Contact Information
Email: rpa3-exec@mit.edu
Constitution
Executive Committee
President:
Durgesh Chandel
Durgesh is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL) at MIT. She is working on the integrated aero-propulsive system design for NASA’s sustainable civil aircraft concept under the CHEETA (Center for Highly-Efficient Electrical Technologies for Aircraft), program, by utilizing the concepts of boundary layer ingestion, hybrid-electric propulsion, and distributed propulsion, etc. She obtained a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral research focused on hypersonic nonequilibrium flows with application to spacecraft atmospheric entry missions. She has also worked as a summer intern at NASA Ames Research Center, on the computations of high enthalpy shock tube experiments in their Electric-Arc Shock tube (EAST) facility. Prior to Ph.D., Durgesh worked at GE Aviation, India, contributing on the design and analysis of aircraft engines, thermal systems and combustors. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s dual degree in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
Treasurer:
David Gonzalez Cuadrado
David Gonzalez Cuadrado is Research Engineer and Lab Manager in the Gas Turbine Laboratory. He oversees the experimental setups and campaigns performed in the laboratory and works on the development of hybrid propulsion systems for a new generation of aircraft concepts. He holds a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, two Master degrees from the Von Karman Institute of Fluid Dynamics (Belgium) and Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain); and a Bachelor degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Leon (Spain). His expertise comprises heat transfer assessment, using both direct and inverse methods, and wind tunnel and instrumentation design for aero-thermal experimental evaluation. David is a listener that brings an extensive international experience and is enthusiastic about improving the well-being of people.
Professional Development Chair:
Durgesh Chandel
See Co-President
Community Development and Diversity Chair:
Kate Turner
Katlyn Turner is a Research Scientist in the Space Enabled Research Group at the MIT Media Lab. Her research is centered around the themes of equity and intersectionality in sociotechnical systems and technology sectors. Prior to her role at the Media Lab, she was a postdoctoral fellow studying nuclear energy policy at the Harvard Kennedy School in the Project on Managing the Atom. She earned her PhD from Stanford in 2017, her MS from the University of Michigan in 2014, and her BS from the University of Notre Dame in 2012.
Advocacy Chair:
Kate Turner
See Community Development and Diversity Chair
PDA Liason:
Luiz Acauan
Dr. Luiz Acauan is a Research Scientist in Material Science and a former Postdoctoral Associate with necstlab. His past projects involved hybrid solar cells composed by photovoltaic polymers, inorganic semiconductors and carbon nanotubes as well as carbon nanotubes/graphene 3D nanostructures for a broad range of applications. His current work focuses on multifunction composites and the synthesis of nanostructures. He has double graduation in Material Science Engineering at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS-Brazil) and the Institut National Polytechique de Grenoble (INPG-França) and obtained Masters at the INPG and UFRGS as well. Completed his PhD in 2015 at the UFRGS.
PDA Liason:
David Gonzalez Cuadrado
See Treasurer
Website Maintainer:
Bang-Shiuh Chen
Bang-Shiuh completed his Ph.D. at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University. His Ph.D. research was in the field of promising combustion technology, plasma-assisted combustion (PAC), and focused on modeling PAC by combining both the conventional flame model and plasma physics/chemistry. He is a major contributor to the open-source program: Cantera, and was selected to be the recipient of the NumFOCUS New Contributors award in 2018. Bang-Shiuh started working as a post-doctoral associate in the Laboratory of Aviation and Environment (LAE) at MIT after he graduated, and he is doing research on modeling jet engines for emission prediction using chemical reactor networks and optimization methods with FAA.