Amelia Earhart Fellowship Program A Zonta International Program, funded by the Zonta International Foundation

The Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowships were established in 1938 in honor of Amelia Earhart, famed pilot and member of the Zonta Clubs of Boston and New York. The Fellowships are made annually to women pursuing graduate Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences and engineering.

2012 FELLOWS FARAH ALIBAY

o Citizenship: Canada/France o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and

Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ms. Alibay is investigating fractionated robotic architectures to improve complex space mission design involving multiple robotic vehicles for planetary surface exploration. Fractionation, which involves splitting the complete functionality of a satellite into several smaller satellites, which then interact with each other to share resources, has received little attention as a systems engineering approach to surface missions. She is evaluating how lunar/martian surface exploration can be enhanced by using multiple robots of different kinds working together and sharing functions, instead of using the current approach of one large rover. Ms. Alibay is involved in several other activities. She is a resident advisor for MIT's Women's Independent Living Group, participates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) outreach activities, mentors engineering undergraduate students, and enjoys sports. BEL HELEN BURGESS

o Citizenship: Canada o Proposed Program: Atmospheric Physics at the

University of Toronto Ms. Burgess will use her second fellowship to continue her research on two-dimensional fluid models known as alpha turbulence models and their relevance to geophysical flows. Since receiving her first fellowship, she has nearly completed her study of high-resolution meteorological analyses and this work has uncovered new features of large-scale circulation. Her research has also revealed a shallow mesoscale kinetic energy spectrum caused by gravity waves and not turbulence, suggesting that there is no clear evidence of turbulent inertial ranges, except at large scales in the stratosphere. Ms. Burgess’ future work will include higher resolution simulations to obtain better convergence. Her professional goal is to improve our understanding of turbulence and work in academia. Ms.

Burgess gives educational talks on climate change and organizes research presentations for prospective graduate students, and in her leisure time, writes poetry. CARLA CANTURRI GISPERT

o Citizenship: Andorra o Proposed Program: Aeronautics at Imperial College

London Ms. Canturri Gispert’s field of study is carbon-fiber reinforced composite materials. Her research focuses on the delamination failure mode. Delamination is a particularly critical failure mode and is defined as the de-bonding between the layers of a composite structure. Examples of sources of delamination initiation in composite structures include: a notch, a bolted joint, a ply drop-off, and low speed impacts such as bird impacts and tool drops. Her experiments will determine the sequence of the failure. Ms. Canturri Gispert is also performing numerical studies to predict the failure. Her results show that delaminations seem prone to migrate from the original plane of the defect. She has also observed that the fibers seem to “direct” the growth and promote or inhibit migrations depending on their direction relative to the delamination growth. Ms. Canturri Gispert enjoys playing the piano, ice hockey and rowing. AIRLIE JANE CHAPMAN

o Citizenship: Australia o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and

Astronautics at the University of Washington

Ms. Chapman will use her second fellowship to continue her research on the control and design of multiple vehicles for distributed tasks. One of the benefits of multiple vehicle systems is vehicle autonomy, which can remove human operators from potentially dangerous situations or mundane tasks. Her thesis addresses the problem of the control and security of multi-vehicle systems when humans are incorporated in the swarm. Ms. Chapman’s approach focuses on detecting human influence on the swarm, and to treat the vehicles and their communications interactions as a network instead of on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis. Her research has led to dynamic methods of restructuring multi-vehicle networks to improve the human controllability and security of the swarm. Since receiving her first fellowship, Ms. Chapman has extended her investigations to include the effective control of a swarm of small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) when exposed to environmental perturbations such as wind gusts and solar flares. Ms. Chapman is involved in several societies to promote women in engineering and sciences.

