Christina Anderson is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering at UMD and pursuing the space track. This summer, she is working with Dr. Jarred Young to study asteroid erosion due to plasma ions, modeling how an ion beam could be used to deflect and deteriorate asteroids in space. Outside of engineering, she enjoys baking, playing music, working out, and teaching science to elementary age children.
Fouad Ayoub is a rising senior pursuing a double degree in Aerospace Engineering (space track) and Computer Science. In 2023, he joined Dr. Baeder in working on the Quantum Computing for Computational Fluid Dynamics project, sponsored by IonQ, where he presented his work in a lecture and poster presentation at the Johns Hopkins University MATRX conference. He also works with Dr. Yang in developing graph neural network models for molecular dynamics simulations. Currently, his AEROS work is with Dr. Brehm, where he is using machine learning models to predict hypersonic laminar-to-turbulent transition. Fouad also enjoys hiking, running, and playing Overwatch.
Brendan Bauer is a rising senior in Aerospace Engineering in the honors program and on the space track. As part of the honors research program, he plans to model and build a magnetic nozzle with his mentor and advisor Dr. Jarred Young. The magnetic nozzle will have applications for fusion research as a fusion reactor can supply the power as well as the fuel for an ion engine. Outside of academics, he is the president of club golf and enjoys snowboarding, hiking, and working out.
Andrew Bubnis is a rising senior in aerospace engineering on the air track. This summer, he will be working with the Wind TERPines club under the guidance of Dr. Baeder, specifically on airfoil and turbine optimization. The research will contribute to the technical design of a wind turbine for the Department of Energy's Collegiate Wind Competition. He hopes to continue this research into his senior year as part of a capstone project. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf and tennis and pursuing his interest in 3D printing.
Leonello Castro Cillis is a rising senior pursuing the space track and a degree in physics. This past year, he worked with Dr. Sedwick at the Space Power and Propulsion Laboratory as part of his Aerospace Engineering Honors Dissertation. This summer, he will continue his research there to experimentally study Thermionic Energy Converters through a high-power laser. He is also part of the Balloon Payload Program at UMD, where he and his team designed a payload to make gamma-ray and UV measurements in Earth’s troposphere and stratosphere during the total solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024. He has also been working with a NASA team for a year to develop deep-learning algorithms applied to infrared spectroscopy to identify different minerals and their compositions on the surface of the Moon. Outside of research, he enjoys playing soccer and going on long runs.
Christopher Clark is a rising senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering here at UMD with a focus in Aeronautical Engineering. He is a transfer student from Harford Community College, located in Bel Air, Maryland. He is also in the aerospace honors program and an enthusiast for all things aerospace. This summer, Christopher will continue his research under Dr. Wereley in the Composites Research Laboratory (CORE Lab), where he will be focusing on maximizing pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) specific actuation force for aerospace applications such as trailing edge flap control on helicopter rotor blades and bio-inspired robotics. To do this, PAM end-fittings, which are typically machined from aluminum, are replaced with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS-R), a lightweight 3D- printing plastic. 3D-printed PAMs are tested during actuation to fully define their actuation capabilities and endurance tested to observe their behavior under cyclic loading.
Steven Dang is a rising senior in aerospace engineering under the air track program. This summer, he will be working on a test demonstration model for the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel to conduct a complete wind tunnel test. The purpose of performing a test demonstration is to understand more about aircraft design principles and utilize the wind tunnel data for equipment analysis and other research purposes. In his free time, Steven enjoys cooking, volunteering, reading aviation news, playing sports, and watching football games.
Evan Gary is a rising Senior in Aerospace Engineering. During the school year, he is an undergraduate assistant at Dr Saetti's Extended Reality Flight Simulation and Control Lab where he primarily works on code for the tactic simulator. Evan is also a prominent member of his fraternity on campus where he is currently serving as Vice President. In his free time, Evan enjoys playing tennis, watching movies, and DJing. This summer Evan will be studying flapping wing drones in Dr Saetti's lab. His goal with these drones is to determine their dynamics through input-output data and ultimately apply control laws to increase their overall stability.
Samuel Heintz is a rising sophomore in aerospace engineering on the space track. He started working at the Space Systems Lab his freshman year, and will be working with Dr. David Akin on revitalizing and upgrading RAVEN, a small one-man rover designed to serve as a lunar exploration aid. His work will involve redesigning the rover and programming it to work with an external remote for unmanned simulations. Outside of his research, Sam is a member of the Balloon Payload Program and the AIAA, and he likes to run and play the piano in his free time.
Arth Kataria is a rising sophomore pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering. His passion for innovation and excellence has led him to an exciting opportunity this summer under the guidance of Dr. Chopra. With Dr. Chopra's generous sponsorship, Arth will be conducting research on testing toroidal propellers on micro unmanned aerial vehicles (mUAVs) at Dr. Chopra's lab. The goal of this project is to discover low noise pollution alternatives to standard propellers that can still deliver comparable performance. Beyond his academic and research endeavors, Arth enjoys playing table tennis, building scale models, and playing video games.
Kevin Kyle is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering with the intention of pursuing the space track. This summer he will be working with Dr. John Martin in the Machine Learning for Dynamical Systems Lab, where he will be utilizing Neural Radiance Fields to reconstruct 3D asteroid models from 2D images. He is a contributing member to both the Terps Rockets Spaceshot and AVS teams, and he is also overseeing the experimental development of a phase change material unit for the SEDS Power team. His career interests comprise satellite navigation and communication, in addition to machine learning. Outside of research, Kevin enjoys surfing, longboarding, and snowboarding. He can also be found in the gym or cooking for bulking season, and he lives life by his personal motto, “storm the beach!"
Isaiah Lee is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering with a focus on the air track. This summer, he is pursuing his passion for aerospace and renewable energy under Dr. Baeder. His primary project involves increasing wind turbine efficiency through rotor and generator development, aiming to create viable models for wind power generation. This work also contributes to his team's efforts in competing in the Department of Energy's Collegiate Wind Competition. Outside of research, Isaiah is the president of WindTERPines, a senior advisor for the Korean Student Association, and a safety officer for the Barbell Club.
Owen Lewis is a rising senior majoring in aerospace engineering on the air track. This summer, he will be working with Dr. Chopra on building and testing Da Vinci aerial screws on quad rotor drones to optimize for stability and forward flight. Outside of research, he is the upcoming design phase lead of UMD’s Design/Build/Fly team and a member of the Terrapin Rocket team. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, golf, and video games.
Kenshiro Lim is a rising junior working with Dr. Baeder and the newly resurrected wind TERPines club to compete in this year's CWC competition. This summer, he will be honing his skills in wind turbine design, manufacturing, and analysis as well as the important ability to maneuver around DOE deadlines. The novelty of this research lies in the connection between the feasibility of a wind turbine project and community engagement with the technology. Beyond AEROS, you might find Kenshiro working on SEDS@UMD's liquid rocket team or kysolamniphic hiking.
Arnav Mate is a rising sophomore in aerospace engineering with plans on pursuing the space track. This summer, he will be working with Dr. Akin to develop a gravity offload system to simulate lunar gravity and measure jump heights, informing lunar base design. The system includes an inclined cart and wall to mimic the Moon's gravity. Subjects will push off the wall, simulating a jump, and force plates record data. Outside of academics, Arnav enjoys hanging out with friends and going to the gym.
Jacob Mayonado is a rising senior in aerospace engineering, pursuing the air track and working under Dr. Flatau’s PhD student Ryan Pillai. He is working on Schlieren Methodology for Observing High-Temperature Unsteady Subsonic Flows, with a specific focus on utilizing miniaturized pulse jets to study their possible applications to active flow control. Outside of research, he is an active member of the Terrapin Rocket Team serving as the team's solid propulsion sub team lead. He is also acting as the Aerodynamics lead for this upcoming year's Design Build Fly capstone team. After finishing his undergraduate degree Jacob plans to continue studying Aerospace at UMD by participating in the combined B.S./M.S. program focusing on Aerodynamics and Propulsion and continuing his work studying Schlieren visualization techniques.
Robert Northcutt is a rising senior studying aerospace engineering on the air track. He has completed his university honors citation and is a member of the aerospace honors program. He is working on the experimentation and documentation of the performance of solid oxide fuel cells at high pressure under Dr. Christopher Cadou. He enjoys hiking, playing games, and music in his free time. In addition to his studies, he is a member of the Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band and the Maryland Pep Band.
Rahul Chennareddy is a rising sophomore in Aerospace Engineering, planning to pursue the air track. This summer he is working under the guidance of Dr. Chopra to optimize parameters of a helicopter blade under extreme ground effect and test it both on a blade balancing rig and in flight. This research will be used by the Solar Gamera team to construct a fully solar powered helicopter that can hover over the ground. Outside of engineering, he is a huge cricket enthusiast and loves to travel.
Opeyemi Salako is a rising senior at the UMD Clark School majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on the air track. As an active participant in the UMD Nearspace Balloon Payload Program, Opeyemi contributed to the successful eclipse launch in April 2024. This summer, Opeyemi will be working with Dr. Chopra at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center on an innovative project which aims to design and develop a solar-powered rotorcraft with a focus on balancing the voltage fields generated by the motor to prevent backflow.
Nikolai Smith is a rising senior in computer science and aerospace engineering with strong interests in aerodynamics, rotorcraft, control systems, and applications of machine learning in aerospace systems. This summer, he is working under Dr. Chopra to develop a three-dimensional source-vortex panel method program to approximate and analyze the effects of the flow field around a solar powered helicopter, Solar Gamera.
Vai Srivastava, a rising junior at the University of Maryland, is majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Physics. This summer, he is collaborating with Dr. Christoph Brehm on various Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) projects. Vai is enhancing the current CFD codebase to better leverage GPU technology in UMD's HPC Clusters. His goal is to facilitate faster computations and quicker result turnarounds for future researchers while gaining familiarity with CFD for his upcoming Aerospace Honors Thesis.
Pearl Uva is a rising junior pursuing the space track in Aerospace with a minor in Robotics and Autonomous Systems. This summer she is conducting research with Dr. Paley and the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory pertaining to the use of machine learning in analyzing animal movement. She will also be continuing research and development of high altitude payloads with the Dr. Bowden’s Balloon Payload Program. Outside of work, Pearl enjoys making handmade crochet and embroidered crafts.
