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 awarded annually to women pursuing graduate Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences and engineering.

2013 FELLOWS

Farah Alibay

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

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ms. Alibay will use her second fellowship to continue investigating a multi-vehicle approach to the design of planetary exploration systems. In these systems, the functionality required to achieve the science goals is split across several vehicles. The multi-vehicle approach has been shown to increase science return and mission robustness as well as decrease risk and vehicle-level complexity when compared to a single, large vehicle. Ms. Alibay is developing a methodology for the direct comparison of the multi-vehicle architectures and the single-vehicle equivalent. She is using case studies based on missions to the Moon, Mars, Europa and small bodies in the solar system to demonstrate the developed methodology. Her research includes identifying opportunities for using multi-rover systems to explore the surface of planetary bodies. Ms. Alibay is a member of the Executive Board of the Women’s Graduate Association for the Aero/Astro Department. She participates in STEM outreach activities, mentors engineering undergraduate students, and enjoys figure skating, rowing and yoga. Kathrin Eisenschmidt

o Citizenship: Germany o Proposed Program: Aerospace Thermodynamics at the

University of Stuttgart Ms. Eisenschmidt will use her second fellowship to continue studying 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 already enhanced an existing code to include treatment of three different phases including a solid phase and the transitions of melting and freezing. She has developed 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. Francesca Margherita Favarò

o Citizenship: Italy o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

Georgia Institute of Technology Ms. Favarò’s research involves various aspects of accident causation. She is currently studying software-related accidents to define and characterize software failure mechanisms. She is analyzing software interactions with other components of cyber-physical systems to help improve and conceive testing, verification, and validation of software and, more generally, of embedded systems. Her research will contribute to aircraft safety by identifying characteristic mechanisms of software failures related to software interactions with other subsystems. Other industries can also benefit from her findings. Her work so far has involved a literature review and the analysis of 25 case studies. The analysis has contributed to the understanding of the principal mechanisms that will lead to a software contribution to an accident. Ms. Favarò tutors undergraduate students and actively participated in the 2012 WitsOn (Women in technology sharing Online) mentoring program for women in STEM disciplines. She enjoys playing the piano and painting.

Bianca Isabella Gursky

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

Technical University of Braunschweig Ms. Gursky is investigating the technologies required to provide personal aerial vehicles to the general public. Those vehicles must have the capability for vertical take-off and landing like a helicopter in order to be maneuverable even in densely populated areas such as city centers. They also need to handle as easily as a car in order to be flyable by the general public. She will investigate how the control concepts (brake pedal,

steering wheel, accelerator) of automobiles can be transferred to a helicopter-like personal aerial vehicle and then compare this to conventional helicopter controls. For evaluating different control concepts, she will develop a model and integrate it into an existing helicopter simulation facility where conventional helicopter controls are already implemented. Her work will contribute to opening the skies for flying by the general public. Ms. Gursky participated in the University Car Racing Team where she was responsible for the design of the frame of the racing car. Her interests include theater, and she has worked as an extra at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. Amanda Fay Haapala

o Citizenship: USA o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and Astronautics

at Purdue University Ms. Haapala will use her second fellowship to continue the development of general design tools for multi-body space regimes. The emphasis of her investigations is on an interactive design process within a visual environment. The research involves collaboration with flight dynamics engineers at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. Ms. Haapala has completed the first phase of the design tool development and has developed tools that allow the user to rapidly assess the solutions that exist in a three-body problem, giving a more complete scope of the available trajectories while reducing trajectory computation times. Her work has involved developing strategies to allow the incorporation of Poincare maps into the interactive tool for general trajectory design scenarios. These maps are powerful tools that provide a visual representation for the solution space and are useful to gain insight into the trajectories that are available. Ms. Haapala is a group leader for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day and Purdue Space Day and is a graduate mentor for the AeroAssist Mentorship Program. Katharina Elisabeth Heimeri

o Citizenship: Germany o Proposed Program: Atmospheric Physics at Ludwig-

Maximilians Universitat Munchen/German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Ms. Heimeri's research involves airborne in-situ measurements of the physical properties of black carbon. Black carbon particles originating, for example, from aviation and forest fires can have a significant effect on the earth's climate and global warming. However, the vertical distribution and mixing state of these particles are not well understood. She is collecting airborne measurements of black carbon using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2), which provides information on the mass of the individual black

carbon particles and their mixing state. She has characterized the SP2 instrument and has operated it in-flight, participating in a number of research flights in and around thunderstorms. Currently, her analysis concentrates on the quantification of the fraction of black carbon particles leaving the thunderstorm at the top. Her goal is to quantify the contribution of different black carbon sources and assess the effects of the upper troposphere black carbon layer using a global climate model. Ms. Heimeri speaks several languages and plays both the piano and the trumpet. Laura Suarez Henderson

