College of EngineeringDepartment of Aerospace EngineeringResearch

Research

Aerospace Labs allow students to have hands-on learning experiences and faculty and graduate students to conduct experiments related to their research. Recently with the addition of several new faculty, the department is actively establishing new laboratories in a variety of areas.

Materials and Structures

Mechanics of Materials ( Dr. Vinamra Agrawal)

This laboratory focuses on understanding material response in dynamic environments, designing advanced materials by engineering at the microscale, developing multifunctional materials with desired properties targeted towards damage mitigation and energy harvesting. Positions are available for students with an interest and background in solid mechanics and materials science.

Aerospace Structures Reliability Lab ( Dr. Wen Luo ) - This lab aims to push forward the understanding of rare-event failures of advanced aerospace materials and structures, and to explore, design, and manufacture novel aerospace structures that are not just lightweight and strong, but also super reliable. Research positions are open for students with an interest in reliability engineering, computational and experimental structure mechanics, composite materials, and smart structures.

Polymer Mechanics Research Lab ( Dr. Russell Mailen ) - This lab conducts basic and applied research related to polymers and polymer composites, including shape memory polymers and multifunctional materials. Computational and experimental research opportunities are available for students with an interest in finite element analysis, composite fabrication, and polymer characterization.

Advanced Materials and Processing Lab (AMPL) ( Prof. Suhasini Gururaja ) - Our lab is primarily interested in understanding the long-term sustainability of composite structures in relation to their processing and secondary manufacturing effects. Analytical, numerical, and experimental techniques are used in good measure to interrogate the behavior of composites under various thermomechanical loading. Positions are open for graduate and undergraduate students with an interest in composite processing, manufacturing, characterization, and analysis.

Space Sciences

Immersive, Interactive, Intelligent Space Dynamics（ Dr. Davide Guzzetti) - This laboratory is devoted to space mission design research with an emphasis on discovering synergies across disciplines that may fundamentally improve space systems or design processes for space exploration. Our current focus is on harnessing human-machine collaboration for astrodynamics and space applications; rethinking mission design processes in extended-reality, and developing more autonomous space systems.

Aero-Astro Computational and Experimental Lab ( Dr. Ehsan Taheri ) - The ACE Lab focuses on applying optimal control principles for solving control problems related to non-linear dynamical systems. The emphasis of our research is on closure of theory, computation and experimental aspects of Aerospace systems while developing rapid, dependable algorithms. We solve problems in the fields of 1) astrodynamics including low-thrust and impulsive orbital maneuvers and space trajectory design, and 2) atmospheric flight including trajectory design and control of unmanned aerial vehicles, launch vehicles, and planetary landing vehicles.

Fluid Dynamics, Aerodynamics, and Propulsion

Advanced Flow Diagnostics Laboratory ( Dr. Brian Thurow ) – This laboratory focuses on the development and application of high-speed, 3D flow diagnostics for applications involving unsteady, 3D flow fields including flapping wing flight, shock boundary layer interactions and combustion. Opportunities are available for students with an interest in optical diagnostics, 3D tomography and experimental fluid dynamics.

Aero-propulsion related systems modeling, simulation and optimization ( Dr. Roy Hartfield) – This laboratory focuses on the development of models for aerodynamics, propulsion systems, and vehicle properties with the aim of producing models of systems which are of sufficient fidelity to be useful in trade and performance studies while maintaining sufficient computational efficiencies to be of practical use for large numbers of simulations.

Applied Fluids Research Group ( Dr. Vrishank Raghav ) – This laboratory focuses on the application of fluid dynamics and experimental techniques to solve challenges in aerospace and biomedical engineering. In aerospace engineering, we are interested in understanding - helicopter and wind turbine aeromechanics and rotary UAVs; biomedical engineering applications include cardiovascular and respiratory flows.

Combustion Physics Lab ( Dr. David Scarborough) – The primary focus of the research is to understand combustion instability problems that exist in a large variety of applications. Through understanding how the acoustic and heat release processes interact with each other, the ultimate goal is to further understand the combustion process. The current projects are highly diverse, with current studies focused on topics ranging from Liquid Rocket Engine combustion to wildland fire mitigation research.

Vortex Dynamics and Basic Fluid Flows ( Dr. Anwar Ahmed ) – Research in the lab utilizes a water tunnel and wind tunnel with emphasis on vortical flows of bluff body wakes, jets and unsteady aerodynamics of delta wings, synthetic jets and flow control. Aero-optics of boundary layers in compressible and incompressible flows are also of interest.

Advanced Propulsion Research Laboratory ( Dr. Joseph Majdalani ) – This laboratory focuses on the development and application of mathematical modeling and simulation techniques to improve the performance and stability of large combustors and propulsive systems with special emphasis on swirl-driven liquid and hybrid rocket engines. Other areas include internal flowfield and combustion instability analyses of solid rocket motors. We are presently engaged in modeling wall-bounded cyclonic flowfields, acoustic instability, and upper stage vortex rocket engines. Opportunities are available for students interested in mathematical and computational modeling of simulated rocket systems.

Computational Fluids Group ( Dr. Nek Sharan ) - This group develops computational methods and models for turbulent mixing, combustion, and fluid-structure interaction simulations with applications in aerodynamics and propulsion. Other topics of interest include the integration of data-driven methods with high-performance computing to enhance flow predictions and to formulate reduced-order representations. The research uses parallel numerical solvers/codes that are run on state-of-the-art supercomputers. Opportunities are available for students interested in numerical methods, parallel programming, and fluid flow physics.

Vehicle Systems, Dynamics and Design

Vehicle Systems, Dynamics, and Design Lab (VSD2L) ( Dr. Imon Chakraborty) – Research in this lab focuses on (i) modeling, simulation, and analysis of various vehicle systems, (ii) modeling, simulation, and analysis of overall vehicle flight dynamics, and (iii) sizing and performance tradeoffs related to the early design phases of aerospace vehicles. Funding opportunities are available for qualified and motivated graduate students interested in actively pursuing research in the above areas. Motivated undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience are also strongly encouraged to get in touch.

Autonomous Systems and Controls ( Dr. Nan Li ) – This group conducts research on analytical methods and computational algorithms for enabling safe, effective, and trustworthy autonomous systems used in advanced air/ground mobility and space exploration. Current topics include 1) model-based and data-driven methods for robust planning and control under uncertainty and constraints, and 2) multi-agent and human-robot interaction and collaboration.