Aerospace Ph.D. candidate named organization’s top graduate student

Orie Cecil

Orie Cecil, doctoral candidate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, was honored with the 2017 Graduate Student of the Year award from the Greater Huntsville Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The award is presented to a top graduate student member in recognition of notable technical accomplishments, active engineering research, outstanding service to the AIAA student section and promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics outreach in the local community. 

Cecil was nominated for his contributions to high-speed flow theory and NASA/ORBITEC’s vortex engine development, along with multiple scholarly publications. Cecil’s research with Joseph Majdalani, Francis Chair professor in aerospace engineering, is focused on rocket internal ballistics and swirl-driven flowfields affecting solid, liquid and hybrid rockets. His other research activities include the development of mathematical models and numerical simulations to explain the evolution of swirl and high speed motions in rocket engines.

Cecil was previously named the 2014 Outstanding Aerospace Engineering student at Auburn University and has participated in multiple regional poster sessions and AIAA conferences. He has authored seven technical papers, including one in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.