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

University of Texas at Arlington Ms. Henderson will use her second fellowship to continue her studies of space objects. The number of space objects has increased dramatically as aging satellites are replaced and more countries gain the ability to reach space. With this increase, the possibility of these objects colliding is very real and it is important to have the ability to precisely identify each object, where it is and where it is going. Her research involves detecting, tracking, identifying and predicting trajectories of space objects. She has developed a set of mathematical and physical models for objects orbiting in lower earth orbits and geostationary orbits where most objects are located and are at high risk of collision or damage. The models include several physical phenomena that affect these objects’ trajectories and their behavior on a daily basis. She will continue to refine the models and perform model validation. The results of her work will indicate what type of objects can be tracked and how it can be done with the current technology. Ms. Henderson does outreach in her community. She enjoys swimming and is training for a triathlon. Hend Kamoun

o Citizenship: Tunisia o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

Stuttgart University Ms. Kamoun is studying superheated (flash) atomization and vaporization for rocket propulsion systems. The understanding of fuel atomization and vaporization at near vacuum conditions is important for the design of spacecraft or upper stage liquid rocket engines. Due to the combined effect of low-pressure ambient conditions and high volatility of the fuel, the fuel is often unintentionally superheated before injection into the combustion chamber. When the heat cannot be conducted at a high enough rate to the liquid surface, then flash atomization and vaporization occurs and there are significant changes in the fuel spray distribution and fuel-oxidant mixing. To better understand the flashing process, she is developing a comprehensive superheated fuel spray and vaporization model consisting of several sub-models for the atomization and evaporation process. She will conduct experiments on fuel atomization and

evaporation in a vacuum chamber in order to develop a single model with all the physics closely coupled. Ms. Kamoun enjoys cooking. Jendi Itjieh Kepple

o Citizenship: New Zealand o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

University of New South Wales Ms. Kepple is working on the robust design of imperfection sensitive composite launch vehicle structures and stiffened composite panels. This research will contribute to reducing launch vehicle weight, development time and manufacturing costs as well as increasing launch vehicle capability. She is developing stochastic methods to enable robust design in the presence of imperfections due to variations in the geometry, material, thickness and boundary conditions. Ms. Kepple is using a novel optimization theory combined with probability analysis to determine which airframe designs are the most lightweight and most robust. The optimized designs will be tested under the worst type of imperfection. The results will be incorporated into the overall design guidelines. She has already conducted an extensive literature review on stochastic and robust design methods. Ms. Kepple is fluent in several languages and plays the piano. She has tutored undergraduate students in math, science and engineering. Hyerim Kim

o Citizenship: South Korea o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at Texas

A&M University Ms. Kim is studying the design of interplanetary space missions using energy efficient trajectories that take advantage of natural dynamics in the solar system. The low energy trajectory technology, called the Interplanetary Superhighway, allows long duration space missions with minimum fuel requirements. Her research contributes to designing deep space missions including the exploration, mitigation, and mining of near-earth asteroids. Since near-earth asteroids pose a threat to our planet, it is important to understand them for defending Earth. Ms. Kim is working on the design of the spacecraft bus and payload system for the Apophis Exploration and Mitigation Platform, a space mission designed to study and potentially stop the near-earth asteroid 99942 Apophis. She is investigating the optimal low thrust trajectories from earth to near-earth asteroids with possibility of extracting raw materials from them. Ms. Kim enjoys traveling around the world and playing musical instruments.

