3 AAE doctoral students awarded the 2012 Zonta International Fellowship

The Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowships were established in 1938 in honor of Amelia Earhart, famed pilot and Zonta club member.

The Fellowships are granted annually to women pursuing graduate Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences and aerospace-related engineering.
The Fellowship of USD $10,000, awarded to 35 Fellows around the globe each year, may be used at any university or college offering accredited post-graduate courses and degrees.

The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is delighted that 3 doctoral students have been awarded this Prestigious Fellowship.

AMANDA 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.

AMANDA FAY 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.

TATIANA MAR 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.

For more information, please visit the Zonta International webpage.