Nicole Key

Nicole Key

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Nicole Key received a B.S. from Purdue's School of Aeronautics & Astronautics. During her undergraduate years, she had three summer internships at GE Aviation, working in compressor aerodynamic design and aeromechanics. With a strong interest in compressor aerodynamics, she pursued graduate work in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue, working with Professors Patrick Lawless and Sanford Fleeter. After completing her M.S.E., she spent nine months in the Diploma Course at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Brussels, Belgium, working on an experimental investigation of turbine tip flows. Dr. Key's doctoral dissertation, titled "Vane Clocking Effects in an Embedded Compressor Stage," is an experimental study illuminating the flow physics associated with blade row interactions in a multistage compressor.

Dr. Key's research expertise is in aerothermal aspects of turbomachinery flow fields, including the effects on component performance and durability.