Soile Elina Kukkonen o Citizenship: Finland o Proposed Program: Physics at the University of Oulu

Ms. Kukkonen will use her second fellowship to continue her research dating the surface of Mars by 'crater counting'. This method determines the planet’s surface age by plotting crater size frequency distributions. Her studies focus on the outflow channels near the eastern rim of the Hellas impact basin on Mars. She has mapped and dated the Morpheos basin and regions surrounding it using newly available spacecraft camera data from several instruments and has created a detailed geological analysis about its evolution. She is characterizing the type and duration of the flow processes that have occurred and how they connect to the role of water and climate changes in shaping Mars. Since crater counting methods were originally developed based on large images with medium resolution, she is also investigating the reliability of age determination when only small images with high resolution are available. Ms. Kukkonen’s hobbies include classical singing and Japanese language studies. She is a volunteer for 4-H Youth Development Organization and the Finnish Red Cross. Francesca Letizia

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

University of Southampton Ms. Letizia is developing an analytical approach for computing the propagation of large clouds of space debris following a fragmentation event. Space debris poses an increasing hazard to space activities and active satellites, and mitigation measures are needed to avoid the uncontrolled increase of debris. The prediction of the motion of space debris is quite complex and currently requires extensive numerical integration to describe the behavior of a single fragment. Instead of using a numerical method, she is developing a semi-analytical model to describe the behavior of a cloud of debris as a whole. The semi-analytical model will provide a much faster and more flexible approach than the methods used to date. Her approach could provide real time predictions. Once the analytical method is validated, it can be used to describe the current debris population and to assess the effectiveness of different mitigation strategies including helping to design a mission to remove space debris. Ms. Letizia is interested in migrant rights and scientific study of languages.

Yu Tso Li o Citizenship: Taiwan o Proposed Program: Mechanical and Aeronautical

Engineering at Feng-Chia University Ms. Li’s field of study is hypersonic flight. She will investigate the causes of coupling aerothermodynamics to the viscous shock generated in hypersonic flight during re-entry to the atmosphere. Her work includes experimental simulation and numerical analysis of the unsteady flow field in a shock wave in high enthalpy heat flows. Her work will involve the simulation of the unsteady flow field in a high enthalpy shock tunnel, and her study will focus on the flow field on the moving contact surface between different gases on both sides in a shock tube. She will use specialized computational methods on the numerical simulation to ensure non-physical numerical oscillations on the contact discontinuity and shock wave. Her goal is to improve the calculation accuracy of the numerical solution and reduce problems of nonphysical numerical oscillations. Ms. Li is looking forward to enhancing her studies through international exchange with other universities and technical institutes. Nay Joseph Mezannar

o Citizenship: Lebanon o Proposed Program: Industrial Engineering at the

University of Bologna Ms. Mezannar’s field of study is man-machine interfaces. Human interaction with complex machine systems is an important issue especially in the safety critical areas of aeronautics. Her research will focus on the study, design and evaluation of innovative man-machine interfaces based on virtual three-dimensional environments and multi-modal interaction for aerospace applications. The next generation interfaces will allow humans to interact with the controlled system more and more naturally, thus achieving the challenge of a brain-machine interaction in which the person can directly interact with the system through the brain. She will investigate both manned and unmanned aeronautical systems such as cockpit equipment, simulation equipment and control equipment for unmanned aerial vehicles. Ms. Mezannar enjoys sports, especially walking in nature.

Stephanie Jane Mitchell o Citizenship: New Zealand o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering at

California Institute of Technology Ms. Mitchell is studying the process involved when a projectile is impacted on materials of particular configuration and properties. The impact of projectiles and the resulting damage is of particular importance to aerospace applications, where sensitive and expensive equipment and spacecraft are involved. Her research involves the modeling of materials using analytical and computational techniques. She will investigate the damage caused by micrometeorite strike by building a model for the impact of a projectile on the shielding material. She will conduct simulations for different impact velocities and material properties to understand the processes involved. Her results will aid in determining the best configuration for the design of spacecraft shielding and a better understanding of the material configuration for the protection against impact. Ms. Mitchell has her private pilot’s license. She is a mentor for the Women’s Mentoring Program. She enjoys scuba diving, hiking and playing tennis. Claudia Patricia Moreno

o Citizenship: Colombia o Proposed Program: Aerospace Engineering and

Mechanics at the University of Minnesota Ms. Moreno will use her second fellowship to continue developing advanced methods to control highly flexible aircraft. Increased fuel efficiency and operational range are significant design drivers for modern commercial aircraft. A lighter weight aircraft is typically achieved by reducing the structure in the wings and fuselage. This makes the aircraft more flexible and causes the structural modes to occur at lower frequencies. In some cases, this can lead to catastrophic failures of the aircraft at higher airspeeds. Her research is focused on the development of new control design tools to handle the effects of these low-frequency flexible modes. Dynamic models for flexible aircraft are typically complicated due to the interactions of the rigid body dynamics, structural bending and non-steady aerodynamics. She has already investigated simplified, low-order dynamic models that can be used in the control design. She is now investigating advanced control laws that can stabilize the flexible dynamics across the entire flight envelope. Ms. Moreno enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures.