AMANDA CHOU o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and Astronautics

at Purdue University Ms. Chou's research involves the effects on transition in the field of hypersonics. The study of receptivity is the way in which disturbances in the freestream enter the boundary layer and is not well understood at supersonic and hypersonic speeds. Her experimental work involves using the Boeing/Air Force Office of Scientific Research Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel, which is the only hypersonic facility in the world that has optical access and low noise levels comparable to flight. Ms. Chou’s research project involves generating a controlled disturbance in the low-noise freestream using a laser and then studying the effect of that disturbance on instabilities in the boundary layer of a seven-degree half-angle cone and a flared cone. The results of her experiments will then be used to refine computational models and assist with hypersonic aircraft design. After graduation, she would like to teach at a research university. Ms. Chou is involved in many activities promoting and supporting women in science and especially engineering. HEATHER ANN ELIZABETH CLARK

o Citizenship: Canada o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering

at the University of Toronto Ms. Clark will use her second fellowship to continue to investigate active flow control for aerospace applications to delay the transition to turbulence, reduce drag and suppress vibration on aircraft. The management of such effects is of importance for reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs as well as passenger comfort. Her research focuses on the turbulent flow over a backward-facing step, which is a standard geometry that exhibits unsteady behavior downstream of a sharp change in surface height. Ms. Clark’s work to date has involved the investigation of an established technique in turbulence research known as stochastic estimation. The knowledge gained and techniques developed through her study will critically impact the design of control systems in more complex geometries. Her career plan is to work in government or industry in the area of fluid mechanics. Ms. Clark’s primary outside interest is music. She was trained in piano at the Royal Conservatory. TAL COHEN

o Citizenship: Israel o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Ms. Cohen will use her second fellowship to continue her studies on how airborne structures respond to impact and penetration. Her findings will help to facilitate the design of more efficient protective systems, which in turn can save lives both in atmospheric flight and space missions. One of the key

findings of her studies has been the existence of the specific cavitation energy which dominates perforation phenomena, facilitating calculation of minimum thickness of protective layers. Modern protective structures use an increasing percentage of components made of sintered powder materials, foamed metals and ceramic-metal composites for improving penetration resistance. Material porosity can have a major effect on cavitation and thus on penetration resistance. Ms. Cohen is comparing her experimental results with her analytical characterization of impact and penetration in porous materials. As a result of her research, there may be a need for new and advanced protective aerospace materials to achieve more efficient protective systems. Ms. Cohen enjoys painting, sewing, skiing, swimming and hiking. GEORGIA IULIANA DEACONU

o Citizenship: Romania o Proposed Program: Automatic Control at Paul

Sabatier University - LAAS-CNRS, Toulouse Ms. Deaconu is developing guidance algorithms for spacecraft rendezvous using model predictive control. Her main focus is on reducing fuel consumption, which is the most critical issue in space missions. She has developed guidance algorithms for obtaining fuel-optimized thrusting plans leading to autonomous periodic relative motion between spacecraft. This periodic movement, once attained, requires no further fuel consumption to be maintained. Ms. Deaconu’s research will be on proving the stability of the periodic relative trajectories and on designing a guidance algorithm leading to a fuel-optimal robust control law that attains and maintains the periodic movement in the perturbed case. If successful, this type of guidance law could ensure a larger autonomy of spacecraft relative navigation by guaranteeing its stability and robustness to perturbations and model uncertainties. Ms. Deaconu is a member of Language Exchange International, an organization that promotes intercultural exchanges. She likes reading and enjoys playing squash and skiing. PRIYANKA DHOPADE

o Citizenship: Canada o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

the University of New South Wales Ms. Dhopade is studying the fatigue life of rotating turbomachinery in gas turbine engines. Her research focuses on the rotating blades located in the compressor section that are spinning downstream of a set of inlet guide vanes called stators. These blades are subject to both low and high cycle fatigue loads during operation. Ms. Dhopade will use a numerical approach to implement fluid-structure interaction as a technique to establish the transient load history that reflects a combination of high cycle and low cycle fatigue loads. The load history can then be used in a stress-life fatigue analysis to more accurately evaluate the cumulative damage to the overall life of the rotating blades. Her studies will aid in a safer and more efficient approach to the operation and maintenance of today’s gas turbine engines. Ms. Dhopade’s career goal is to be a research scientist contributing to new developments in aerospace technologies. She is the student coordinator for a women in research group.

