Senior Members
Dr. Guillermo Paniagua
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics (by courtesy) Director of the Rolls-Royce “Small Core Turbine Aerodynamics” U. Tech. Center
Dr. Guillermo Paniagua
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics (by courtesy) Director of the Rolls-Royce “Small Core Turbine Aerodynamics” U. Tech. Center
Enjoys reading, nature, and sports
Dr. Lakshya Bhatnagar
Research Scientist
Dr. Lakshya Bhatnagar
Research Scientist
Lakshya likes sci fi ,travelling and eating. On a break you can find him hiking, running or cooking
Dr. Eric Bach
Research Scientist
Dr. Eric Bach
Research Scientist
Eric enjoys rock climbing, sailing, fixing cars, history books, and learning new things
Dr. Lukas Inhestern
Research Scientist
Dr. Lukas Inhestern
Research Scientist
Lukas likes to have coffee and cake preferably sitting outside in the sun. He also enjoys doing sports like badminton
Dr. Antonio Castillo Sauca
Research Scientist
Dr. Antonio Castillo Sauca
Research Scientist
Antonio is an enthusiast of ski touring, hiking, and climbing, enjoys the scenery from the summits
Dr. Sergio Grasa Martinez
Research Scientist
Dr. Sergio Grasa Martinez
Research Scientist
Sergio enjoys basketball, tennis and watching motorsports, loves visiting aviation museums
Christopher Bissett
Engineering Technician
Christopher Bissett
Engineering Technician
Chris loves volleyball, swimming, surfing, scuba diving, and traveling abroad
PhD Students
Andrea Ruan
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Ford Lynch
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Ford Lynch
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Ford enjoys hiking, mountain biking, gardening
Kevin Boes
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Kevin Boes
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Kevin enjoys working out, traveling with friends, and going on long walks/hikes
William Andress
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
William Andress
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Bill enjoys baking, camping, soccer, and playing games with friends
James Twaddle
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
James Twaddle
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
James enjoys hiking, playing guitar, philosophy, and cinema
Malena Potesta
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Malena Potesta
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Malena enjoys painting, reading, history and going for walks in the nature
Ignacio Lasala
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Ignacio Lasala
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Ignacio enjoys cycling, action movies, and playing the guitar
Avidh Bavkar
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Avidh Bavkar
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Avidh likes to travel, watch motorsports, and enjoy time outdoors with friends
Kim Lilian Perez
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Kim Lilian Perez
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Kim enjoys playing Michael Jackson the Experience and watching the NFL
Caleb Fears
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautics and Astronautical Engineering
Benjamin Abrams
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Rex Landis
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Rex Landis
Research Assistant – PhD Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Rex enjoys working out, watchin movie, building legos, and travelling.
Masters Students
Lucas Ford
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Landon Goetz
Research Assistant – MS Student School of Mechanical Engineering
Zofia Ksiezak
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Zofia Ksiezak
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
I enjoy traveling, especially going on long road trips. I also love snorkeling, scuba diving and baking.
Patrick Wargo
Research Assistant – MS/BS – School of Mechanical Engineering
Patrick Wargo
Research Assistant – MS/BS – School of Mechanical Engineering
Coffeemaking, Climbing, Hiking, Dungeons and Dragons
Bryce Foshee
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Bryce Foshee
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Bryce enjoys machining, playing tennis or basketball, and getting far too competitive at board games
Samuel Texter
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Samuel Texter
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Sam enjoys skiing, hiking, reading, and travelling
Isabella E. Doyle
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Isabella E. Doyle
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Isabella (Izzy) is a nature enthusiast who enjoys hiking, painting, and science fiction.
Jared Espiritu
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Jared Espiritu
Research Assistant – MS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Jared enjoys cooking, photography, badminton, hiking, and watching movies.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Jackie Liu
BS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Jackie Liu
BS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Jackie likes to go to the gym, play volleyball, and go hiking. She also enjoys cooking, baking, and sewing
Rex Landis
BS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Rex Landis
BS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Hobbies: Working out, watching movies, building Lego, and traveling
Luke DeLorenzo
BS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Luke DeLorenzo
BS Student – School of Mechanical Engineering
Luke enjoys skiing, hiking, playing soccer, & spending time with friends
John Chang
BS Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
John Chang
BS Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
I enjoy playing basketball, videography, and solving challenging puzzles.