Sreeja Nag o Citizenship: India o Proposed Program: Engineering Systems at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ms. Nag is studying the use of nanosatellite clusters for estimating bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of the earth’s surface and clouds. BRDF is important for accurately calculating many geophysical parameters such as the reflectivity of the earth’s surface and quantifying the atmospheric energy balance equation. The data from instruments on current satellite systems results in reflectivity estimation errors of up to 20%. Airborne measurements can accurately estimate BRDF but they are spatially and temporally local and expensive to operate. Her work will evaluate the technical feasibility and programmatic complexity to develop and operate clusters of nanosatellites in formation flight to take multi-spectral reflectance measurements of the same ground target at different zenith and azimuth angles. Ms. Nag enjoys competitive badminton and traveling. Maike Brigitte Neuland

o Citizenship: Germany o Proposed Program: Space Research and Planetary

Sciences at the University of Bern Ms. Neuland's research is directed toward designing, building and testing an instrument to determine very accurate and complete chemical and isotopic compositions of surfaces of other bodies in the solar system. This instrument, called a laser-ablation mass spectrometer (LMS), would be flown on future space missions. The LMS can measure the composition in grain-size resolution and the detection of the complete mass spectrum is possible with high sensitivity. As part of a lander, the LMS would measure chemical and mineralogical compositions and help to determine the history and origin of these bodies. Plans for such missions are underway. Her studies are essential to the success of the characterization of the surface materials. She has designed hardware and data analysis software and tested the instrument on meteorite samples. She will soon test it on lunar materials and possibly analyze samples from the Genesis mission. Ms. Neuland enjoys dancing and hiking. She plays the piano and spends time painting and drawing.

Urszula Niedzielska o Citizenship: Poland o Proposed Program: Mechanical Engineering at

Warsaw University of Technology Ms. Niedzielska is studying detonation engines, which were proven feasible in the 1950’s. She will investigate the process of detonation in order to examine the possibility of applying it in the aircraft engine’s combustion chamber. Her special focus is on rotating detonation engines because they have the advantage of being structurally less complicated but more efficient than conventional deflagration combustion chambers. This could result in energy savings and economic benefit. It has also been demonstrated that lower emission of pollutions can be achieved with the rotating detonation engines. However, the detonation process is very difficult to control. Therefore, more experimental and numerical research is necessary to understand the detonation process and be able to improve its control. Her goal is to develop a numerical code that can model detonations. She will validate this model by comparing the results to the subsequently conducted laboratory experiments. Ms. Niedzielska has a glider license and is interested in music and visual arts. Morgan Heath Nunn

o Citizenship: United States o Proposed Program: Chemistry and Biochemistry at

the University of California at San Diego Ms. Nunn will use her second fellowship to continue her studies of cosmochemistry. She is focusing on the isotopic compositions of water in objects throughout the solar system. Her studies so far on lunar samples and meteorites from the asteroid belt and Mars have led to the start of a map of these compositions that will help in understanding the formation of the solar system. She is using a special high precision system, which she has developed and built, to measure the isotopic rations of oxygen in the water extracted from these materials. Her recent work has helped to prove that the meteorite find NWA 7034 is from Mars and is a new type of Martian rock, unlike any yet studied. Ms. Nunn is passionate about sharing the excitement of her research and volunteers with various public outreach organizations, which focus on science education. She enjoys studying other languages and has several hobbies including painting, writing and reading. Ms. Nunn would like to become an astronaut.

