The Aerospace Department’s Low Speed Wind Tunnel is a teaching and research facility located in Building 41B. For general or commercial inquiries, contact lab director Dr. Nandeesh Hiremath, nhiremat@calpoly.edu

Wind Tunnel Specifications:

Top speed: 130mph (190ft/s, 58m/s)

Moving ground (rolling road) belt top speed (2016): 100mph (147ft/s, 45m/s)

Test section: 4ft (w) x 3ft (h) ( 1.22m x 0.91m), 14ft length (4.3m) with ground boundary layer suction over moving ground plane.

Instrumentation: 6-component force balance and position control, 64-channel Scanivalve pressure measurement, 3-axis wake probe traverse for pressure/hot wire measurements, TSI stereo PIV system (2016), custom Labview interface for DAQ.

If you want to personally help us keep Cal Poly’s aeronautical program at the leading edge, give to support Learn By Doing! Many companies offer gift-matching and donations are tax-deductible. Click on the link below to be directed to the Cal Poly’s Secure Donation Page.

For offline gifts, inquiries, or discussions of major naming-rights possibilities for the lab, contact Dr. Paulo Iscold directly, piscold@calpoly.edu, or on 805-756-7140.

We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a lot to do to get the lab up to speed, and with your generous support, we can guarantee that students can gain vital experience with:

• Completely new lab-based, learn by doing undergraduate class experiences based around unique, creative and innovative projects.  
• Working with new technologies such as 3d printing in metal and plastic to test novel futuristic, efficient aircraft configurations that wouldn’t have been possible even a decade ago.
• Earn-by-doing experiences through internships and design/build projects that support student learning while they work as laboratory assistants on research and testing projects.
• Meaningful development programs in major Design/Build/Fly and Design/Build/Drive projects – the sooner we can complete work on the lab, the sooner our teams can take advantage of their new competitive edge at AIAA, SAE and Ecomarathon competitions!