In recent seven years (since 1996), my research has been concentrated on a substantial project on the borderline of Applied Mathematics and Aeronautic Engineering. This project is concerned with analysis of in-flight vibrations of aircraft wings. Its main focus is the problem of flutter in aircraft wings, its control and subsequent suppression. The flutter problem is of great practical importance and is ranked among top research projects by NASA Aeronautics and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). With the advance of new technology, which produces new generation of high-speed and highly maneuverable vehicles, the importance of flutter analysis will only be increasing.

        At the present stage of this research, the project came to the point when creation of an interdisciplinary research team and establishing close ties with industry has become necessary. Such a team should include applied mathematics, numerical analysts, mechanical and aeronautic engineers, and practitioners from aeronautic engineers, and practitioners from aeronautic industry.

        A significant step in building up the aforementioned team has already been made; however, much more work is ahead. Since 1996, I have been working on this project in close collaboration with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (where the flutter project has been initiate in 1963) and with Flight Systems Research Center (FSRC) of UCLA. I have presented numerous invited talks at both Centers and have spent a year at FSRC as a Senior Research Scientist. The entire project conducted by the Centers is concentrated on analysis of realistic very complicated aircraft wing models. Those models have been investigated experimentally at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, and extensively studied numerically both in the United Stated and abroad. They have also been investigated theoretically in a series of my own recent works. I was able to establish first in the world literature on aeroelasticity precise analytical results on the distribution of the so-called aeroelastic modes and mode shapes (the quantities that can be measure experimentally).

        The importance of my research has been recognized both by both funding agencies and by the scientific community. Totally, I have been supported by five NSF grants, three of which were received in the last four years and they directly supported the current project. I have also been supported by four Advanced Research Program of Texas grants. Since 1996, I have presented 47 invited talks on the current project and related topics at International conferences and other universities. In particular, in Summer of 2002, I had an invited scientific tour of five Aeorspace Engineering Research Centers in Germany and presented there my recent results on the analysis of aircraft wing models. Currently, I have received several invitations to present my results abroad. Since 1996, I have published 31 substantial papers on the above project in leading archive journals, and five more long papers are currently submitted. Now I am directing two Ph.D. and two M.S. students. Two more my Ph.D. students have graduated in Spring of 2002 and Spring of 2003, respectively.

        At the present moment, the project has come to a stage when individual theoretical research is not sufficient for serious progress. In ideal, my plan is to create a team involving university researchers (both numerical analysts and experimentalists) and engineers from industry. I feel that my knowledge of the area and expertise will allow me to lead a whole team having a unique opportunity to carry out experimental and numerical verification of the models, for precise analytical results have become available.

        Most recently, I have made contacts with Mathematical Division of AFOSR and I am currently working on a proposal for this agency. Finally, I would like to point out that for the real success of this project, it would be very beneficial to be in close proximity to an aircraft industrial center.