Florence Nyssen o Citizenship: Belgium o Proposed Program: Aerospace and Mechanical

Engineering at the University of Liege Ms. Nyssen is studying gas turbine engine compressor blades. One of the approaches to optimizing mass and improving aerodynamic performance is to design one-piece bladed disks called blisks. However, blisks are challenging for the mechanical design of the engine. The issue of mistuning is exacerbated in blisks due to the low damping level of the structure, the higher disk flexibility and the blade-to-disk coupling. Mistuning occurs due to slight manufacturing variations and in-service wear of compressor blades, causing the blades to be slightly different and resulting in the vibration energy to only a few blades. The focus of her research is to increase the knowledge required to improve the structural design, the mechanical reliability and the safety of multi-stage bladed structures. Her analytical studies will contribute to more accurate numerical models for multi-stage compressors. Her experimental work will lead to better insight into measurement techniques and testing procedures. Ms. Nyssen plays the guitar and enjoys swimming and tennis. Daniela Pedrini

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

University of Pisa Ms. Pedrini is studying hollow cathodes for electric space propulsion. Hollow cathodes are necessary for ionization within the thruster and neutralization of the propellant beam. They strongly influence the performance and lifetime of the entire thruster. It is important to minimize their power and propellant consumption while maintaining a lifetime in the order of several years. She is developing a numerical model, which will allow determining the erosion profile along the internal surface of the cathode for different cathode materials. She will investigate the mechanisms that limit the lifetime of the cathode using two types of electron emitters. Her research includes the development of plasma probes to measure the particle density and the electron temperature inside the cathode. She plans to validate her model using experimental data available in literature and the results from her own experiments. Ms. Pedrini is interested in astronomy and enjoys playing piano.

Julie Clemence Prinet

o Citizenship: France o Proposed Program: Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of

Michigan

Ms. Prinet’s research involves enhancing the safety and efficiency of flight operations that are increasingly characterized by large amounts of visual and auditory data. Her studies include the development of context-sensitive cockpit displays that automatically adjust the quantity and quality of information to suit the different tasks inherent in flight operations. This will include distributing and shifting information between vision, hearing, and the much less employed yet highly promising, sense of touch. She will recruit instrument-rated pilots for her experiments to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of novel cockpit displays. Her goal is to create a cockpit display system that responds in real time to the changing needs of pilots throughout the different phases and tasks of flight, thereby reducing pilot workload and ensuring flight safety. Ms. Prinet is working toward her private pilot’s license. She is a member of the Women in Aviation organization and the Society of Women Engineers. She is also tutoring families in French. Marina Selezneva

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

University Ms. Selezneva will use her second fellowship to continue studying ways to improve the composite materials used in aerospace applications. In particular, she is investigating the mechanical properties and formability of thermoplastics reinforced with discontinuous fibers. These materials are of interest to the aerospace community since they can be repaired, joined by welding and recycled at the end of their lifetime. Another attractive property of these materials is that they require short processing time, thus reducing manufacturing time and cost. Her research involves the influence of fiber length on material performance through an extensive experimental program. She will be evaluating the fracture mechanisms that prevail in these materials due to stress concentrations caused by the presence of discontinuities. She has completed preliminary work on moulding and testing of flat composite panels. Next she will study more complex shapes and materials. Ms. Selezneva is an avid skier. She enjoys visiting museums and attending ballet performances. Anna Alexandrovna Shiryaeva

o Citizenship: Russia o Proposed Program: Aircraft Aerodynamics and Heat

Transfer at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute Ms. Shiryaeva will use her second fellowship to continue 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 created a code for the three-dimensional viscid turbulent flows with finite-rate combustion. The code has undergone thorough testing and has demonstrated the ability to simulate three-dimensional flows. The next step is to apply the developed three-dimensional code for studying the influence of the fuel injectors’ geometry and position on turbulent diffusive combustion. She is also working on improving the method for taking into account the non-equilibrium combustion and the turbulence intermittency effects. Ms. Shiryaeva enjoys participating in sports, traveling internationally and learning foreign languages. She is an accomplished pianist. Natalie Rochelle Smith