KATHRIN EISENSCHMIDT o Citizenship: Germany o Proposed Program: Aerospace Thermodynamics

at the University of Stuttgart Ms. Eisenschmidt is investigating the behavior of supercooled droplets in atmospheric clouds. Supercooled droplets may appear in cumulonimbus clouds, which can extend several kilometers in altitude where civil air traffic operates. These droplets may have a direct impact on aircraft as they freeze on essential parts, such as an airfoil or a pitot tube, which can have fatal consequences. The basic mechanisms of freezing and other phenomena in the atmosphere are not well understood. Ms. Eisenschmidt’s work focuses on direct numerical simulation of supercooled droplets regarding homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing. She will enhance an existing code to include treatment of three different phases including a solid phase, and the transitions as melting and freezing. She will develop a nucleation model for the initialization of crystallization. This will allow her to analyze and understand the fundamental physics of droplets in clouds and enhance global weather models. Ms. Eisenschmidt is a member of an Aviation Club and holds a Private Pilot License. KATHRYN REBECCA EVANS

o Citizenship: England o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the

University of Cambridge Ms. Evans’ field of study is turbomachinery. With the increasing cost of fuel, aircraft engine designers are required to produce more fuel-efficient engines. The efficiency of the low-pressure turbine is strongly related to the engine’s fuel consumption, thus there are significant benefits to optimizing the low-pressure turbine. The low-pressure turbine is made up of many stages, each consisting of a stationary and a rotating blade row. Clocking is the method of circumferentially moving or indexing vanes or blades relative to the vanes or blades in the adjacent stage. The primary objective of her research is to gain a physical understanding of the phenomena of clocking within low-pressure turbines. By replicating engine geometry in a low-speed experimental rig, the flow field is representative of what is occurring in the real high-speed engine. Her work also contains a numerical aspect to allow comparison with the experimental data. Ms. Evans is involved in fundraising for charity and enjoys running. She recently competed in a triathlon. MONA GOLBABAEI ASL

o Citizenship: Iran o Proposed Program: Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Ms. Golbabaei Asl is investigating alleviation of the sonic boom for supersonic commercial aircraft. Supersonic commercial aircraft is environmentally problematic. Sonic boom represents one of the many technical issues

for supersonic flight over inhabited regions. Preliminary research shows that considerations in design configurations for low sonic boom negatively impacts the performance and results in high drag. Her research involves the computational application of a heated filament in high-speed flow to mitigate sonic boom. A heated filament is introduced into the flow field ahead of the simple cylindrical blunt body. This results in changes in shock behavior and consequently flight parameters. In addition, a numerical simulation of a supersonic flow and energy deposition is performed. To inspect all possible various configurations more efficiently, a set or non-dimensional parameters are considered. This reduces the number of computational cases required to characterize this energy disposition problem. Ms. Golbabaei Asl enjoys playing tennis and swimming. MARLANA BEHNKE GOLDSMITH

o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

the University of Florida Ms. Goldsmith is studying ceramic matrix composites, which are used in ultra-high temperature applications in hypersonic and space vehicles. Ceramic matrix composites are lightweight composites that retain their strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures making them very practical for thermal-structural applications. However, there are significant technical barriers that must be overcome before these materials can find widespread application. Ms. Goldsmith is developing computer simulation tools in which the thermal-mechanical properties, strength, and causes of failure can be determined accurately and efficiently. She plans to achieve this with an innovative response surface methodology in combination with approximate physical models through both numerical and analytical methods. This method is expected to allow for enhanced confidence and understanding of thermal-mechanical properties and strength in these ceramic matrix composites. Ms. Goldsmith is a team leader for NASA’s Design Challenge for students in grades 6-12, maintains a group cooking blog, and takes dance classes. Her ultimate career goal is to become an astronaut. CARMEN GUERRA GARCIA