Jeffrey Vedrin, originally from the Rockville area, is a rising junior in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering. Over the summer he will be investigating the structural and aerodynamic material properties of Nylon12 – a new emerging material in the 3D printing space – in both static and dynamic tests. Under the guidance of Dr. Chopra in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, he’ll characterize these findings using Matlab and Solidworks to be used in innovative propeller and rotor design. Outside of research, he’s also Cooling Lead on Terps Racing EV and flies drones with his dad for fun.
Evin Vural is a rising Senior and Clark Opportunity Transfer Scholar in Aerospace Engineering on the air track. This summer, he is collaborating with Dr. Alison Flatau and PhD student Ryan Pillai on a project focused on active-flow control (AFC), specifically using pulse-jets to manipulate the boundary layer in a wind tunnel, aiming to improve aerodynamic efficiency. Outside of research, Evin serves as the propulsion team leader for the UMD Design Build Fly (DBF) competition team. In his free time he enjoys competitive sailing, lifting weights, and playing video games.
Daniel Webster is a rising sophomore in Aerospace Engineering and plans to pursue the air track. This summer he will work in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, under the supervision of Dr. Inderjit Chopra, researching and developing a fire-resistant drone. He is specifically focusing on finding alternative methods to driving the drone's propellers, centralizing all electronic components including motors, and mitigating the risks that come with extreme temperatures, while still being able to sustain flight and transmit data.
Ron Berlin
Ron Berlin is a rising junior pursuing the air track in the Aerospace Honors Program. At the beginning of his sophomore year, Ron joined the Autonomous Micro Air Vehicle (AMAV) Team. He helped design and took on a co-lead role in the manufacturing process of their fixed wing tail-sitter drone for this year’s VFS DBF Competition. This summer, Ron is studying the aerodynamics and acoustics of the Davinci Rotor in hover compared to a more traditional rotor under Dr. Baeder. Outside of work, he enjoys going fishing and hanging out with his friends.
Jack Bishop
Jack Bishop is a rising sophomore in Aerospace with a minor in Robotics and Autonomous Systems. Dr. Bowden and the Aerospace Department generously sponsored his research this summer as part of Dr. Bowden’s Balloon Payload Program, which he also participated in during his freshman year. The focus of his research this summer is to develop a system to produce spectroscopic maps of the sky on high altitude balloons above most of the Earth’s atmosphere. He will also continue his work on projects from the previous two semesters, such as developing a helium venting system for NASA’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, and part-time on the NSF Air Deployed Arctic Buoy.
Peter Capozzoli (2023 Anderson Scholar)
Peter Capozzoli is a rising senior studying aerospace engineering on the space track. He is a member of the Honors Humanities program as well as the Aerospace Honors program. He is also a member of the University of Maryland track team. This summer, Peter will be working with Dr. Anubhav Datta as a part of his Mars Helicopter research group.
Matthew Chou
Matthew Chou is a rising sophomore in Aerospace Engineering, native to Rockville, Maryland. In his freshman year, he worked on the Introduction to the Aerospace Profession's ducted quadcopter project with Dr. Inderjit Chopra. This summer, he will be continuing upon this path with the design, manufacturing, and analysis of shrouded rotor systems on micro unmanned aerial vehicles (mUAVs) with Jeffrey Vedrin, another rising sophomore. The developments found will increase an understanding in low Reynold number flight and the feasibility of 3-D manufacturing various rotor and shroud designs. These systems will have applications to a variety of fields taking advantage of drone's maneuverability in more enclosed environments: medical supply distribution, military use, package delivery, search and rescue, etc.Outside of drones, Matthew has an interest in space exploration. As a member of the Terrapin Rocket team, he will be traveling to compete in the Spaceport America Cup in Southern New Mexico, representing the air brake subteam.
Emma Farren
Emma Farren is a rising senior in aerospace engineering on the air track and a midshipman in the Naval ROTC unit on campus. This summer she worked in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center under the guidance of Dr. Chopra on a solar powered helicopter, Solar Gamera, focusing on improving the efficiency of the current solar panels. She researched new solar cell technology as well as tested various wiring options for the quadcopter under different failure scenarios. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, hiking, and reading.
Adin Goldberg
Adin Goldberg is a rising senior in Aerospace engineering on the space track and is working in the High Speed Aerodynamics and Propulsion Laboratory under Dr. Stuart Laurence. He is working on the multi-phase flow MURI project, which aims to track and analyze the motion of liquid droplets within a supersonic flow field using laser diagnostic techniques. Outside of research, he is a member of the Clark School’s engineering honors program, the treasurer of the Terrapin Rocket Team, senior liaison for the UMD AIAA student branch, and the incoming president of the Aerospace Honors Society Sigma Gamma Tau.
Alexander Grecco
Alexander Grecco is a rising junior in aerospace engineering with an interest in the space track. After undergrad he is interested in moving onto graduate school. This summer he worked with Dr. Jarred Young in the Space Power and Propulsion lab. He worked on analyzing the sputter yielding of a thin layer of MgF2 solar panel coating when exposed to the plume of an ion thruster at different angles and energies, using krypton as the propellant. In his spare time he enjoys playing video games and going to the gym.
Grace Johnson
Grace Johnson is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering at UMD, planning to pursue the space track. This summer, she worked in the CORE Lab with Dr. Wereley and his team on developing and testing tubular honeycomb structures with buckling initiators for energy absorption. Specifically, her goal was to analyze the effects that the location of buckling initiators had on a structure’s energy absorption and crushing efficiency. Grace also works as a Clark School Ambassador, and outside of engineering, she enjoys crocheting, playing tennis, and watching movies.
Ari Julius
Ari Julius is a rising junior Aerospace Engineering major intending to follow the space track. This summer he is working in the SPPL(Space Power and Propulsion Lab) under the guidance of Dr. Young. More specifically, he will be working on the effects of an ion thruster engine and certain materials commonly used on satellites. Ion plume has the ability to deteriorate protective layers on solar panels on crafts, decreasing their performance. Outside of academics, Ari is a founding father of AEPi here at Maryland and is very involved in intramural sports. In his free time, Ari enjoys playing chess, cooking, and playing a variety of sports with friends.
Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller is a rising sophomore aerospace engineering major and wants to continue on the air track. During his freshman year, he worked with Dr. Chopra on the aerial screw project which he is continuing over the summer. The main goal for this stage of the the project involves rapid prototyping and testing of different Da Vinci-style multirotor screw concepts. Outside of his studies, you can find him on the Maryland Men’s Ultimate team, on a soccer field, building his car, or flying his RC aircraft.
Jeyadave Nuntha Kumar
Jeyadave Nuntha Kumar is a rising junior in the Aerospace Engineering air track as a member of the Aerospace Honors program. This summer, he is conducting research at the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel under the mentorship of Dr. Jewel Barlow. This research focuses on understanding boundary layer behavior in the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel diffuser and developing vortex generator designs and configurations to limit boundary layer separation and improve diffuser performance. Besides research, Jeyadave is an ASTS tutor and a member of the Terrapin Rocket Team, and spends his free time playing classical piano.
Karthik Raman
Karthik Raman is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering pursuing the air track. He is involved with the TerpRockets team and will be the chief engineer of the 2024 Design/Build/Fly team. He worked with Dr. Anya Jones this summer in the Separated and Transient Aerodynamics Laboratory, where his research revolved around studying the characteristics of vortex breakdown. Specifically, he analyzed and conducted experiments on how vortex breakdown changes when heat is added to or removed from the system. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the guitar, video games, and competitive badminton.
Tony Regli
Tony Regli is a rising sophomore studying Aerospace Engineering.. This summer, he is working with Dr. Derek Paley and post-doc student Wei-Kuo Yen on schooling aquatic robots, specifically focusing on robot guidance using monocular computer vision to find the location of a leading robot in relation to a follower robot. Additionally, Tony is a member of the UMD Balloon Payload Program, where he's helping prepare for the team's upcoming trips to Texas and Ohio to launch balloons during the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses. In his free time, he enjoys playing classical guitar, juggling,and spending time with his 3 cats.
Kaitlyn Reidy
Kaitlyn Reidy is a rising junior in the Aerospace program with plans to follow the space track. She is also a member of the Clark Opportunity Transfer Scholars program. This summer, Kaitlyn is working with Dr. Michael Otte in the Motion and Teaming Laboratory on the topic of stigmergic behaviors in kilobots. The goal is to test various ways stigmergy occurs in nature using the kilobots and analyze any patterns or abilities that could be useful to implement at a larger scale.
Sneha Sunilkumar
Sneha Sunilkumar is a rising senior and MD Space Grant Scholar majoring in aerospace engineering and computer science at UMD. This summer she is working with Professor Otte on studying the behavior of kilobots in a swarm to determine how the number of kilobots in the swarm and the number of obstacles in their environment affect the swarm’s behavior.
Akemi Takeuchi
Akemi Takeuchi is a rising sophomore majoring in Aerospace Engineering with plans to pursue the space track and minors in Planetary Science and Robotics. This summer, she is working with Dr. Bowden as a part of the Balloon Payload Program (BPP) to prepare for the upcoming October 2023 and April 2024 Solar Eclipses. Her independent research payload aims to stabilize along two axes using a reaction wheel which will enable motion-sensitive experiments to collect viable data on balloon flights. Outside of academics, she enjoys skiing and playing the violin and piano.
Jeffrey Vedrin
Jeffrey Vedrin, originally from Silver Spring Maryland, is a rising sophomore at the UMD Clark School majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Throughout the school year he commenced, along with his research partner Matthew Chow, an investigation into the efficiencies of shrouded rotors. Under the supervision of Dr. Chopra in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center he intends to explore more micro UAV (MUAV) shrouds and rotors this coming summer. The benefits of these technologies can be seen in every facet of low Reynold number drones from hovered flight maneuverability to power and current draw. Furthermore, his interests include automotive engineering which he pursues through Terps Racing EV. He has helped develop the power train and battery management systems that make the car run and drive as quickly as possible.
