announcements

See our links page for links to the associations and companies mentioned below.

June 2007 - Three-Stage Model for Slider-Reefed Parafoil Inflation, presented at AIAA conference, added to Research page.
June 2007 - Semi-Numerical Derivation of the Opening Shock Factor and Inflation Time for Slider-Reefed Parafoils, presented at AIAA conference, added to Research page.
May 2007 - AIAA-2007-2551, Testing Without Load Cells - Can Opening Shock Be Estimated From Video Data Only? and AIAA-2007-2551 Talk, the presentation given by Dr. Jean Potvin at the May 2007 AIAA conference, added to PIFCALC page.
May 2007 - Opening Shock and Shape of the Drag-vs-Time Curve, presented at AIAA conference, added to Research page.
September 2006 - PIFCALC, the Parachute Inflation Calculator, a Windows-based computer program for the computation of the opening shock of manned parachutes, first version released.
July 2006 - OSCALC, the Opening Shock Calculator, a Windows-based computer program for the computation of parachute opening shock, first version released.
May 2006 - The "Swoop Streamer", learning canopy manuvers with a visual reference at safe altitudes, added to the Skydiver Area.
September 2005 - Design Info area added.
May 2005 - A New Inflation Model for Low-Porosity Hemispherical Parachutes: Validation and Implementation in PIMS V3.0 presented at the 18th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Conference and Seminar, Munich, Germany, Paper AIAA 2005-1687.
May 2005 - Modeling the Interaction of Sub-scale Parachutes With Atmospheric Turbulent Eddies presented at the 18th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Conference and Seminar, Munich, Germany, Paper AIAA 2005-1675.
May 2005 - Inflation and Steady-Descent Characteristics of Truncated Cone Decelerators presented at the 18th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Conference and Seminar, Munich, Germany, Paper AIAA 2005-1620.
January 2005 - PCPRG members give the presentation Development of a New Parachute Inflation Modeling Computer Program at the 2005 Parachute Industry Association International Symposium in Jacksonville, FL.
November 9th, 2004 - PCPRG military testing is spotlighted in the St. Louis Post Dispatch feature article Chuting the Breeze, written by Eli Kintisch, with photos by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
October 8, 2004 - PCPRG featured booth at Beyond Imagination, a Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology Exposition and Extravaganza an exclusive Parks event held during Homecoming Weekend where attendees could learn about the college's initiatives and view the college's cutting-edge technology at interactive booths.
Summer 2004 - Saint Louis University Knowledge, Research and Scholarship Magazine article The Sky's the Limit with Parachute Research describes the PCPRG work related to student research assistants.
May 2003 - PIMS, the Parachute Inflation Modeling Suite, a Windows-based computer program for the simulation of parachute inflation, first version released.
Spring 2003 - The career work of Jean Potvin and Gary Peek are presented in the Career Connections section of the Integrated Mathematics, Science, and Technology (IMAST) textbook entitled Forecasting, a publication developed by the Illinois State University, and supported by a National Science Foundation grant.
March 2003 - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) publication Journal of Aircraft (March-April 2003) publishes the PCPRG paper New Model of Decelerating Bluff-Body Drag, by Jean Potvin, Gary Peek, and Becky Brocato.
February 2003 - PCPRG members give the presentation Outrageous Pack Jobs and Canopy Control at the 2003 Parachute Industry Association International Symposium in Jacksonville, FL.
September 2001 - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) publication Journal of Aircraft (September-October 2001) publishes the PCPRG paper Modeling the Inflation of Ram-Air Parachutes Reefed with Sliders, by Jean Potvin, Gary Peek, and Becky Brocato.
February 2001 - PCPRG members give the presentation Opening Shock Basics at the 2001 Parachute Industry Association International Symposium in San Diego, CA.
April 2000 - PRG student members win third place in AIAA student competition
Becky Brocato and Carlos Manglano won third prize ($250 and certificates) for their paper entitled "Size and Speed Scaling Study of Parachute Inflation Dynamics", at the Region V AIAA student conference held at Wichita, Kansas on April 26-28, 2000. A total of 23 papers were presented at this conference.
New World Vistas Summer 1999 Activities where we describe what we have been doing for this U.S. Air Force sponsored program.
June 1999 - PCPRG hosts a film crew from the History Channel and provided freefall video for their coming program Modern Marvels - Parachutes, which debuted in August 1999.
March 1999 - United States Parachutes Association official publication Parachutist magazine spotlights the PCPRG with an article in the "Industry Beat" column.
January 1999 - PCPRG members give the presentation Putting Science at the Service of Riggers and Manufacturers at the 1999 Parachute Industry Association International Symposium in San Diego, CA.
August 1998 - Parachute Industry Association August 1998 PARANEWSBRIEF contains press release describing recent PCPRG web site updates and new areas.
September 1998 - The PCPRG is chosen as a sub-contractor to Pioneer Aerospace Corporation's R and D contract on the parafoil used by NASA's X-38 vehicle. The X-38 is a prototype for the Crew Return Vehicle to be used on the International Space Station.
Summer 1998 - Article by Jean Potvin entitled Parachute Inflation included in the McGraw-Hill 1998 Yearbook on Science and Technology.
December 1998 - The PCPRG is introducing a new method of measuring the drag of model parachutes at low cost - by dropping these models from a flying manned ram-air parachute. This feat can be accomplished because the slow forward speed of a parachute launch platform allows drag measurements to be made using only a barograph, which records the descent speed of the model.