o Citizenship: Spain o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and

Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ms. Guerra Garcia's thesis is addressing two important issues of scramjets for supersonic flight. Scramjets are air-breathing engines for supersonic flight that rely on airflow due to the vehicle's forward motion instead of using rotatory compressors and perform the combustion in supersonic conditions. Her research focuses on the supersonic ignition and sustained combustion as well as the rapid mixing of fuel and air at the molecular level through excitation of natural flow instabilities by the use of non-thermal plasmas. This field of plasma-enhanced combustion is quite new and Ms. Guerra Garcia has already contributed to both the analytical model and the experimental design. She will also study plasma actuators for flow and combustion control as an enabler for hypersonic engines. Ms. Guerra Garcia gives lab tours and presentations to high school

students visiting MIT’s Space Propulsion Lab. Her career goal is to work in academia where she can conduct research and teach. She enjoys travelling and learning about other cultures. AMANDA FAY HAAPALA

o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Astrodynamics at Purdue

University Ms. Haapala is developing new trajectory design tools for use in multi-body gravitational environments. In many cases, trajectory design in multi-body regimes is implemented through a trial-and-error process. This process is time-consuming and yields only a subset of the available solutions that meet mission goals. The focus of her research is on producing trajectory design tools that allow the user to combine trajectory segments from various dynamical models to facilitate the rapid design of long-term trajectory itineraries for spacecraft that transition between various dynamical regimes. Emphasis will be placed on trajectory design in a visual environment to provide an interactive design process that allows the user to generate solutions rapidly. Development of such a tool will not only decrease the time required for trajectory design, but will also reveal the broad range of available solutions and provide increased mission flexibility. Ms. Haapala is a group leader for Purdue Space Day and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. QINXIAN (CHELSEA) HE

o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and Astronautics

at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ms. He is developing innovative methods to understand and mitigate the role of uncertainty in aerospace system design. Aerospace systems have become increasingly more complex, with a high growth in the number of components and their interactions. With this rise in complexity comes a host of new challenges such as the adequacy of mathematical models to predict system behavior, the time and expense to conduct experimentation and testing, and the management of large globally distributed design teams. Ms. He is formulating methods to rigorously quantify uncertainty and perform sensitivity analysis at various stages throughout the design process. These methods can help identify key sources of uncertainty and help guide decisions regarding the allocation of limited resources. Her research is highly multidisciplinary in nature, bringing together concepts from estimation theory, information theory, optimization, and systems engineering in a rigorous mathematical and computational framework. Ms. He is very active in the university graduate association of aeronautics and astronauts.

SONIA HERNANDEZ o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the

University of Texas at Austin Ms. Hernandez will use her second fellowship to continue her research in the optimization of spacecraft trajectories to Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) for both exploration and mitigation purposes. NEAs are small celestial bodies that orbit the sun on trajectories in close proximity to Earth’s orbit. Since her last fellowship, Ms. Hernandez has focused her studies on finding the NEAs that are most accessible for robotic and human exploration and design a series of optimal trajectories to these NEAs. The trajectory design utilizes Moon’s gravity via a lunar flyby in order to reduce the required propellant mass. She spent her summer as an intern at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where she studied different mitigation options for NEAs that might be on a collision course with Earth. She analyzed the known NEAs to identify those that offer opportunities for safe and meaningful near-term tests of kinetic impact deflection technique. Ms. Hernandez is tutoring girls in 8th grade math. She is also a mentor and tutor of undergraduate students in aerospace engineering. Her interests include playing the piano and enjoying the outdoors. MADELEINE KATHARINA G. HOLMBERG

o Citizenship: Sweden o Proposed Program: Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala

University Ms. Holmberg’s research involves characterizing the inner plasma disk of Saturn. She is using data from the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument to map the structure, dynamics and energy transport of the inner plasma disk of Saturn and monitor the degree and character of dust-plasma interactions there. Ms. Holmberg is trying to put these phenomena into a larger context and infer their effect on Saturn’s magnetosphere as a whole. The physical conditions near Saturn’s E-ring are similar to what is expected in certain regions of protoplanetary accretion disks around newborn stars. An accretion disk is a structure formed by diffuse material in orbit around a central body. She is investigating the processes in the E-ring to learn about the processes of accretion disks leading to the formation of planets. Ms. Holmberg enjoys travelling and exploring new cultures. ELIZABETH THERESE JENS

o Citizenship: Australia o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and Astronautics at

Stanford University Ms. Jens’ research goal is to improve the understanding of paraffin based fuels with application to hybrid rockets as a viable space propulsion system over existing liquid and solid chemical propulsion systems. The paraffin based hybrid rockets are safer, more environmentally sound, more economically viable and have performance equal to that of chemical systems. However, before the technology can be adopted, there are two technical

matters to be resolved related to pressure oscillations and completeness of combustion to improve efficiency. She will use new experimental techniques to resolve these issues and collect data to improve design decisions for these hybrid rocket motors. The underlying physics of combustion will be examined in detail. Another aspect of her research is to explore the application of hybrid rockets to outer planet exploration such as Europa, Titan and Uranus. Ms. Jens is very involved in outreach to promote careers in science and engineering. She has hiked extensively in Australia and enjoys many other sports. SOILE ELINA KUKKONEN

o Citizenship: Finland o Proposed Program: Astronomy and Physics at the

University of Oulu Ms. Kukkonen is undertaking research to use the surface dating method called ‘crater counting’ in which the planet’s surface age is determined by plotting crater size frequency distributions. The focus of her research is on the outflow channels near the eastern rim of the Hellas impact basin on Mars. She is using available spacecraft camera data from several instruments to study the Mars surface in order to understand the processes that created the eastern Hellas impact basin region. Ms. Kukkonen measures the diameter of every identifiable impact crater and the surface area of the region in order to plot the crater size frequency distributions. The crater statistics provide insight into the kind and duration of the flow processes that have occurred and how they connect to ancient Martian climate history. Ms. Kukkonen hopes to continue in planetology and work as a researcher at the international level. Her hobbies include classical singing and Japanese language studies. She also volunteers at the 4-H Youth Development Organization. RHEA PATRICIA LIEM

o Citizenship: Indonesia o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the University

of Toronto, Institute for Aerospace Studies Ms. Liem’s research is focused on improving the computational efficiency of current state-of-the-art integrated design framework for aircraft design purposes. The high computational cost associated with the current high-fidelity discipline models and interdisciplinary coupling in the current framework limits the extent of the analysis. Ms. Liem’s approach is to use surrogate models, which are simpler approximations of physical systems that are cheaper to evaluate. These surrogate models will be incorporated into the current integrated design framework to improve its computational efficiency. The first surrogate models she will construct will be for lift and drag coefficients as functions of Mach number and angle of attack. Through an optimization iterative process she will add design variables such as wing geometry parameters. The success of the research will assist the design process of innovative, unconventional, environmentally-friendly future aircraft concepts. The improvements achieved will allow a more thorough performance evaluation. Ms. Liem enjoys fine art and singing. She hopes to become a university professor in the future.

ASHLEY ELIZABETH MICKS o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at Stanford

University Ms. Micks is studying the use of nitrous oxide as a monopropellant for a small-scale thruster for space applications. The goal of her thesis is to convert nitrogen waste into energy. Ms. Micks is characterizing catalysts that could be used to decompose nitrous oxide and is determining what catalysts enable the greatest new release of energy while minimizing the cost to produce the catalyst. The effectiveness of a catalyst is determined, for a given length of catalyst bed, by how hot the catalyst needs to be until virtually all the nitrous oxide flowing through it is decomposed before the exit of the catalyst bed. The lower the required heat input, the more effective the catalyst. She is also exploring the use of nitrous oxide as an ultra-clean, carbon-free source of energy for a variety of other applications. Ms. Micks holds a dual bachelor degree in Theater Arts and in Aerospace Engineering. She volunteers to plant and water trees to bring back native growth. CLAUDIA PATRICIA MORENO

o Citizenship: Colombia o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering and