Howard Zheng (2023 Sikorsky Scholar)
Howard Zheng is a rising senior majoring in aerospace engineering on the air track and a member of the Aerospace Honors program. He has worked with Dr. Chopra the past year at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center on the research project, Aeromechanics Measurements, Validations and Innovations for High-Speed Advanced Compound Rotorcraft. The past year yielded results for thrust compounded configurations. This summer, he will conduct wind tunnel testing of lift compounded configurations at the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel to validate computer models.
Victoria Adeniji
Victoria Adeniji is a 2nd year at Anne Arundel Community College studying Mechatronics Technology. She is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society and also the Students Ambassadors Team for AACC. She plans to transfer to University of Maryland to complete her Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering. This summer, she worked with Dr. Norman Wereley’s team in researching the Buckling of Large Diameter FAMs. Her research focuses on how much pushing force a FAM(Fluidic Artificial Muscle) could generate through the buckling behavior.
Emmett Aler
Emmett Aler is a rising Aerospace Engineering senior on the space track. He is a member of the AIAA community and an Engineering Orientation Advisor. This summer, Emmett worked with Dr. Flatau and graduate student, Ryan Pillai, on the Resonant Pulse Combustion for Active Flow Control project. Emmett's main focus this summer has been to develop and validate a model for the heat transfer process of a pulse combustion unit to fuel and oxidizer valves. Outside of his work and studies, he plays soccer for the university's club team and at the semi-professional level.
Kruti Bhingradiya
Kruti Bhingradiya is an international student, a rising junior in aerospace engineering pursuing a minor in Robotics and Autonomous Systems. Since her freshman year, she is an active undergraduate researcher in Dr Paley's Collective Dynamics and Controls Lab conducting studies testing viability of additively manufactured soft robotics actuators for extreme environments. She is also actively involved in Dr Bowden's Near Space Balloon Payload Program conducting operations and engineering payloads focusing on communication systems. As an AEROS scholar this summer, she is researching at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as part of JPL Visiting Student Research Program (JVSRP), developing and testing robotic micro-swimmers to continue space exploration of extraterrestrial Ocean worlds especially Enceladus, Europa and Titan. These micro-robots(swimmers) will help in active sampling of ocean water which is beyond reach of SESAME (Scientific Exploration Subsurface Access Mechanism for Europa) class drilling robots thereby helping scientists characterize alien ocean's composition and habitability."
Colby Cotoia (2022 Sikorsky Scholar)
Colby Cotoia is a rising sophomore in the Aerospace Program with interest in the air track. During his freshman year Colby worked in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center under Dr. Inderjit Chopra for his ENAE100 project to build a small rotorcraft with co-rotating rotors. This summer, Colby continues to study co-rotating rotorcraft under Dr. Chopra to analyze benefits in energy efficiency through experimentation with this configuration of rotorcraft. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball at the Eppley Recreation Center with his friends.
Bruce Luther Djoko
Bruce Luther Djoko is a rising junior studying Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate with an interest in Aerospace track. He is also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society that got accepted in the Clark Opportunity Transfer program. This summer, Bruce worked with Dr. James D. Baeder in the manufacturing building laboratory on the topic of Quantum Computing. The goal is to learn and implement solving a system of linear equations on a quantum computer. The long-term goal here would be to be able to use the quantum computer to solve problems in computational fluid dynamics.
Adina Fleisher
Adina Fleisher is a rising Senior on the air track. She is a member of University Honors as well as the Aerospace Honors program. Last summer, Adina participated in AEROS and focused on the reverse flow region of helicopter blades. This summer, Adina is continuing her research in the Separated and Transient Aerodynamics Laboratory under Dr. Anya Jones. Her research is focused on the development and characterization of turbulent flow in a low speed wind tunnel. The wind tunnel will then be used to analyze the characteristics of different airfoils in turbulent flow. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, reading, and walking with her dogs.
Casey Fuller (2022 Hinman Scholar)
Casey Fuller is a rising senior in the Aerospace Engineering Honors Program pursuing the space track. This summer, Casey worked in Dr. Hartzell's Planetary Surfaces and Spacecraft Laboratory. His research involves investigating rubble-pile meteoroid compaction upon entry into Earth's atmosphere and how this compaction affects the meteoroid's breakup altitude. He is testing this experimentally, simulating the meteoroids' entry via flour in a vacuum chamber that is rapidly brought back to atmospheric pressure. Casey is also a member of Tau Beta Pi, the multidisciplinary engineering honors society, and a manager/player of the University of Maryland's Club Ultimate Frisbee team. He enjoys the outdoors, listening to music, reading, and playing with his dog.
Ao Huang (2022 Hinman Scholar)
Ao Huang is a rising senior aerospace student pursuing air track at the University of Maryland. This summer, Ao will work with Dr. Anya Jones in the wind tunnel lab. The goal is to generate turbulence of at least 20% intensity in the test section or a 20% change in velocity across a shear flow. If the project goes well, it will free up the laboratory from the space constraints of the wind tunnel and allow students to study turbulence with larger intensities. Besides doing research, Ao likes playing ping-pong, swimming, and watching movies.
Eric Kim
Eric Kim is a rising Junior in the Aerospace Engineering Honors program in addition to pursuing a robotics minor. He is working under Dr. Norman Wereley for the summer to help develop the use of fluidic artificial muscles in a burrowing robot to explore a planet’s surface for ice and other resources. Specifically, he will be testing the strength of these muscles under heavy torque, which could be from the use of an auger on the front of the robot. Eric is also one of the Excavation leads in the student team UMD Loop and is responsible for the design and manufacturing of the cutterhead, soil conditioning, and soil removal systems.
Lars Knudsen
Lars Knudsen is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering and plans to pursue the space track. He is the current president of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at the University of Maryland (SEDS@UMD), a project-based club working on 3 different space related projects. Lars is a member of the Gemstone Honors Program and is research 3D- printing HIV drug cocktails along with the rest of the members of TEAM PILLS. Some of Lars’ hobbies on campus include rock climbing at the wall, hammocking outside and growing bonsai trees. In the AEROS program Lars is involved with Helicon Thruster Testing in the Space Power and Propulsion Lab under Dr. Sedwick.
JJ Kuznetsov
JJ Kuznetsov is a rising Sophomore studying Math and Aerospace Engineering, with plans to pursue the space track. This summer he is working with Dr. Bowden on several nearspace ballooning projects. His personal payload, T.U.F.F. DOS, uses tension measurements to learn about in-flight dynamics like drag, oscillations, and stream-winds. This research has helped JJ build knowledge in electronics design, atmospheric science, and data analysis. He is a proud member of UMD’s Balloon Payload Program and loves its community. Outside of research, JJ enjoys playing videogames and writing one-act plays.
Jerry Liu
Jerry Liu is a rising senior majoring in aerospace engineering with minors in Global Engineering Leadership and Project Management. He is also in the Aerospace Honors Program pursuing air track. This summer, he is conducting independent research on finding the scaling laws for pulsejet engines. Additionally, he works under Dr. Cadou as an undergraduate research assistant. The research designs a pressurized test rig for solid oxide fuel cells with the goal of stimulating fuel cells’ performance in gas turbines. This is a part of the REEACH project that aims to reduce aviation carbon footprint by developing a hybrid gas turbine/fuel cell system that could be used on a large aircraft like Boeing 737. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, hiking, and photography. He is also an FAA certified Private Pilot and Advanced Ground Instructor who enjoys taking families and friends on trips on small airplanes.
Luca Petrescu
Luca Petrescu is a rising junior minoring in math and pushing the space track. This summer, he worked with Professor Paley and the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory to simulate magnetic field disturbances on satellites in orbit and design feedback control laws for attitude stabilization. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, ping pong, cooking and experimenting with MATLAB.
Jwoyal Ranjit (2022 Anderson Scholar)
Jwoyal Ranjit is a rising senior Aerospace Engineering major with a minor in Spanish Language. He is a member of Cohort 2 of the A. James Clark Scholars Program as well as the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Jwoyal works with Dr. Jarred Young in the Space Power & Propulsion Laboratory investigating the erosion effects of ion thruster plume impingement on anti-reflective solar cell coatings. Outside of academics, Jwoyal enjoys playing saxophone in the University Band and singing tenor in the Gamer Symphony Orchestra choir.
Gabrielle Schumacher (2022 Hinman Scholar)
Gabrielle Schumacher is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland. This summer Gabrielle was selected to work in the Composites Research Laboratory (CORE) alongside Dr. Wereley’s team. Her research focuses on syntactic foams which are created using hollow glass microspheres and an epoxy resin system. This research is intended to create the most energy absorbent foam which could be used for protective purposes in the event of a collision or crash.
George Tang
George Tang is a rising senior aerospace engineering major on the space track with minors in both Leadership Studies and Music and Culture. George works with Dr. Jarred A. Young in the Space Power and Propulsion Lab (SPPL), researching the sputter yields for typical electric propulsion (EP) ranges on common spacecraft materials. This research also would minimize and (hopefully for one day in the future) eliminate the danger and extra hazards for ion plume impingement from the Electric Propulsion (EP) systems, including excessive heating and loss of solar panel efficiency. George also serves as the treasurer for SEDS@UMD, as well as a member of the liquid rocket team for the club. He is an alumnus of the VIRTUS living learning community and the administrative team leader of a lunar rover landing mission team for the NASA L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy (MCA) last summer. Outside of academics, he serves as a mentor in the Women in Engineering (WIE) program assisting new students in VIRTUS, a grader for the compressible aerodynamics course (ENAE 311), a ClarkLEADER, a facilitator for the Terrapin Leadership Institute (TLI) at the Stamp Student Union, and a clarinet player in the Maryland Pep Band. He has just studied abroad in Iceland and hopes to study abroad again in the future.
Radu Teodorescu (2022 Sikorsky Scholar)
Radu Teodorescu is a rising senior in the Aerospace engineering air track with a minor in robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) and a member of the Clark School of Engineering Honors program. This summer he worked in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center under the guidance of Dr. Chopra to conduct wind tunnel tests in the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel which measured forces and moments on a UAV airframe, propeller and shrouded rotor in various flight regimes. The data collected supported UAV research by the US Army Research Lab and John's Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.
