Katya Casper (Photo credit: Sandia)

AAE alumna Katya Casper (MSAAE ’09, PHDAAE ’12) received the Lawrence Sperry Award, given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for a notable contribution by a young person to the advancement of aeronautics and astronautics.

Casper, a principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., is being honored for her “highly significant contributions to the fundamental understanding of boundary layer transition and fluid-structure interactions in hypersonic flows through novel diagnostics with national program impact,” according to an AIAA press release. AIAA considers the Sperry Award one of its most prestigious awards, as well as the Goddard Astronautics Award, the Reed Aeronautics Award, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Public Service Award. 

“Through their dedication and hard work, these winners have expanded the boundaries of aerospace,” AIAA President John Langford said in a press release. “They lift the entire industry simply by doing their best. It is with great admiration that we congratulate them on a job well done.”

Casper develops, conducts, and manages wind tunnel experiments in support of Sandia’s programs. Her work centers on high-speed experimental fluid dynamics with a focus in hypersonic boundary-layer transition, hypersonic fluid-structure interactions, as well as fluid-structure interactions in subsonic/supersonic cavity flows.

She will receive a certificate and trophy during the AIAA’s Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala May 15 in Washington D.C.

“I’m honored to receive the 2019 AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award and hope I can live up to the standards set by previous winners as my career continues,” Casper says.

Casper says Purdue and Professor Steven Schneider, her advisor, paved the way for her hypersonic career at Sandia.

Her master’s thesis was “Hypersonic Wind-Tunnel Measurements of Boundary-Layer Pressure Fluctuations,” and her Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “Pressure Fluctuations Beneath Instability Wave Pockets and Turbulent Spots in a Hypersonic Boundary Layer.”

While a graduate student, Casper was able to take advantage of running in the Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 quiet wind tunnel.

“At Purdue, I learned how to conduct novel experiments in a hypersonic wind tunnel and was also able to intern at Sandia National Labs because of Purdue’s unique research capabilities and collaborations with Sandia,” she says. “That experience led to my research position at Sandia upon graduation. I still return to Purdue to test in its wind tunnel, even seven years after I left.”