Mechanics at the University of Minnesota Ms. Moreno is researching advanced methods to control highly flexible aircraft. Increased flexibility challenges the flight control system since current systems are based on rigid body dynamics of the aircraft, ignoring any flexibility of the vehicle. Lighter aircraft are more fuel-efficient and have longer operational ranges, however these aircraft are also more flexible which can increase the interaction between the rigid body and structural dynamics modes resulting in body freedom flutter. This phenomenon can lead to poor handling properties and even cause dynamic instability. Hence, an integrated active approach to flight control, flutter suppression and structural mode attenuation is required to meet the desired aircraft performance specifications. The focus of Ms. Moreno's research is to develop controllers for this phenomenon with the synthesis of aeroservoelastic controllers using linear parameter varying techniques. She has already developed initial control designs that stabilize the flexible dynamics over a larger flight envelope than the uncontrolled aircraft. Ms. Moreno enjoys the Cali-style salsa dancing popular in her hometown in Columbia. WENDY AWELE OKOLO

o Citizenship: Nigeria o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the University

of Texas at Arlington Ms. Okolo is working on the problem of formation flight. Studies have shown that when flying in formation, the following aircraft experiences less drag and thrust while at the same time experiencing higher aerodynamic moments that require greater drag-reducing methods to trim the aircraft. Her research focus is to show that by utilizing internal fuel transfer between tanks and differential thrusting the moments could be controlled with

minimal deflection of the control surfaces, which could result in fuel savings worth millions of dollars. In her preliminary studies, she obtained a thrust reduction of 13% by removing the need for the deflections of the drag-inducing control surfaces. Ms. Okolo’s plans are to perform a full mission analysis of two or more aircraft in formation to see how much fuel is saved during a long flight. Her research will also include development of a supervisory controller that will automatically fly the aircraft with the best fuel distribution and best trim configuration. Ms. Okolo is active in the Society of Women Engineers and mentors engineering freshmen. BONNIE JESSENIA PRADO PINO

o Citizenship: Colombia o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the

University of Texas at Austin Ms. Prado Pino’s research program focuses on the design of hovering trajectories for spacecraft in orbit around the Moon. She is exploring control strategies for hovering solutions of low lunar orbits where the gravitational anomalies of the Moon are the main cause of the perturbations of the dynamical system of the orbiting craft. She will be developing autonomous space vehicle path planning and guidance algorithms. Her ultimate professional goal is to become a scientist working in a lab to further science and technology. Ms. Prado Pino is an active member of several engineering societies. She also tutors and mentors undergraduate and high school students. ELIZABETH ROLLINS

o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at Texas

A&M University Ms. Rollins is studying the effect of noise on morphing aircraft. In order to operate the aircraft at near-optimal status, the control system for the aircraft needs to know what shape the aircraft should take. Instead of designing a controller for each flight condition, the aircraft learns the near-optimal configurations through reinforcement learning. This has been demonstrated to work for systems without noise. However, noise affects the performance of the controller and can enter the control system in many ways, including through the actual measurements or from unknown system dynamics. Ms. Rollins is investigating how to account for uncertainty introduced through measurement noise in designing controllers using reinforcement learning for the morphing aircraft. She also plans to determine how to compensate for the noise during the learning process and to compare this method with the original reinforcement learning method that did not account for measurement noise. Ms. Rollins volunteers as a historical interpreter at a living history farm.

