Astronaut Scholar Joseph Kummer’s dissertation work has focused on the feasibility of integrating a cross-flow fan into an airplane wing for propulsion and flow control. The cross-flow fan looks similar to a squirrel cage; and in his design, air is drawn into the fan from the top surface and expelled out at the trailing edge as a jet. It turns out that this configuration is virtually stall-free, allowing operation at extremely high angles of attack up to 40 degrees, and producing 3-4 times the lift of a conventional wing. It is also up to 30% more efficient in cruise, even at over double the thickness. He envisions this technology breeding an entirely new generation of aircraft, possibly making personal air vehicles a reality, with shorter takeoff distances, higher speeds, and significantly greater interior space than current general aviation airplanes. Joseph received the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation’s award from 2000–2004 while at Syracuse University.