Tom West
Tom West, a rising senior during Summer 22, pursues a B.S. in aerospace engineering with a minor in physics. He holds membership in UMD’s AIAA student chapter and the Terrapin Rocket Team. Tom’s academic interests revolve around space, whether directly through a much-loved space flight dynamics course (ENAE404) or peripherally through a similarly loved physics math course (PHYS373) where he played with all kinds of differential equations, transform methods, and solution types not typically available to the aerospace undergrad.
For AEROS, Tom worked with Kilobots in Dr. Michael Otte’s Motion and Teaming (Mo-T) Laboratory to research swarm algorithms—particularly, algorithms for teaming, task allocation, and motion planning. His algorithm, BinID*, guarantees a globally-unique ID for each robot, regardless of swarm size, through randomized binary branching, e.g., grouping by digital coin flips, to assign consecutive bits to a variable-length name extended down to the single-child node, i.e., the individual Kilobot. Swarm algorithms will be vital to collective coherence in aerospace applications, such as formation flying in orbit or distributed resource detection and utilization on the ground—conversely, they might one day clean your house and re-terrorize your cat. (See NASA’s Starling or HelioSwarm missions for a sample of the future of swarms.) When Tom sits down to dinner each night, he pops on YouTube and watches informational videos by content creators like Anton Petrov, Marcus House, Stuff Made Here, Mathologer, and Practical Engineering. Tom’s curiosity and persistence continue to push him further and farther, hopefully leading him boldly closer to where no one has gone before.
Luana Rojas Zurita
Luana Rojas Zurita is an aerospace engineering major and a rising sophomore at Montgomery College. She plans to transfer to UMCP next year with her associates degree in aerospace. In her free time she is a swim instructor, and also loves to watch movies and go thrift shopping. She received Montgomery College’s Excellence in Physics Award this spring semester and is the vice president of Latino Student Union at Montgomery College.
This summer, she worked with Dr. Derek Paley, Dr. Mumu Xu, and teamed up with other STEM students to complete a project for the Army Research Laboratory. They were assigned to make a vessel for a robot to withstand a 30 meter, or more, drop. She utilized her knowledge in physics to make the vessel reach a terminal velocity to improve landings, and she also had the opportunity to learn more about CAD and help the team with CAD-ing the vessel.
Howard Zheng (2022 Sikorsky Scholar)
Howard Zheng is a rising junior majoring in aerospace engineering with plans to pursue the air track. He is a member of the Aerospace Engineering Honors Program and involved with the TerpRockets team. His focus on the TerpRockets team was on aerostructures, but moving forward he aims to pursue other areas of high-powered rocketry. Zheng worked with Dr. Chopra and one of his graduate students at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center on Aeromechanics Measurements, Validations and Innovations for High-Speed Advanced Compound Rotorcraft. The goal of their project was to conduct wind tunnel testing on various helicopter configurations to validate computational models.
Elizabeth Arhavbarien
Elizabeth Arhavbarien is a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. She is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society and is heavily involved in Terps Racing Formula Team, where she works on the powertrain subsystem.
This summer, she worked with Dr. Jones in the Separated and Transient Aerodynamics Laboratory to research flow separation and the aerodynamic performance of 3D rotor blades in reverse flow. She will helped design helicopter blades with twists and blades that transition from one geometry to another. This body of research is paramount in the development of high-speed helicopters capable of serving as flying ambulances and carrying giant water containers to fight large fires.
Catherine Catrambone
Catherine Catrambone is a rising junior in the Aerospace Engineering program, and is planning to embark on the air track. Catherine is minoring in Global Engineering Leadership, and is also a member of the Aerospace Engineering Honors Program. In her free time, Catherine enjoys running, swimming, and painting. She is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, where she holds a position as the Director of Pledge Education. This summer, Catherine worked with Dr. Anubhav Datta as a part of his Mars helicopter research group. She focused on investigating the Martian atmosphere as well as building helicopter blades that will be tested and analyzed using computational fluid dynamics.
Nicholas Delafuente
Nicholas Delafuente is a rising junior studying Aerospace Engineering with an interest in the space track. This summer, he worked closely with Dr. Christoph Brehm to run simulations in computational fluid dynamics regarding wall modeled Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes. This research helped build skills with multiple coding languages as well as an understanding of higher-level applications of the supercomputing field. Nicholas is a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and belongs to many clubs at UMD. When not researching, he enjoys cooking, playing sports, and traveling as much as he can.
Sanya Doda
Sanya Doda is a rising senior in Aerospace Honors Program pursuing space track. She has been a part of University of Maryland’s Balloon Payload Program since the fall of 2019 and has been involved with different payloads such as MARS, a payload that can release the payload underneath it and LIVE which can stream video at a lower cost. Last summer she worked on a payload called WAUR which could extend and retract the payload line in flight. This summer she continued to work with Dr. Bowden’s Balloon Payload Program to develop a payload that can directly communicate with the ground.
Adina Fleisher
Adina Fleisher is a rising junior planning to pursue the air track. She is a member of University Honors as well as the Aerospace Honors program. This summer, Adina worked in the Separated and Transient Aerodynamics Laboratory under Dr. Anya Jones. Her research focused on the reverse flow region present in high-speed helicopters. By testing multiple airfoils that she helped design and 3-D print, Adina analyzed what airfoil shapes are most effective in the reverse flow region, as well as which shapes are most effective overall. This research could improve helicopter performance in difficult conditions, allowing for helicopters to hover in fast and unsteady winds.
Andrew Giorgi
Andrew Giorgi is a rising senior studying aerospace engineering and pursuing the air track. This summer, Andrew will be working with Dr. Paley’s “ReZoom” team, with the goal of creating an autonomous scooter that can park and move on its own without a rider. Andrew worked in the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory on the hardware team during the program. Specifically, he is working to make a two wheeled scooter able balance by itself without a rider and move from one location to another using motor controllers.
Bradley Harris
Bradley Harris is a rising senior pursuing the air track. This summer, he worked under Dr. Christopher Cadou designing a testing apparatus for solid oxide fuel cells as part of the REEACH project. The goal of the research is to figure out how to put the fuel cells into a gas turbine to create extremely efficient fuel to energy conversion for hybrid-electric aircraft. He’s in the University Honors program in the Honors College along with being a Presidential Merit Scholarship recipient. Outside of his work and studies, he enjoys sports, guitar, books, and long walks on the beach.
Rahul Jain
Rahul Jain is a rising senior majoring in aerospace engineering and minoring in Astronomy. He is an alum of University Honors and the Writers’ House creative writing program. His research is with the Planetary Surfaces and Spacecraft Laboratory under Dr. Christine Hartzell, where he is simulating the evolution of asteroid bodies. This summer, he also interned at the Emerging Technologies Institute, a new department of the NDIA focused on modernizing the U.S. government’s national security. Rahul is the creative director of UMD’s all-improvised performance group, Erasable Inc. He is also a contributing member of various diversity initiatives on campus. Rahul would love to do more stand-up next semester, but he also enjoys sitting down.
Miles Jones
Miles Jones is a rising junior in the aerospace engineering program and a student in the Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES) Honors Program. In his freshman year, he worked for Dr. Andrew Becnel for his ENAE100 project to build a portable wind tunnel for testing and demonstrations. This summer he worked with Dr. Michael Otte in the Motion and Teaming Lab to analyze interactions between kilobot swarm behaviors. It focuses on how swarm behaviors may affect one another when operating in the same environment and how performance changes with swarms of varying proportions. Miles is also an alto saxophone in the Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band at UMD.
Colby Merrill
Colby Merrill is a rising senior and is pursuing the space track in aerospace engineering as well as a minor in LGBTQ+ studies. Last summer, Colby served as an intern at Axcelis Technologies where they created and implemented a novel efficiency-tracking model with the goal of increasing productivity. Last semester, Colby worked under Dr. Christine Hartzell in the Planetary Surfaces and Spacecraft Lab. Their research is focused on remediating the effects of regolith while astronauts are on lunar missions. This summer, the AEROS program allowed them to continue with this research. Colby is also a member of the University of Maryland chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Jwoyal Ranjit
Jwoyal Ranjit is a rising junior Aerospace Engineering major with a minor in Spanish Language. He is a member of Cohort 2 of the A. James Clark Scholars Program as well as the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Jwoyal works with Dr. Jarred A. Young in the Space Power & Propulsion Laboratory investigating the erosion effects of ion thruster plume impingement on anti-reflective solar cell coatings.
Outside of academics, Jwoyal works on a payload investigating triboelectric charging of regolith for the SEDS@UMD CubeSat Team, and also enjoys playing saxophone in the University Band.
Andrew Sahm
Andrew Sahm is a rising senior pursuing the space track. This summer, Andrew researched vortex phase matching of bio-inspired robotic fish with Dr. Derek Paley. When he is not working on his own personal robotic projects, you can find him hiking, climbing, and kayaking.
Gabrielle Schumacher
Gabrielle Schumacher is a rising sophomore studying aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland. This summer Gabrielle worked with Dr. Norman Wereley’s team in researching the development of advanced energy absorbent synthetic foams. The research is intended to create "crashworthy" foam which could be used for protective purposes such as armor. Gabrielle’s main focus this summer has been to help produce and test different types of samples to determine their effectiveness when crushed.
Dior Seck
Dior Seck is a rising sophomore majoring in Electrical Engineering and hoping to minor in Computer Science. She worked with Dr. Paley and Lena Dabney on the RoboRaven project. During her freshman year she was in the Mock Trial Program as an attorney and a witness. She received a best witness award during the Mock Trial Terp Cup. She plans on joining more clubs, like the Robotics club and other engineering clubs. Dior is also a member of the International Studies division of the College Park Scholars Program. In her free time, Dior manages her baking business, which she started during quarantine. She also loves biking, reading, and listening to true crime podcasts.
Matthew Stasiukevicius
Matthew Stasiukevicius is a rising senior on the aerospace engineering space track and a part of the aerospace honors program. He worked with Dr. Raymond Sedwick in the Space Power and Propulsion Lab on the Direct-Drive Centrifugal Confinement Fusion Propulsion project. This summer, Matthew is modelling electromagnetic field geometries and analyzing the effects of plasma in the system using Comsol Multiphysics software.
