FIU engineers work on next generation transportation

POSTED ON Aug 10, 2018

An aerospace company owner has built the Assen A1 flying hoverbike with the help of FIU students. The computer-controlled bike weighs 100 pounds and can potentially fly up to 10,000 feet. The bike was showcased at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh event, which took place July 23 through July 29 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The FIU engineers are part of the Bridge to the Doctorate program, which helps underrepresented students obtain doctoral degrees in STEM fields by providing them with a full-tuition scholarship and an annual living stipend.

From left to right are Marcus Herndon, an FIU mechanical engineering doctoral student, John Gibson, an electrical engineering and computer engineering doctoral alumnus, and Lamar Burton and Micheal Adeyosoye, electrical engineering and computer engineering doctoral students.

“The Bridge to the Doctorate program gave me the resources necessary to excel in my graduate studies,” Gibson told Diana Hernandez-Alende of FIU News. “Because of this program, I was able to come to FIU, eventually meet Burton and Herndon and through them, I’m now a part of something more, the Assen Aeronautics team.”

Gibson is FIU’s first Bridge to the Doctorate program graduate.

“When I met Andonov in October 2017, he only had the propellers and the engine. Bringing my colleagues and friends together to create the team was actually quite rewarding, especially when we saw the final piece come to life,” Herndon said.

Assen Andonov, the founder of Assen Aeronautics, said he was inspired to make the product after a friend came back from a trip to Haiti and told him about the huge cracks on the roads caused by the major earthquake in 2010.

“Someone called an ambulance and the ambulance could not cross because of a crack that measured six feet in length,” he said. “However, I think our main audience, at first, will be sports enthusiasts or people who enjoy the thrill of riding motorcycles,” he said.