o Citizenship: United States o Proposed Program: Aeronautics and Astronautics at

Purdue University Ms. Smith’s research area is turbomachinery. She is studying vane clocking effects on jet engine compressor efficiency. The benefit of improved compressor efficiency is a reduction in fuel consumption and therefore reduced costs. Vane clocking is the relative circumferential indexing of adjacent vane rows and is known to affect compressor efficiency. Different vane clocking configurations change how the upstream vane row wakes interact with the downstream row. Her research investigates the vane clocking effects on the laminar-to-turbulent boundary layer transition by examining the unsteady wall shear stress along the vane under several loading conditions. Characterizing the changes in the vane boundary layer response with changes in clocking will contribute to the understanding of the flow phenomena. Her results will lead to proper implementation of vane clocking for improved compressor efficiency. Ms. Smith is an amateur photographer, plays the clarinet, sings in her church choir and competes in cycling races. Kimberly Renee Trent

o Citizenship: United States o Proposed Program: Applied Physics at the

University of Michigan Ms. Trent’s field of study is spacecraft electric propulsion. She is investigating ways to increase the efficiency of Hall effect thrusters, which are a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Increases in the Hall effect thruster efficiency will enable more complex space missions such as robotic and sample return missions. The efficiency depends on the thruster’s ability to

ionize and accelerate propellant to maximize its exit velocity. She is developing a method to increase the electron population and enhance the ionization. She first conducted experiments with hollow cathodes and is now preparing for tests with a Hall effect thruster. The data collected will be analyzed to determine how electron energy is distributed in the ionization and acceleration regions of the thruster. Her research will contribute to the understanding of the physical dynamics that govern transients and ionization in these space propulsion devices. Ms. Trent is a peer mentor for graduate students in applied physics. Zerrin Turkeli Ramadan

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

University of Auckland Ms. Turkeli Ramadan will use her second fellowship to continue the development of the hydrocarbon combustion-based Ultra Micro Gas Turbine (UMGT). A UMGT is one of the most promising propulsion systems for aerial vehicle propulsion because of its high power and energy density. Two possible applications of UMGT are micro aerial vehicles and distributed propulsion systems, where several small engines are used to propel a large unmanned vehicle or a small manned aircraft. She is investigating the variation in flame stability limit with different flame holders while preheating the reactants. She has completed pressure loss measurements with different flame holders and has investigated the effects of different material and geometric parameters such as pore size and flame holder thickness. Next she will obtain flame temperature and exhaust gas emissions measurements from which she will calculate combustion efficiencies. She will also numerically simulate the effect and compare the results with her experimental data. Ms Turkeli Ramadan is interested in different cultures and their traditions. She likes nature photography. Payuna Uday

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

Purdue University Ms. Uday is studying the safety and reliability of air transportation systems. As more people fly, our air transportation systems become more vulnerable to disruptions at various scales and of various durations. One example of this disruption is the volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2010. It is important to find ways to make this complex and essential system safer and more reliable. Her research involves exploring opportunities to improve the resilience of air transportation through novel approaches. One way to compensate for a failure of one constituent system is by re-tasking the remaining systems.

This is called stand-in redundancy. However, the mathematical models to determine where and how to create this stand-in redundancy do not exist. She is creating new methods to analyze the reliability of the complex air transportation system and using these methods to suggest new configurations and designs that will make these systems more resilient to failure. Ms. Uday is an active member of Toastmasters International. She enjoys playing the guitar, reading and baking. Ines Usandizaga Fores

o Citizenship: Spain o Proposed Program: Engineering Science at the

University of Oxford Ms. Usandizaga Fores is studying how to increase the efficiency of gas turbine engines. Gas turbine engines are used for aircraft propulsion because of their high power density. The key factors for improving the thermal efficiency are the pressure ratio and the turbine entry temperatures, which are currently limited by cooling flow requirements. Improved cooling systems could translate into significant increases in engine performance. She is investigating turbine aero-thermal performance in the presence of cooling flows. Her focus is on the effects of film cooling on heat transfer in a high-pressure turbine blade. She is developing novel measurement techniques to assess the impact of cooling flows on engine stage aerodynamic and thermal performance. In addition to her test program, she will conduct a thorough computational fluid dynamics analysis to help interpret the experimental data. Ms. Usandizaga Fores is a member of Amnesty International and enjoys sports, dancing, cooking and international cinema. Margit Vallikivi

