MEET THE KEYNOTE: RILEY SCHUTT
Riley Schutt is the Innovation, Research & Development Performance Analyst at the US Sailing team, working to win gold at the 2020 Olympics. Riley received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering working with Professor Charles Williamson in the Fluid Dynamics Research Laboratories at Cornell University. After growing up sailing on Cayuga Lake, Riley has pursued a career in the performance modeling and design of racing yachts. In addition to his current Olympic work, he has worked as a designer in the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Vendée Globe, and on numerous one-off record breaking ocean racers.
Keynote Talk
The US Sailing team is enthusiastically preparing for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo Japan. In 2017 the US Team created an Innovation, Research & Development group to focus on creating technical advantages for the team. Concepts that started with research at Cornell University are now being used to increase coaching effectiveness, identify fast sailing techniques, and increase boat performance. In this talk we explore how PhD research into the vortex dynamics and working for an Ithaca area startup have turned into a career focused on the design and analysis of high performance sailboats. Additional we present opportunities to partner with the US Sailing team for collaborative research and on student projects that will help in the team’s quest for gold in 2020.