Lih-Min Hsia worked for Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles before coming to
CSULA. He continued to consult for Northrop, Western Gear, JPL, and TRW on
various mechanical components on aircrafts and satellites through the years. In
1998 he received a three-year NASA grant for conducting research on the control
structure interaction in large flexible space structures. His current research, funded
by NASA /JPL, is in the area of inflatable structures development for large membrane-type
of antennas in space. He has co-authored a number of technical papers for publication
in the AIAA Conference Proceedings for this work. He is responsible for teaching the
Senior Project class in Mechanical Engineering and has successfully brought in projects
from industry in the areas of biomedical devices, food-processing machinery, construction
equipment, and process automation.
Department of Mechanical Engineering
California State University, Los Angeles, California
Teaching graduate and undergraduate courses and research in Kinematics and Dynamics of Mechanisms.s
Visiting Research Professor
1991
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Taught a special topics course in the Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms. Organized and lectured at the Applied Mechanisms Workshop. Consulted with colleagues and graduate students on research projects.
Director
1986
Computer Productivity Center
School of Engineering And Technology
California State University, Los Angeles
Responsible for coordinating computer-related activities within the School including equipment acquisition, curriculum development, and facilities planning.
Senior Lecturer
1980-1981
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Part-time teaching, taught junior-level courses in Mechanisms and Engineering Dynamics.
Lecturer
1979
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of California, Davis, California
Full-time teaching, taught two sections of a junior-level course in Engineering Dynamics.
Lecturer
1977-1978
Department of Mechanical Engineering
California State University, Sacramento, California
Part-time teaching, taught junior-level courses in Kinematics and Machine Design.
Lecturer
1977
Division of Engineering
California State University, Chico, California
Full-time teaching, taught a junior-level course in Automatic Controls and a senior Mechanical Engineering Laboratory course.
Industrial
Consultant
1997-1998
TRW, Redondo Beach, California
The design and implementation of an automated system for stringing solar cells together.
NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow
1985,1986
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Spent ten weeks consulting at JPL each time. Worked on computer-aided mechanical design software in 1985. Investigated positioning error in harmonic gear drives in 1986.
Member of Technical Staff
1979-1983
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, California
Computer-aided design and analyses of mechanical components used on satellite antenna deployment mechanisms such as bearings, gears, and springs. Vibrational analyses of antenna and support equipment for ground-based radars. Consulted with test engineers on test plan preparation. Analyzed test data and made recommendations for correction. Also worked on the analysis and design of mechanisms and structures used on optical devices in space applications.
Received a three-year $300,000 Faculty Awarded Research Grant from NASA to conduct research on "the control structure interaction in large flexible space structures". 1998-2001
Received a CSULA mini-grant to develop a robotic sampling system ("tram") for continuous, autonomous sampling in the field. 2002
Received a National Science Foundation grant to initiate an International Educational Exchange Program with Tongji University in China. 2004
"Inflatable Technology Development"
1998-present by Jet Propulsion Laboratory for over $500,000 to date
Development of large, ultra-lightweight inflatable structures for sunshield and reflectarray antenna applications
"Inflatable Tail Cone Fabrication"
1999 by Boeing Company for $15,000
Fabrication and testing of an inflatable tail cone
"Fabrication of Microwave Filters"
1988-1989 by Hughes Aircraft Company for $25,000
Fabrication of precision filters for microwave applications.
"Super-Plastic Forming Part-Handling System"
1987-1988 by Northrop Corporation for $32,000
The design and implementation of a mechanical system to aid the loading of titanium sheets and unloading of the formed parts in Super-Plastic Forming Process.
"Investigation of Impact Problems in Actuation Systems"
1986-1988 by Lucas Western Aerospace Co. for $34K
Mathematical modeling of aircraft actuation systems under impact.
"On the Principle of Transference in Three-Dimensional Kinematics"
JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN
Trans. ASME, Vol.103, No.3, pp.652-656, 1981.
"Stress Fluctuation in High Speed Mechanisms"
JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN
Trans. ASME, Vol.103, No.4, pp.736-742, 1981.
"Application of Screw Calculus to the Evaluation of Manipulator Workspace"
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2ND ARMY CONFERENCE ON APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
Troy, New York, May 22-25, pp.765-785, 1984.
"On the Intrinsic Properties of Point Trajectories in Three-Dimensional Kinematics"
JOURNAL OF MECHANISMS, TRANSMISSIONS, AND AUTOMATION IN DESIGN
Trans. ASME, Vol.107, No.3, pp.401-405, 1985.
"Robotic Manipulator Kinematics and Dynamics-State of the Art"
An invited paper presented at the Midwest-America Science and Technology Conference, Stouffer Concourse Hotel, St. Louis, June 5-7, 1987.
"The Analysis and Design of Harmonic Gear Drives"
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1988 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS
Beijing, China, August 8-12, vol.I, pp.616-619, 1988.
"Instantaneous Invariants and Curvature Analysis for Planar Mechanisms"
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD BIENNIAL ASME MECHANISMS CONFERENCE
DE-Vol.71, Mechanism Synthesis and Analysis, pp.61-68, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 11-14, 1994.
"Instantaneous Invariants and Curvature Analysis of a Planar Four-Link Mechanism"
JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN
Trans. ASME, Vol.116, No.4, pp.1173-1176, 1994.
"A combined Analytical and Experimental Study on Space Inflatable booms"
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2000 IEEE AEROSPACE CONFERENCE
Big Sky, Montana, March 2000
"Development of Space Inflatable/Rigidizable STR Aluminum Laminate Booms"
AIAA paper 2000-5296, presented at SPACE 2000 CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION
Long Beach, California, September 19-21, 2000
"Catenary Systems for Membrane Structures"
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2001 AIAA STRUCTURES, STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, AND MATERIALS CONFERENCE,
Seattle, Washington, April 2001
"Development of A Three-Meter Ka-Band Reflectarray Antenna"
AIAA paper 2002-1706, presented at THE 3RD AIAA GOSSAMER SPACECRAFT FORUM
Denver, Colorado, April 22-25, 2002
"Thermal Distortion Analyses of A Three-Meter Inflatable Reflectarray Antenna"
AIAA paper 2003-1650, presented at THE 4TH AIAA GOSSAMER SPACECRAFT FORUM
Norfolk, Virginia, April 7-10, 2003
"Inflatable Structure for a Three-Meter Reflectarray Antenna"
AIAA Journal of Space and Rockets, Vol.41, No.4, pp.543-550, July-August 2004
"Development of a 7-Meter Inflatable Reflectarray Antenna,"
AIAA paper 2004-1502,presented at the 45th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Palm Springs, California, April 2004
"An Eight-Meter Inflatable Reflectarray Antenna and Its Inflatable/Self-Rigidizable Booms,"
10th ASCE Aerospace Division Conference on Engineering and Operations in Challenging Environments (Earth & Space 2006), League City/Houston, TX, March 5-8, 2006
"Design and Technologies Development for an Eight-Meter Inflatable Reflectarray Antenna,"
AIAA-2006-2230, 47th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Newport, Rhode Island, May 1-4, 2006