FRANCESCA SCARAMUZZINO o Citizenship: Italy o Proposed Program: Aerospace and Mechanical

Engineering at the Second University of Naples Ms. Scaramuzzino’s research is focused on launcher engines with liquid methane as a propellant. Methane launcher engines are very interesting in efficiency terms compared to kerosene and their easier capability to store the liquid cryogenic methane compared to hydrogen. She will study the combustion noise onset in the combustion chamber adopting a hybrid method that is currently used in aeroacoustic problems. Combustion noise is due to the interaction between external pressure fluctuations that are amplified by the flame in the combustion chamber and the combustion heat release perturbations. The hybrid method mathematical modelling is an approach that is divided into two phases. The first phase is a fluid dynamic analysis and the second phase is a noise propagation analysis. Ms. Scaramuzzino enjoys music and swimming. She received a B.S. in piano. MARINA SELEZNEVA

o Citizenship: Russia/Canada o Proposed Program: Mechanical Engineering at McGill

University Ms. Selezneva is studying ways to improve the composite materials used in aircraft fabrication. In particular, she is investigating the mechanical properties and formability of thermoplastics reinforced with discontinuous fibers. Currently most aerospace parts are manufactured from thermoplastics with continuous reinforcing fibers, which restrict the possible fabrication shapes to simple ones. Parts with discontinuous fibers could be made in much more intricate shapes. Ms. Selezneva’s research work involves the influence of fiber length on material performance through an intensive experimental program. As part of her research she will be evaluating the fracture mechanisms that prevail in these materials due to stress concentrations caused by the presence of discontinuities. She is working closely with industry to focus her materials research on meeting the design requirements of aircraft components. Ms. Selezneva is an avid skier and enjoys a variety of cultural activities. ANNA ALEXANDROVNA SHIRYAEVA

o Citizenship: Russia o Proposed Program: Aircraft Aerodynamics at the

Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute Ms. Shiryaeva’s thesis involves developing a computationally efficient method for numerical simulation of turbulent diffusion flows with combustion. Experiments in this field are difficult and expensive and her computational results can be directly used in aircraft combustion chamber design. An essential problem with turbulent combustion modeling is correct descriptions of the chemical processes in the presence of turbulent pulsations. She has already completed this for a two-dimensional model and is working to enable three-dimensional calculations, in order to solve problems of practical interest. One of her objectives is to consider the influence of turbulence on

the development of chemical phenomenon in turbulent diffusion flame and thus to improve the flow description. Ms. Shiryaeva is also involved in studies of pulse detonation engines. She enjoys participating in sports, traveling internationally and is an accomplished pianist. DIVYA THAKUR

o Citizenship: India o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the

University of Texas at Austin Ms. Thakur is investigating the coordinated control of autonomous vehicle formation in three-dimensional space. An autonomous vehicle formation is a group of vehicles that functions cooperatively to achieve a common goal. Multi-vehicle formations provide many practical advantages over a single vehicle including robustness to failure and improving sensing capabilities. Most research to date has been on two-dimensional multi-agent formations. Ms. Thakur is working in a full three-dimensional setting, which models the real world applications. She is studying how to stabilize a group of vehicles in a particular formation on the surface of a sphere such as an asteroid or a large damaged satellite. The formation of vehicles would study the asteroid’s composition or compile a damage report for the damaged satellite. Ms. Thakur extensively participates in outreach programs for women in engineering. She enjoys running and has completed a marathon. SHEILA NAOMI ROULI TOBING

o Citizenship: Indonesia o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the University of

New South Wales Ms. Tobing ‘s research involves the numerical study of the effects of aeroelasticity on flapping wing propulsion. Nature’s best flyers, birds and insects, flap their wings to fly. Studies on flapping wing propulsion are of particular interest in the design and development of Micro Air Vehicles (MAV). The significance of aeroelasticity is clearly observed in insect flight when thin and flexible wings deform and interact with the surrounding fluid during hovering and slow forward flight. She will develop realistic computational models for bumblebees and hoverflies. She will also assess the effects of wing-wing and wing-body interactions, as well as wing flexibility. Ms. Tobing will evaluate the importance of the outer one-third portion of wings and its role in the ability to carry heavy load. Her computational models will be validated against the experimental measurements. She eventually would like to return to Indonesia to contribute to the development of aerospace study there. Ms. Tobing volunteers at several hospitals. She enjoys traveling and photography. ZERRIN TURKELI RAMADAN