Logan Swaisgood
Logan Swaisgood is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering in the Aerospace Honors program. He currently works with Dr. Anubhav Datta in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center on Mars Helicopter Performance and Optimization. In a continuation of his Honors Research Project, he is studying the aerodynamic characteristics of rotorcraft blades in a vacuum chamber and using the data gathered to design a Mars Helicopter that can carry out a multitude of science missions. He is a member of the Gemstone Honors College and works with team Autocycle to construct and test a self-stabilizing, self-driving bicycle. Logan is also a member of UMD Loop and has assisted with the design and construction of the powertrain system for a Hyperloop racing pod and the excavation cutterhead of a tunnel-boring machine for the Not A Boring Competition.
Ayush Varaiya
Ayush Varaiya is a rising Aerospace Engineering junior on the air track with a minor in Robotics and autonomous Systems (RAS). He is a member of the AIAA community and a ClarkLEADER to help assist new students in the engineering school. He also worked with a couple of classmates on a research project in Terps in Space where he tested different fluids mixed with bacteria and tested to see how differently the bacteria grew in space compared to Earth. As an AEROS Scholar, in the summer of 2021, he worked with Dr. Normal Wereley and several graduate students in the Maryland Robotics Center. His research focused on the study of a robotic pipeworm and helped further develop a system to take into space to investigate deeper into the core of planets. Ayush worked with other researchers on the efficiency of the robot and helped develop technologies for burrowing mobility.
Alexis (Soumiya) D. Williams
Alexis (Soumiya) D. Williams is a rising senior studying aerospace engineering. She is the current President of the Out in STEM (OSTEM) chapter at UMD and is a member of the Women in Engineering (WIE) advisory board at UMD. For half of her freshman year and her entire sophomore year, she conducted research under Dr. Flatau on improving the effectiveness of a magneto-elastic torque sensor. Last summer, her research under Dr. Flatau focused on creating COMSOL models to determine some of the material properties of PLA doped with iron particles which will be used to detect strain. When she is not conducting research or studying for exams, she enjoys writing science fiction. This summer, her research under Dr. Flatau will build on last summer's research by designing a 3-D printable strain sensor based on the composite modeled last summer.
Eva Alexandrova
Eva Alexandrova is a rising aerospace engineering junior with a minor in Global Engineering Leadership. She works for Dr. Chopra’s and Dr. Nagaraj in Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center on Gamera-S Solar Helicopter research project. This summer in the online environment, she worked on searching for the best solar tile and comparing their efficiencies. The data and knowledge that she gets from this research will further help me to apply it to Gamera-S project to achieve our objectives and test the solar cells that we are going to be using. Alexandrova is a member of Women in Aeronautics and Astronautics society as well as a member of the UMD Varsity Tennis Team. Jared Allanigue 2020 AEROS Recipient Jared Allanigue is a rising sophomore studying Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Astronomy. In the fall semester, he worked as an undergraduate student researcher for an ENAE100 project with Dr. David Akin at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility, researching AprilTags applications for satellite servicing robots. He is also involved with the Composites sub team in Terps Racing, the Manufacturing sub team in Terp Rockets, and Dr. Paley’s Autonomous Micro-Air Vehicle (AMAV) Team. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing Smash with friends and rolling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This summer Jared will work virtually with Dr. Michael Otte on kilobot programming and observing emergent behaviors that arise when opposing kilobots are added to a swarm.
Jared Allanigue
Jared Allanigue is a rising sophomore with a minor in Astronomy. In the fall semester, he worked as an undergraduate student researcher for an ENAE100 project with Dr. David Akin at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility, researching AprilTags applications for satellite servicing robots. He is also involved with the Composites subteam in Terps Racing, the Manufacturing subteam in Terp Rockets, and Dr. Paley’s Autonomous Micro-Air Vehicle (AMAV) Team. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing Smash with friends and rolling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This summer Jared will work virtually with Dr. Michael Otte on kilobot programming and observing emergent behaviors that arise when opposing kilobots are added to a swarm.
Dakota Brakob
Dakota Brakob is a rising senior in the Aerospace Honors program pursuing the air track, as well as a minor in Physics. Last summer, Dakota was a Systems Engineering intern at the FAA. Last semester, Dakota worked for Dr. Inderjit Chopra of the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center (AGRC) researching fixed pitch straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT) design and plans to finish this project once labs reopen. This summer, Dakota continued researching for Dr. Chopra, conducting design parametric studies of cyclic pitch SB-VAWTs under AEROS. Next year, Dakota plans to take Dr. Baeder’s Aircraft Design section and use this knowledge in the Collegiate Wind Competition designing a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT).
Sanya Doda
Sanya Doda is a rising junior planning to pursue the space track. She is currently a member of UMD’s Research Institute for Scholars in Education (RISE) program and working on developing an organization focusing on how aerospace engineers could use their skills to serve the society. During the semester, she worked under Dr. Mary Bowden in her Balloon Payload Program to build payloads like MARS which could release the payload below it in flight and LIVE, a payload whose overall goal is to create a low-cost reliable video streaming mechanism. This summer she continues to work for Dr. Mary Bowden to see how a robotic arm would function under unstable conditions such as a balloon flight.
Kyle Guilday
Kyle Guilday is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering and global engineering leadership. This summer he worked with Dr. David Akin in the Space Systems Laboratory. His research focuses on studying autonomous control strategies for robotics using Robot Operating System and Sensor Integration. Madelaine Lebetkin 2020 AEROS Recipient Madelaine Lebetkin is a rising sophomore studying aerospace engineering with a minor in professional writing. She works under Dr. Mary Bowden in the Balloon Payload Program, researching effective designs for a payload with a deployable solar panel called the Solar Launched Automatic Power System (SLAPS). She is the current secretary of UMD’s chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as an Honors Ambassador, representing University Honors. Madelaine has worked in the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility in an effort to construct a functioning crew seat for different levels of gravity. Madelaine is a member of Flexus, the women in engineering living and learning community as well as a flute player in university band. She has studied abroad in Munich and London, and hopes to study abroad again in the future.
Madelaine Lebetkin
Madelaine Lebetkin is a rising sophomore with a minor in Professional Writing. She works under Dr. Mary Bowden in the Balloon Payload Program, researching effective designs for a payload with a deployable solar panel called the Solar Launched Automatic Power System (SLAPS). She is the current secretary of UMD’s chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as an Honors Ambassador, representing University Honors. Madelaine has worked in the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility in an effort to construct a functioning crew seat for different levels of gravity. Madelaine is a member of Flexus, the women in engineering living and learning community, as well as a flute player in University Band. She has studied abroad in Munich and London, and hopes to study abroad again in the future.
Liam McCue
Liam McCue is a rising sophomore studying aerospace engineering. He serves as an undergraduate liaison for AIAA and is a member of University Honors. Liam's research this summer focused on building an autonomous electric scooter with Dr. Paley as a part of the RESUME (Research in Electric Scooter Urban Mobility) team working in the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory. By hacking an electric scooter, Liam hopes to have remote control to serve as the basis for the autonomous platform. He mainly focused on sensor fusion and integration to control the scooter.
Azeza Odharo
Azeza Odharo is a rising senior studying the aeronautical track. Azeza transferred into the University of Maryland last fall from Montgomery College. He was one of the undergraduate students selected to work with the seniors on the 2020 “Design/Build/Fly” capstone project. This summer, Azeza will be working with Dr. Christopher Cadou to model a counter flow heat exchanger in a numerical propulsion system simulation (NPSS) software used for 'standard' turbine engine simulation. Heat exchangers play a big role when it comes to compact and efficient methods for converting liquid hydrocarbon fuels into electric power for hybrid-electric propulsion. Azeza is looking forward to this research because of the learning experience that comes with it, and his high interest in aircraft propulsion systems.
Tyler Parks
Tyler Parks is a rising junior in the aerospace engineering program. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an Air Weapons Controller, where he controlled aircraft for Air-to-Air Combat and Close Air Support. While deployed, Tyler controlled over 1,600 missions throughout more than 250K square miles of Afghanistan airspace. He was recently selected for the NASA Pathways Program and will begin working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the fall. This summer, Tyler worked for Dr. Flatau, using Computational Fluid Dynamics to analyze how active flow control devices can reduce pressure drag due to flow separation. He will also be working on a project with the Army Research Lab at Aberdeen Proving Grounds to model the effects of sand ingestion in gas turbine engines. Hridoy Rozario 2020 AEROS Recipient Hridoy Rozario is a rising senior in the aerospace engineering space track program. Last semester, he worked with a Ph.D. student on implementing a reinforcement machine-learning algorithm on a simulation. This summer, Hridoy will work on a simulation of a swarm of robots called the Kilobots with Dr. Michael Otte. He will research emergent behaviors of swarm and program the Kilobots to balance a beam. The program will then be tested in the simulation to test simulator accuracy and explore swarm intelligence and its application.
Hridoy Rozario
Hridoy Rozario is a rising senior in the space track program. Last semester, he worked with a Ph.D. student on implementing a reinforcement machine learning algorithm on a simulation. This summer, Hridoy will work on a simulation of a swarm of robots called the Kilobots with Dr. Michael Otte. He will research emergent behaviors of swarm and program the Kilobots to balance a beam. The program will then be tested in the simulation to test simulator accuracy and explore swarm intelligence and its application.
Edward Tocco
Edward Tocco is a rising senior aerospace engineering student. He is a member of the Terrapin Rockets club, where he worked on the Integration sub team designing a GUI for monitoring rocket flight parameters. He currently works in the Space Propulsion and Power Lab (SPPL) on the helicon thruster project. This summer, Edward worked with Dr. Sedwick at SPPL on designing and modeling a new thruster, focusing on the possible advantages of implementing a solid nozzle and its impacts on the ionization fraction.
Alexis D. Williams
Alexis D. Williams is a rising junior studying aerospace engineering. She is the current Vice President of the Out in STEM (OSTEM) chapter at UMD and is a member of the Women in Engineering (WIE) advisory board at UMD. For half of her freshman year and her entire sophomore year, she conducted research under Dr. Flatau on improving the effectiveness of a magneto-elastic torque sensor. When she is not conducting research or studying for exams, she enjoys writing science fiction. This summer, her research under Dr. Flatau will focus on the design and characterization of 3-D printed magnetic sensors. She will be creating COMSOL models to determine if 3-D printed objects made from PLA doped with magnetic particles can be used to detect strain.
