This field of study is based on the fundamentals of fluid mechanics and applied aircraft aerodynamics. Areas of current research include computational fluid dynamics, turbulent boundary layer flows, aeroacoustics, rotorcraft aerodynamics, wind turbine aerodynamics, active flow control, subsonic wind tunnel measurement, vortex generators, fixed-wing tip vortices, parachute drag prediction and aircraft design and optimization. Many of these projects are sponsored by government agencies and leading industrial companies, such as NASA, the U.S. Army, Sandia National Laboratory, the National Science Foundation and Boeing.