Portrait of COL James Bluman in front of an American flag.

COL James Bluman

Academy Professor, Associate Professor

james.bluman@westpoint.edu

Biography

COL James E. Bluman, PhD, PE, serves as the Research Program Director for the Department of Mathematical Sciences at West Point.  COL Bluman’s previous assignments and positions include serving as the Director for the Center for Innovation and Engineering and an associate professor in Civil and Mechanical Engineering, an Assistant Product Manager for the Armed Scout Helicopter Project Office, and various command, staff, and platoon leader positions as an Army Aviator.  He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Point in mechanical engineering (1999), his M.S. in aerospace engineering from Penn State (2008), and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (2017).  His research interests are focused on robotics, flapping wing micro-air vehicles, and small unmanned aerial systems (UAS).  COL Bluman is a senior Army Aviator and a member of the Army Acquisition Corps with a Level III DAWIA certification in Program Management.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and a recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering’s Donald N. Zwiep Award for Innovation in Education. 

Ongoing Research Projects

  • Unmanned Autonomy for Aerial Systems - a multi-department effort to develop and validate algorithms to facilitate autonomous search of aerial robotic vehicles
  • Generative AI in Undergraduate Research - a multi-department effort to investigate and evaluate the usage of generative AI and related technology in the pursuit of undergraduate research
  • Image Classification for DoD Applications - assess the performance of Image Classification and Object Detection algorithms in various contexts and applications within the Army and DoD

Publications & Presentations

Recent Publications

1. Steckenrider, J., Miller, M., Blankenship, R., Bluman, J. and Trujillo, V. "Lissajous Curves as Aerial Search Patterns,” Scientific Reports 14, 11144 (2024) doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60803-2

2. Blankenship, R., Bluman, J., & Steckenrider, J. “An Investigation of Search Algorithms for Aerial Reconnaissance of an Area Target.” Industrial and Systems Engineering Review, 10(2), 2022. http://iser.sisengr.org/index.php/iser/article/view/179

3. Pohly, J. A., Kang, C., Landrum, D., Bluman, J. E., Aono, H. “Data-driven CFD Scaling of Bioinspired Mars Flight Vehicles for Hover.” Acta Astronautica. Vol 180, March 2021: 545-559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.12.037

 

Recent Conference Proceedings

1. Asuncion, E. C., Bluman, J. E., Steckenrider, J. J. “Deterministic Flight Pattern Generation for Multi-Sector Aerial Search,” AIAA SciTech Forum, 2024, Orlando, FL. doi.org/10.2514/6.2024-0231

2. Miller, M. J., Trujillo, V. E., Bluman, J. E., Steckenrider, J. J. “A Comparison of Lissajous Curves to Traditional Patterns in Aerial Search Simulations” 2023 Winter Simulation Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2023, pp. 2482-2493. doi.org/10.1109/WSC60868.2023.10408065

3. Louk, J., Salzman, M., Kim, M., Melendez, A., Manjunath, P., Doscher, D., Bluman, J. E. “Overpressure Effects on Quadcopter Stability from Tank Muzzle Blasts,” AIAA SciTech Forum, January 23–27, 2023, Washington, DC, and online. AIAA-2023-1732. doi:10.2514/6.2023-1732

4. Robinson, J. R., Scott, K. M., Blejwas, M. J., Whitton, Z. W., Thomsen, J. H., Grzybowski, B. J., Kirby, D. P., Leth, K. A., Finke, N. A., Manjunath, P., Lesak, M. C., Henderson, S. J., and Bluman, J. E. “Design and Test of an Autonomous Drone SWARM for Chemical Agent Detection,” AIAA Aviation Forum, June 27 – July 1, 2022, Chicago, IL, and online. AIAA 2022-3847. doi:10.2514/6.2022-3847

5. Batta, N., Williams, G., Murphy, S., Quantz, A., Pegues, J. A. Manjunath, P., Bluman, J. E. “Drone Assisted Targeting for Direct Fire Engagements” Proceedings of ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Nov 11-14, 2021, Portland, OR and Online, IMECE2021-69129. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2021-69129