Eli Elstein 2019 AEROS Scholar
Eli is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering and Astronomy. He works in Dr. Christine Hartzell's Planetary Surfaces and Spacecraft lab testing how meteors can compress while descending through Earth's atmosphere. This summer he is creating code to both collect and analyze large amounts of data from the experiment. The data collected will be used to determine whether the current theories on asteroid density are correct. Eli is also a trumpet in the Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band at the university, as well as the equipment manager.
Ian Moss 2019 AEROS Scholar
Ian Moss is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering and a returning AEROS Sikorsky Scholar. He works under Dr. Derek Paley for the University of Maryland's Autonomous Micro-Air Vehicle (AMAV) team that was awarded first place in the autonomous category for the Vertical Flight Society's package delivery competition in May 2019. He is also a member of the Autonomous Drone Racing (ADR) team under Dr. Mumu Xu and the RC Flying Terp's Drone Racing club. Last summer, as an AEROS Scholar, he helped develop a Matlab GUI for drone control and then automated its control using ROS. His research for this summer will be devoted to improving system reliability and state estimation for the AMAV team by exploring visual-inertial odometry (VIO).
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Benjamin Quock 2019 AEROS Scholar
Ben Quock is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering in the Astronautics track. He is currently the Vice President & Injection Systems team leader of the Terrapin Rocket Team. In his role on the rocket team, he designed and tested the injection systems for the development of a working hybrid rocket motor. Last summer, Ben worked on a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts project under Dr. Christine Hartzell, where he researched and designed a CubeSat science payload consisting of Langmuir probes intended for detecting and mapping sub-cm orbital debris through collision free methods. At the beginning of his junior year, he joined the Planetary Surfaces and Spacecraft laboratory as an undergraduate researcher developing surface gripping fingers for wall walking robots. This summer, Ben will be continuing his undergraduate research by integrating gecko-like adhesive material with magnetorheological fluid to create, test, and analyze robotic fingertip gripping strength for spacecraft repairing robots.
Brady Sack 2019 Anderson Scholar
Brady Sack is a rising senior in the aerospace honors program planning to pursue the space track. During the semester, he works as an undergraduate researcher and research diver at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility, researching autonomous control for satellite servicing robots. He is also involved with the Gemstone Honors Program as a member of Team Visor which aims to integrate augmented reality into existing spacesuit technologies. This summer he will continue his work for Dr. David Akin at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility, exploring autonomous control strategies and advanced user control interfaces. He’s excited to mess around with robots, swim in the tank, and maybe do something useful along the way!
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Ariq Zufar 2019 AEROS Scholar
Ariq is a rising junior in the aerospace engineering program. He is a member of Sigma Phi Delta engineering fraternity. Last semester, he helped a graduate student’s project in manufacturing Gamera Solar Helicopter. This summer, Ariq works for Dr. James Baeder in developing a wind turbine for 2020 Collegiate Wind Competition. He will be building the wind turbine that was used in the 2017 competition and testing it to see its power curve and cut-in speed. The data collection then will be used to identify possible ways to optimize its performance.
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Arjun Agarwal 2018 AEROS Department Scholar
Arjun Agarwal is a rising junior Aerospace Engineering student. As a member of Gemstone Team OPTIC, he is working on a four-year research project improving underwater wireless communication networks using Visual Light Communication. Arjun started conducting research with Dr. Sedwick in the Space Power and Propulsion Laboratory (SPPL) during his freshman year. He assisted with the investigation of the use of heat picks for future icy-moon rover transportation. In addition to SPPL, he has also been involved in research focusing on X-ray pulsar navigation and guidance for spacecraft. He has also been briefly involved in Dr. Hu’s laboratory for mass producing energetic materials. Arjun has presented his research at the 2018 AIAA Student Conference and at UMD’s Undergraduate Research Day. This summer, Arjun will be doing his research with Dr. Sedwick at SPPL on electrodeless thrusters that include superconducting coils for electric propulsion.
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Kevin Braga 2018 AEROS Department Scholar
Kevin Braga is a rising senior in the air track, and he is currently pursuing a minor in physics. Apart from his academic requirements, he also enjoys exploring topics in applied mathematics. As such, he was introduced to mathematical chaos in discrete-time dynamical systems through the math department’s Directed Reading Program. Over the past three semesters, Kevin worked in Dr. Lathrop’s Nonlinear Dynamics Lab as an undergraduate researcher. In the lab, he performed video-data analysis of superfluid helium across its transition temperature, and he investigated the possibility of establishing the Hall Effect in charged, granular flow. This summer, he will be organizing the petascale database and Matlab postprocessing codes at the CRoCCo lab and determining the different spatio-temporal correlations of turbulent boundary layers in the presence of energy transfer mechanisms between the thermal and kinetic fields under Dr. Pino Martin’s supervision.
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Nikhil Gupta 2018 AEROS Brin Scholar
Nikhil is a rising junior and serves as a member of Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace honors society, and a tutor for the department’s Academic Match program. Nikhil’s previous research/internship experience includes modeling spacecraft subsystems through MATLAB & Simulink at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. He will be working with Dr. Huan Xu this summer on UAV swarm tactics in an urban setting. Heavy emphasis will be placed on coding algorithms, for all 25-50 agents to interact with each other, motion planning, and quadrotor dynamics.
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Charles Hanner 2018 AEROS Brin Scholar
Charles is a rising junior in the Aerospace Engineering Department and a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Honors College. Charles started conducting research at the Space Systems Laboratory and Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility during his freshman year under the supervision of Dr. Dave Akin. He has worked on projects such as SCOUT (a single person spacecraft), X-HAB (a habitat design and human factors assessment program), and RANGER (a satellite servicing robot). This summer, Charles will be working on SCAMP (Space Characterization and Assessment of Manipulator Performance), a project that will aid in the assessment of a manipulator's stability when an impeding force is applied in a microgravity environment, and investigate the ability to detect changes in mass within an end effector through a moving moment of inertia.
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Zachary Hoover 2018 AEROS Brin Scholar
Zachary Hoover is a rising junior Aerospace student, he is interested in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and more specifically quadcopters. He is a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and helps out with the MAV team. This summer, he will be working with Dr. Michael Otte on a large group of about 300 kilobots. He hopes to program, test and troubleshoot them using C programming so they work together as a collective group. With this group functionality, he hopes to make the kilobots arrange themselves into different formations and collectively transport objects similarly to a colony of ants. Although these kilobots are not capable of much at their small size the way they work together as a group instead of individual counterparts is very helpful if they were to be scaled up.
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Akshay Menon 2018 AEROS Brin Scholar
Akshay is a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering in the Aeronautics track. He is currently a member of the UMD Hyperloop team working on Hydraulics, Pneumatics & Electromechanical actuation methods. Akshay’s previous experience includes participation in the Balloon Payload Program where he built a payload that measured solar power during the 2017 solar eclipse. In the summer of 2017, Akshay assisted Dr. Ghada Bassioni at the Combustions Research Laboratory in preparing Nickel-Zinc-Aluminum as well as Zinc-Aluminum catalysts to observe their performance in oxygen extraction for combustion purposes. This summer, he will be working under Dr. Wereley to perform research on Extensile & Contractile Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (E-PAM/C-PAM) and soft robotics, more specifically on constructing ossicle structures for preferential bending of artificial muscles.
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Ian Moss 2018 AEROS Sikorsky Scholar
Ian Moss is a rising junior studying Aerospace Engineering. He has completed the FIRE research stream for autonomous unmanned systems and currently works with the University’s autonomous micro-air vehicle TerpCopter team. He has previously worked as an engineering intern for the Montgomery County Government Department of Transportation. This summer, he will be working under Dr. Paley to develop a Matlab GUI for drone control and then automate its control using ROS to further the team’s efforts onto the following academic year.
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Steven Neubauer 2018 AEROS Anderson Scholar
Steven Neubauer is a rising junior and member of Theta Tau on campus. Steven’s research this summer will be focused on the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s (NSWC) new Extreme Power Internal Combustion (EPIC) engine. He will be using the thermodynamic model of the engine to determine performance sensitivity to various design changes, and he will perform experiments on a prototype of the engine to measure pressures and airflow rates as a function of crank angle. Steven will be working with Dr. Cadou this summer to use these measurements to validate and refine the EPIC engine model.
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Nicolo Primerano 2018 AEROS Sikorsky Scholar
Nicolo Primerano is a rising junior in Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace engineering honors society, as well as a brother of the professional engineering fraternity, Theta Tau. For Theta Tau, he is a representative for the Professional Greek Council. In addition, he is a member of the QUEST Honors Program on campus. This summer, Nicolo will be working in the Rotorcraft Center with Dr. Bauknecht on a compound helicopter test rig. More specifically, he will be designing and developing the aft of the rig for use in the wind tunnel on campus. The aft section will have a propeller to drive the compound helicopter in forward flight at higher speeds when the main rotor will not be as effective. In designing this section, he will have to make both the propeller and the horizontal stabilizers able to adjust in the vertical direction to find the optimal location for them. Observations will be possible through the use of Particle Image Velocimetry and force measurements to find this optimal positioning for those parts. Nicolo’s goal through this project is to gain hands-on research experience and apply the theory he learns in class to a real-life application.