o Citizenship: Turkey o Proposed Program: Mechanical Engineering at the

University of Auckland Ms. Turkeli Ramadan’s research is on the development of the hydrocarbon-base Ultra Micro Gas Turbine (UMGT), which is one of the most promising propulsion systems for aerial vehicles because of its high power and energy density. Two

possible applications are Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV) and distributed propulsion systems. Downsizing the UMGT has revealed new problems that do not occur on a larger scale. In particular, her work will focus on one of the key components, the micro combuster. Downscaling the micro combuster can lead to incomplete combustion, low combustion efficiency, high pollutant emissions, narrow flammability limits and flame quenching. She is investigating the effect of preheating the reactants on flame characteristics in micro combustion. Ms. Turkeli Ramadan is experimenting with different flame holder materials and preheating the reactants. She will compare the experimental results with the numerical calculations. Ms. Turkeli Ramadan likes nature photography. She is also interested in the role of women in different cultures. MARGIT VALLIKIVI

o Citizenship: Estonia o Proposed Program: Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering at Princeton University Ms. Vallikivi’s field of study is turbulence. With more people flying, there is an increased interest in decreasing fuel consumption. A thorough understanding of airflow around the aircraft is important for achieving energy-efficient aircraft designs. Studying these airflows is very complicated since there is a large range of spatial and temporal scales involved. Most engineering estimations are based on very limited and often misleading numerical models. Ms. Vallikivi’s goal is to provide a better understanding of turbulence by revealing its true behavior. She is developing very small-scale probes that will enable measurements at the micron level. These unique probes are needed to acquire experimental data of the full three-dimensional turbulent flow field. Ms. Vallikivi plans to use her novel devices at different international laboratories where she can work with a network of researchers. Her long-term goal is to return to Estonia and form a local aerospace engineering research community. Ms. Vallikivi plays volleyball and enjoys local Estonian community activities. TATIANA MAR VAQUERO ESCRIBANO

o Citizenship: Spain o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and Astronautics at

Purdue University Ms. Vaquero Escribano’s field of study is dynamical systems theory for designing spacecraft orbits. The primary challenge is to design a spacecraft trajectory that uses minimum propellant and meets all scientific requirements. She has already proven that it is possible to design trajectories that use minimum fuel and time when shifting from one location in space to another. Her current work focuses on extending these techniques to three-dimensional analysis primarily involving resonant orbits with Earth, Moon and even Mars. Ms. Vaquero Escribano’s theoretical analysis incorporates optimization techniques to produce the best possible orbital exchange in terms of fuel consumption and time. Her goal is to extend spacecraft missions by enabling new paths that require no fuel usage. One important aspect of her research is to reproduce, predict and explain the motion of certain celestial bodies such as comets and asteroids. Ms. Vaquero Escribano tutors and mentors students in engineering and Spanish. She participates in a wide variety of community service activities.

JIN YAN o Citizenship: P.R. China o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at the University of

Michigan at Ann Arbor Ms. Yan’s investigations focus on control applications for safety-critical flight systems. Aircraft flight control in the event of a failure or under damage conditions is challenging and demanding due to complex and unpredictable physics. In these circumstances, the airplane flies outside the wind-tunnel data envelope, that is, outside the limits of aerodynamic aircraft models developed from wind-tunnel data. She is developing a flight control application that can adapt to unknown and unpredictable changes that occur in these circumstances, thereby increasing the flight safety. Ms. Yan will base her work on retrospective cost adaptive control (RCAC) technique, which has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. She will extend the RCAC to nonlinear flight control systems by developing and applying nonlinearities. The aim of her research is to ensure the safety of the aircraft. Ms. Yan has been a participant in the Natural History Museum’s Polar Science Adventures at Ann Arbor, and she enjoys debating.