How does one of the biggest birds in the world spend so much time in the air? Albatrosses have 11-foot wingspans that carry them across oceans. But it's how they use these wings that makes them world-class flyers, according to a University of Cincinnati aerospace engineering professor.

UC Assistant Professor Sameh Eisa and his research partners hope to harness their amazing abilities for the next generation of drones.

He received a $700,000 grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, to develop innovations in unmanned aerial vehicles using animal-inspired engineering called biomimicry.

The project is based on his recent breakthroughs in developing model-free, real-time flight controls to harness the natural abilities of the albatross

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