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Nicholas Rehm 2018 AEROS Brin Scholar
Nicholas Rehm is a rising senior in aerospace engineering on the air track. He currently serves as the student advisor for RC Flying Terps, the first university-recognized club dedicated to building and flying radio controlled aircraft. He has also served as the structures and controls team leader on the Gamera-S solar powered helicopter project. Nicholas has competed in the American Helicopter Society MAV student challenge for the past two years and was awarded first place in 2017, and best design in 2018. Alongside this, he has also served as a pilot and undergraduate researcher at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center. This past summer, his work there included the design, fabrication, and testing of a cyclorotor MAV which was used in system identification and the implementation of a new control strategy. This summer, Nicholas will be working on stall avoidance and turbulence mitigation for fixed-wing MAVs. This will be achieved through a unique cyber-physical “smart wing” with flow sensing abilities to supplement existing control systems. |
Brady Sack 2018 AEROS Department Scholar
Brady Sack is a rising junior in the aerospace honors program and plans to pursue the space track. In addition to aerospace, he is working towards a minor in physics. Throughout the past two semesters, he has worked as an undergraduate researcher and research diver at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility under the direction of Dr. Dave Akin. He is also involved with the Gemstone Honors Program as a member of Team Visor which aims to integrate augmented reality into existing spacesuit technologies. This summer he will work with Dr. Akin to design Biobot – a robotic life support rover intended to offload the weight of a spacesuit to allow for longer extravehicular activities. Outside of aerospace, Brady is the logistics director for Relay for Life, an on-campus fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
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Sharon Shallom 2018 AEROS Brin Scholar
Sharon is a rising junior in the aerospace department and is an active member of AIAA, Society of Women Engineers, Alpha Phi Omega (Professional Service Fraternity), and Terps Against Hunger. Sharon has interned at Virginia Tech’s Center for Space and Engineering as well as Epidemiology Unit at the NIH. This summer, she will organize a course with several obstructions that impede level flight and will use small quad-copter drones equipped with a collision avoidance system that combines a detect and avoid algorithm with a traffic tracking system to conduct multiple test runs each day until the system works flawlessly in any situation. She will record a wide array of telemetric data using a multitude of software systems and then analyze it to determine the necessary improvements that must be made to the system.
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Ben Tanner 2018 AEROS Sikorsky Scholar
Ben is a rising junior from New York and a student in the aerospace engineering program. Ben just completed a semester interning at NASA’s Johnson Space Center with the Engineering Structures branch in Houston, TX. Last summer, he conducted research with Dr. Wereley and Dr. Becnel involving mechanical testing of dual extrusion 3D printed specimens. Building off this research, Ben and his team partner won second prize in a dual extrusion Design Competition sponsored by Northrop Grumman. He also serves as the Community Service Chair for the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. This summer, Ben will be working with Dr. Wereley to produce a 3-layered flexible composite skin structure that will have a Poisson’s ratio equal to zero. The end result of this research will be the application of this morphing skin onto a flexible airfoil or soft robot prototype, which will demonstrate the composite skin’s feasibility to be used in future technologies and designs.
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Brandon Tsou 2018 AEROS Department Scholar
Brandon is a rising junior in the aerospace department. He is a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity and will be spending the summer working on a project involving Magnetorheological Fluids. He will be replacing magnetic particles with nonmagnetic ones in order to increase yield stress and other properties.
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Tomohiro Yamaguchi 2018 AEROS Department Scholar
Tomohiro Yamaguchi is a rising junior in the aerospace honors program and a member of AIAA. He is also a member of the UMD Model Congress club and the President of the UMD Archery Club. For the past two years, he has worked with the UMD Balloon Payload Program (BPP) headed by Dr. Bowden. The BPP develops scientific and engineering payloads for high altitude balloon flights. This summer, he will be working on the Mobile Antenna Pointing System (MAPS), which is a stabilization and tracking system for a vehicle mounted antenna. The system will consist of a motorized gimbal mounted on the chase vehicle that will keep the antenna pointing at the balloon as it rises.
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Jeffrey Zhu 2018 AEROS Department Scholar
Jeffrey Zhu is a rising junior in the aerospace engineering program. He is currently a member of UMD Loop, the university’s Hyperloop Competition Team, and active member of the UMD’s AIAA student chapter. Jeffrey’s previous research experience includes designing and prototyping a parallel jaw mechanism for neutral buoyancy testing at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility. This summer, he will be conducting human factor testing on a series of evolving designs for Biobot, an autonomous life support robot. The goal of this research is to develop a guide for an umbilical cord that does not interfere with physical spacesuit movements.
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Rosemary Davidson
Rosemary Davidson is a rising senior in the aerospace honors program and is on the space track. She is also the current president of the Women in Aeronautics and Astronautics (WIAA) organization and vice president of the Sigma Gamma Tau National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society. In previous years, Rosemary has worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Mechanical Engineering, Attitude Control Systems Engineering, and Heliophysics Branches. This summer, she will be analyzing different guidance, navigation, and control algorithms and implementing the most effective of the methods for a CubeSat in Low-Earth Orbit.
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Ehiremen Ebewele
Ehirmen Ebewele is a rising senior in the aerospace engineering honors program. He is a member of AIAA and serves as an Academic Excellence Committee member for Black Engineering Society UMD. Last summer, Ehiremen performed research on the aerodynamic performance of a micro air vehicle in forward flight in order to generate data that could be used in numerical analysis to assist with computational models used in optimizing quadrotor performance. This past spring semester, he participated in the 2017 AHS Annual Student Design Competition in a group of 4 students to design and build a quadrotor capable of delivering and acquiring small packages. The team came in 1st place in the competition. As a continuation of recent research work, this summer Ehriemen will be conducting research on achieving autonomous control of the MAV while performing package delivery and pickup, focusing on the incorporation of SnapDragon flight hardware on a quadrotor.
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Christopher Kennedy
Christopher Kenned is a rising senior and a student in the aerospace honors program. In addition to studying aerospace, he is completing a computer science minor and serves as the founding father of the UMD chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity. Christopher’s previous research experience includes a position at Centeye Inc. to aid in the development of a vision-based system that enables autonomous obstacle avoidance for micro air vehicles in GPS-denied environments. This summer, Christopher is working with Dr. Huan Xu on validation of a Hierarchical 3D path planning algorithm. This will be implemented in a multi-agent system in order to make use of cooperative sensing and localization in order to better traverse an environment.
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James Kim
James Kim is a rising junior in the aerospace engineering honors program, and a member of Theta Tau as well as AIAA. He will be spending the summer working with Dr. Laurence on developing a shock tunnel in the High-Speed Aerodynamics and Propulsion lab and analyzing flows over a Mars capsule model inside the tunnel.
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Nathan Schilling
Nathan is a rising senior and a member of AIAA as well as Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace engineering honors society. Outside of aerospace, Nathan is involved in UMD’s Club Ballroom Dance as well as the Argentine Tango Social Club. He is also the host of Blues Branches radio show on WMUC 88.1 College Park. Nathan’s previous research experience includes a systems engineering co-op at Sikorsky Aircraft where he assisted with the development of CH-53K aircraft. Nathan’s research this summer will investigate how adding permanent magnets to an IEC type fusion reactor will improve electron confinement and fusion power in the core.
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Cole Sousa
Cole is a rising senior in the aerospace honors program. He is also a member of the Design Build and Fly team for the 2017-2018 year, and a club officer of UMD Men’s Ice Hockey Club. Cole’s previous experience includes a co-op in the Materials and Process Engineering department for GE Aviation, as well as research with Dr. Anubhav Datta on solutions for high speed tilt-rotors. This summer, Cole will be working with Dr. Stuart Laurence to map and analyze the trajectories of free-flying objects interacting with a planar oblique shock in hypersonic airflow. The goal of his summer research is to be able to compare experimental and computational results. This body of research has implications for high speed fragmentation, such as meteoroid fragmentation, and explaining separation trajectories and velocities.
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Derek Thompson
Derek Thompson is a rising senior and an officer for UMD’s Sailing Team as well as the Maryland Unmanned Aerial Systems Club. He will be working with Dr. Huan Xu this summer to research different methods of obstacle avoidance algorithms for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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Jacob Zembower
Jacob Zembower is a rising senior and a member Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace engineering honors society. Jacob currently works at The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora on campus. Last summer, Jacob worked with Dr. Norman Wereley designing and testing a magnetorheological fluid-based universal gripper. He will continue conducting research with Dr. Wereley this summer to design and test a soft robotic gripper that will be constructed using flexible 3D printer filament and controlled using an electromagnet.
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Jean-Luis Betancourt 2016 Sikorsky AEROS Scholar
Jean-Luis Betancourt is a rising senior in the aerospace honors program. With the advisement of Dr. Chris Cadou, Jean-Luis’s research involves developing two thrust stands capable of measuring the transient thrust developed by pulse detonating engines and the steady state thrust from small gas turbine engines. He plans on going to graduate school and specializing in either [dynamics or control] or [propulsion/ aerodynamics].
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Ehiremen Ebewele 2016 ASPIRE Scholar
Ehiremen Ebewele is a rising junior in the Aerospace Engineering Department and is also a student in the Aerospace honors program. He is also a research assistant working under Dr. Alison Flatau in the aerospace department on measurements of facial features of patient scans on Measured Changes in Limbal Strain During Simulated Sleep in Face Down Position using an Instrumented Contact Lens in Healthy Adults and Adults With Glaucoma. Last summer, Ehiremen was awarded with the Summer 2015 aspire scholarship, where he worked under Dr. James Baeder with a team of students on the building and testing of a horizontal axis wind turbine. This summer Ehiremen was again awarded with the Aspire summer 2016 scholarship where he will working with Dr. Vikram on the Aerodynamic performance of quadrotor MAV in forward flight.
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Eric Frizzell 2016 Department AEROS Scholar
Eric Frizzell is a Junior Aerospace Engineering Honors Student and currently serves as Secretary on the board of UMD's Sigma Gamma Tau National Aerospace Engineering Society. He is especially interested in harvesting space resources to supplement growing global energy needs. He will spend this summer conducting research with Dr. Sedwick under the Center for Orbital Debris Research and Education. His focus will be utilizing GPUs to speed conjunction assessment. Before pursuing his engineering degree, Eric earned his B.S in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Phil Kirk 2016 Sikorsky AEROS Scholar
Phil Kirk is a rising senior in Aerospace Engineering Honors, a Banneker/Key scholar, and a member of the RISE Leadership Academy. Phil has years of exposure to aerospace research, working as a lab assistant in the Space Systems Lab and the Autonomous Vehicle Lab. This summer, Phil will be starting his own research project with Dr. Anya Jones, studying the aerodynamics of flow reattachment on helicopter rotors to improve helicopter performance at high forward speeds. In the future, Phil hopes to pursue graduate studies at UMD.
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Brian (Jung) Lee 2016 ASPIRE Scholar
Brian (Jung) Lee is a rising senior in Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science. As a part of the Aerospace Engineering Honors program at the University of Maryland he is pursuing research with the Institute for Systems Research in mission planning for multi-UAV systems. His field of interest lies in the implementation of machine learning for autonomous mission planning, and this summer he is implementing computer vision for obstacle detection and environment mapping for planar navigation with the Institute for Systems Research.