o Citizenship: Estonia o Proposed Program: Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering at Princeton University Ms. Vallikivi will use her second fellowship to continue studying turbulence. A thorough understanding of airflow around the aircraft is important for achieving energy-efficient aircraft designs. Her goal is to provide a better understanding of turbulence and the energy dissipation that takes place in aerodynamic flows and flows near boundaries. She has developed very small-scale probes for turbulence measurements. These nano-scale probes provide an opportunity to do novel research in high Reynolds number turbulence. She is using these new probes to make measurements in fully developed pipe flow to better understand the scaling of the streamwise component of the velocity fluctuations. She has also designed a two-component probe for measurements of the wall-normal component of turbulence, which is what controls the transport of momentum. She is currently

planning several new experiments using these unique probes. Ms. Vallikivi plays volleyball and enjoys local Estonian community activities. Laura Villafañe

o Citizenship: Spain o Proposed Program: Turbomachinery and Propulsion at

the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics Ms. Villafañe is studying the aero-thermal performance in transonic flow. The evolution of efficient propulsion systems must utilize advanced thermal management technologies. Novel turbofan development exploits air-cooled heat exchangers within the intake to cool down the oil circuit. Her program is focused on the analysis and understanding of the interaction of transonic bypass flow downstream of the inlet fan in turbofans with finned heat exchangers in the intake. She will use design and numerical techniques as well as novel measurement techniques to conduct her experimental program. She has designed a transonic blow-down test facility reproducing the engine bypass-flow conditions based on three-dimensional simulations. She is working on the development and optimization of measurement techniques and post-processing tools for the understanding of transonic bypass flow. Ms. Villafañe is an experienced pianist. She is involved in cultural volunteer work. Her hobbies include painting, photography, traveling and airplane modeling. Jana Weise

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

the Technische Universitat Berlin Ms. Weise is investigating on-orbit servicing of non-functional satellites. The ability to extend the mission lifetime of satellites through maintenance and upgrade will have an influencing impact on the space debris problem. She is investigating a novel satellite architecture based on a modular design that supports on-orbit functional and physical servicing or replacement of outdated or failed hardware. She is developing a baseline for this novel satellite architecture and will then work toward identification of a suitable level of modularity and appropriate interfaces between subsystems and components. She will be investigating the desired flexibility, the resulting complexity and the impact on system mass. The resulting architecture must allow for replacement of systems and components as well as for a reconfiguration of the entire satellite system. Her work will conclude with the simulation of a mission scenario from launch, thru in-orbit assembly, to operation and servicing of such a modular satellite. Ms. Weise enjoys windsurfing, climbing and biking. She likes to travel and learn about other cultures

Zhao Zhan o Citizenship: People’s Republic of China o Proposed Program: Mechanical Engineering at

McGill University Ms. Zhan is investigating the effects of in-flight icing on aircraft. Icing on aircraft continues to result in incidents and accidents. Currently the simulation of icing effects in flight training simulators is quite primitive because only limited aircraft performance data on icing conditions is available. If icing effects were to be represented with more fidelity in flight simulators, pilots could be better trained to recognize and recover from the degraded handling of the aircraft during icing conditions. Her research involves developing a computational fluid dynamics based aircraft in-flight icing effects flight simulator. Detailed information about aerodynamic degradation can be numerically simulated; however, real-time processing of the data is required. To achieve real-time numerical analysis for the flight simulator, she will use the method of reduced order modeling. Her resulting real-time reduced order model will be applied to flight simulators enabling aero-icing scenarios for virtually any operating condition and aircraft model. Ms. Zhan enjoys singing and running. Jenmy Zimi Zhang

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

University of Toronto Ms. Zhang is studying improved aircraft fuel efficiency. Rising fuel costs and environmental concerns for greenhouse gas emissions have driven the aviation industry to continually improve fuel efficiency. Achieving a significant reduction in fuel usage requires new approaches. Typically, high-fidelity optimizations are based on either aerodynamic analysis or structural analysis. However, the fuel efficiency of an aircraft is dictated by the coupling effect of both disciplines. Her research involves using high fidelity existing single-disciplinary optimization software as building blocks to create an aero-structural optimization software that can be used for a wide range of practical applications. She will start with the development of a tightly coupled monolithic solution method for the aero-structural optimization. She will also develop a parallel pre-conditioner for the modeling. Her research will advance the frontier of aircraft optimization in general and it will also provide insights to more efficient aero-structural solution methods. Ms. Zhang plays the piano and flute. She enjoys singing and watching drama.