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Spencer Levin 2016 ASPIRE Scholar
Spencer Levin is a rising senior Aerospace Engineering student. He earned his College Park Scholars citation from the Science, Discovery, and the Universe program. He previously volunteered in the Space Power and Propulsion Lab. He is currently researching the development of a voice control system for robotic manipulators in Dr. Akin’s Space Systems Lab.
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Jacob McCullum 2016 ASPIRE Scholar
Jacob McCullum is a rising junior Aerospace Engineering Honors and University Honors student. He is also a member of the AIAA, and he is an assistant for the Design Build and Fly team. Jacob has aspirations to work in the defense industry, and he plans on pursuing a private pilot’s license in his spare time. Jacob will be conducting structural health monitoring research under Dr. Norman Wereley starting this summer by designing and fabricating a setup which will support an F-18 wing for future SHM tests. The overall goals of the research are improved safety and maintenance practices in the aerospace industry through more reliable data collection of an aircraft's structural condition.
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Kate Melone 2016 Anderson AEROS Scholar
Kate Melone is a junior studying Aerospace Engineering with a passion for manned space exploration. She currently works on campus in the Space Systems Lab, was treasurer of WIAA (fall 2015-spring 2016), and is a Clark School Ambassador. She has worked at NASA Johnson Space Center for the past two summers, and will be returning this fall 2016 for a NASA Pathways Co-Op. Kate hopes to work full time at NASA JSC, and become an astronaut. In her free time, Kate enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing strategy games, playing/watching sports, listening to music, go-karting, and watching Leave It to Beaver.
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Patrick Washington 2016 Gessow AEROS Scholar
Patrick Washington is a junior Aerospace Engineering Honors and University Honors student. He is a member of the Club Baseball team and is looking forward to joining Design Build Fly in the fall. Patrick has been working in the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory since freshman year, most recently on a soft robotic fish. This summer, he will be working on his Aerospace Honors project under Dr. Wereley and Dr. Paley to develop Hydraulic Artificial Muscles.
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Benjamin Williams 2016 ASPIRE Scholar
Benjamin Williams is a rising junior Aerospace Engineering Honors and University Honors student. He is the President of the Terrapin Rocket club and recently led the team to its first competition victory. He is currently developing an unconventional micro air vehicle (MAV) called the All-Terrain Cyclocopter at the MAV Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Inderjit Chopra and Elena Shrestha. This summer, he will be continuing this research and plans to publish a technical paper for the AIAA SciTech Conference. For the 2016-2017 school year, he will interning as a Production Engineer working on Falcon 9 Manufacturing at SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA.
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Ignacio Andreu
Ignacio Andreu is a raising senior Aerospace Engineering Honors student with a minor in Physics. He is a member of the University's sailing team, and he is looking forward towards being team leader for the Design Build Fly team next year. Las summer, Ignacio worked in the Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics Laboratory helping a Phd student with his research in reverse flow applied to high speed helicopters. He will work in the same lab this summer researching the flow on a wing with impulsive camber. The interest in this study comes from multi-element rigid sails and the characteristics of wings encountering gusts.
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Zachariah Brown
Zachariah Brown is a junior Aerospace Engineering Honors and University Honors student. He is also a member of the RISE Leadership Academy, a Teaching Fellow for ENES100, and current Vice-President of the student AIAA chapter. Last summer Zachariah was awarded an Undergraduate Summer Research Grant to research combustion phenomena in a miniature supersonic burner at Texas A&M University under Dr. Adonios Karpetis. Currently Zachariah is researching the development of a superconducting magnet system for a helicon plasma thruster in the Space Power and Propulsion Lab under Dr. Raymond Sedwick.
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Joseph Cozzo
Joseph Cozzo is a rising senior Aerospace Engineering Honors student who is also pursuing a minor in astronomy at the University of Maryland. He is a member of the aerospace honors society Sigma Gamma Tau and UMD’s RISE Leadership Academy and is the current president of the Experimental Flying Club. This summer he will be continuing his research with Dr. Flatau on the use of thin-film magnetostrictive Galfenol as a non-contact torque sensor. He will be developing a simulated model of the system and using the results of that simulation to further the physical testing of the thin-film galfenol.
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Nathaniel Kruder
Nathaniel Kruder is a junior Aerospace Engineering Honors student and a Gemstone Honors student. In addition, he is a member of RISE Leadership Academy and a section leader for GEMS102/GEMS202. Nathaniel has previously worked at NAVAIR on small unmanned aerial vehicles. This summer, he will be working with Dr. Cadou to explore the viability of using gas propulsion systems on small UAVs (100g or less) instead of the current electric propulsion systems.
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Nathan Lauer
Nathan Lauer is a senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering. He has always had a passion for airplanes and a dream of becoming an aerospace engineer and a pilot. He is currently training for his private pilot’s license with more than 130 hours of flight training completed. He also enjoys working with computers, so he decided to declare a double major in Computer Science. In the future, he hopes to work in GNC, avionics, or embedded flight software systems. This will allow him the opportunity to combine his two favorite fields--aerospace and computer science. He also plans to pursue his graduate studies in Aerospace Engineering. He is currently conducting research with Dr. Derek Paley on the experimental validation of wake sensing and estimation for control of autonomous aircraft in formation flight.
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Kyle Meyers
Kyle Meyers is a senior Aerospace Engineering Honors student. He is involved with the RISE Leadership Program, and he will be president of the student chapter of Sigma Gamma Tau for the 2015-2016 year. Kyle is doing research under Dr. Alison Flatau in the Magnetostrictive Materials Lab to fulfill his aerospace honors research project. He will be utilizing CFD simulation to aid the design of a low-cost, bio-inspired sensor that dynamically responds to low speed water flow.
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Atif Salahudeen
Atif Salahudeen is a rising senior Aerospace Engineering Honors student with a minor in Engineering Leadership and Development. He is also a member of the University Honors program. This summer, Atif will be working with Dr. James Baeder on designing and testing a wind turbine prototype for the University of Maryland’s Wind TERPines’ entry into the Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition.
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Matthew Shumate
Matthew Shumate is a senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Engineering Leadership Development. He is a University Honors student and a member of the AIAA. His interests include aerodynamics and aerospace structures. This summer, Matthew will be working with Dr. Baeder to design, manufacture, and test a prototype wind turbine. The amount of power the turbine can produce at various wind speeds will be recorded and used to assist the University of Maryland Collegiate Wind Competition Team in the construction of their wind turbine.
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Daniel Villalobos
Daniel Villalobos is a junior Aerospace Engineering student. He is a member of AIAA and AHS. He developed a deep interest in robotics and autonomous systems during previous summer internships with Maryland Space Grant. This summer, he will continue conducting research begun last fall on the development of a sub-500 gram micro-air vehicle capable of autonomous navigation and localization in Dr. Chopra’s MAV lab.
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Wiam Attar
Wiam Attar is a junior Aerospace Engineering Honors student minoring in astronomy. In addition to his role as treasurer of Sigma Gamma Tau, he is a member of AIAA, RISE Leadership Academy, Tau Beta Pi, Tau Sigma, and Phi Theta Kappa. He is also a member of the General Education Committee at University of Maryland. Wiam is doing research with Dr. Stuart Laurence about the fragmentation of meteorites in hypersonic flow. Wiam has also worked as an intern for Dr. Inderjit Chopra at Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at University of Maryland, and his work was primarily related to machining and assembling composite rotor blades. This summer, Wiam will be working with Dr. Inderjit Chopra in the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center. The research will be to evaluate the stability of motor actuated trailing edge flap systems.
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Brian Free
Brian Free is a senior Aerospace Engineering honors student and University honors student. He is a member of AIAA and a teaching fellow for ENES100, the introduction to engineering design course. He worked under Dr. Yu at the Air Force’s Tunnel 9 at the AEDC White Oak facility last summer on temperature sensitive paint calibration, base pressure correction on wind tunnel models, and force balance studies. He will be working there again this summer on his honors project: researching the photoluminescent degradation of temperature sensitive paint in wind tunnel testing due to heat and light exposure.
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Mateusz Grabryszuk
Mateusz Gabryszuk is a senior at the University of Maryland and is pursuing a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering. He is part of the Aerospace Engineering honors program. Mateusz’s interest in aircraft was sparked at a young age, when he became fascinated with airplanes and the physical principles responsible for keeping them aloft. This summer, Mateusz will be working with Dr. Anya Jones in the Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics Laboratory. As part of his aerospace honors program research project, Mateusz is investigating the effect of the wingtip vortex on the production of lift on a flapping wing.
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Aaron Lash
Aaron Lash is a senior Aerospace Engineering student. He is a member of the Aerospace Engineering Honors and University Honors programs. Aaron has previously worked with Dr. Benedict and Dr. Chopra on the development of a flapping-wing micro air vehicle. This summer, Aaron will work again with Dr. Benedict and Dr. Chopra researching a new method of flapping an aerodynamic wing.
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Eltzafan Mark
Eltzafan Mark is a rising senior at the University of Maryland and a member of the Aerospace Engineering Honors program. His interests include aero and thermo dynamics, as well as how these interact in the combustion process. This past summer he worked in Dr Cadou’s lab on designing a flow rate meter to measure small fuel consumption rates in support of another undergraduate’s research. This summer he will again be working in Dr Cadou’s micro combustion laboratory, this time researching the detonation of gas mixtures in small enclosures, specifically how small a chamber can support a proper detonation.
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Andrew Mills
Andrew Mills is a junior (soon to be senior) Aerospace Engineering Honors student. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi - the Engineering Honors Society, Theta Tau, and he is an AIAA senior liaison. He will be working with Dr. Benedict on designing and testing a vertical axis wind turbine.
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Lauren Trollinger
Lauren Trollinger is a senior Aerospace Engineering Honors student with a minor in Project Management. As President of AIAA and an active member of the engineering sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon, she is very involved in the Clark School. Lauren will be working with Dr. Flatau in the Flow Visualization Laboratory, researching the drag-reducing effects of synthetic jet actuators. She hopes to apply her research to rotorcraft aerodynamics and the reduction of drag on a helicopter main rotor pylon.
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