Ansh Patel
BS Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Ansh Patel
BS Student – School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Ansh likes working out, playing soccer, and taking walks
Purdue PhD Alumni
Sergio Grasa
PhD 04/2026, Post-Doctoral Associate Researcher: 2026- present
Experimental Development of Turbine Integration Technologies for a Helicopter Gas Turbine with a Rotating Detonation Combustor
Hunter Nowak
PhD 10/2025
On/Off flow control for highly loaded low pressure turbines
Antoni Rebassa
PhD 10/2025
Development of an experimental facility to study externally induced ingress in turbine rim seals
Antonio Castillo-Sauca
PhD 11/2024, Post-Doctoral Associate Researcher: 2025-present
Aerothermal measurements in a tight clearance high-speed turbine
Logan Tuite
PhD 08/2024
High fidelity analysis of advanced turbines for zero emission supercritical CO2 cycles
Aubrey McKelvy
PhD 07/2024
Development of a unified penetration correlation for transverse injection in transonic and supersonic flow fields
Lakshya Bhatnagar
PhD 04/2022, Research Scientist 2022-present
A probabilistic approach to uncertainty in turbine efficiency measurement
Dayna Obenauf
PhD 02/2022
Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of liquid jet and droplet breakup in high-speed flows
Francisco Lozano
PhD 09/2021
Control of shock-vortex interaction through leading edge blowing
Papa Aye (Nyansafo) Aye-Addo
PhD 08/2021
Development of a Laser-lifetime Pressure Sensitive Paint Method for Turbine Analysis
Jordan Fisher
PhD 10/2020
Optical Techniques in High-speed reacting and non-reacting flows
Iman Rahbari
PhD 11/2019, Research Scientist 2020-2021
Acoustic streaming in compressible turbulent boundary layers
Zhe Liu
PhD 11/2019
Characterization of axial turbines for pressure gain combustion
Paht Juangphanich
PhD 9/2019
Bio-inspired optimization of a turbine stage
James Braun
PhD 7/2019, Research Assistant Professor 2020-2023
Power harvesting from shock waves: The axial bladeless turbine
Valeria Andreoli
PhD 6/2019, Postdoc 2019-2020
Cooled turbine tip design: Aerothermal optimization for engine transients
Jorge Saavedra
PhD 11/2018, Postdoc 2019-2020
Determining the dynamic scales of the boundary layer and flow separation inception: Analysis towards efficient flow control
David Gonzalez Cuadrado
PhD 09/2018, Senior Research Administrator 2019-2020
3D Inverse Heat Transfer Methodologies for Microelectronic and Gas Turbine Applications
Cis De Maesschalck
PhD 11/2016, Postdoc 2017
Design, Analysis, Optimization and Control of Rotor Tip Flows
Jorge Sousa
PhD Spring 2016, Postdoc 2016
Supersonic turbine design
Von Karman Institute PhD Alumni
Michael Joly
PhD Spring 2014
Optimization of turbomachinery for high-speed propulsion
Henny Bottini
PhD Spring 2014
Analysis of transition to turbulence of a high-speed-flow
Laura Villafañe
PhD Fall 2013
Experimental aerothermal performance of a turbofan bypass flow heat exchangers
Victor Fernandez
PhD Fall 2013
Simulation design and analysis of combined cycles for high-speed propulsion
Sergio Lavagnoli
PhD Fall 2012
On the aerothermal flow field in a transonic HPT stage with a multi-profile LPT
Bayindir Saracoglu
PhD Summer 2012
Turbine base pressure active control through trailing edge blowing
Marco Pau
PhD Spring 2009
Aerothermal impact of purge flow and rotor platform cooling on a HP turbine stage
Tolga Yasa
PhD Spring 2008
Efficiency of a HPT tested in a compression tube facility
MS Alumni
Khoi Yon Leong
MS 08/2026
Dynamic Calibration of Pneumatic Lines
Jingxiao Teng
MS 07/2026
Development of a Yaw-Sensitive Virtual Fast Response Aerodynamic Probe
Alvaro Malaga Olay
MS 06/2026
Development of Diagnostic Methods for Turbines Using Five-Hole Probes and UV Oil Visualizations
Aaron Hammond
MS 12/2025
An Investigation into the effect of Rossiter cavities as a means of acoustic flow control of highly loaded LPT blades
Kush Sreen
MS 12/2024
Numerical analysis on five-hole probes to study the effect of Reynolds number and probe geometry in subsonic flows
Ignacio Lasala
MS 9/2024
Optical probe nacelle for short-focal length diagnostics in high-temperature supersonic flows
Adam Moeller
MS 4/2024
Investigating unsteadiness in a Low-Pressure turbine stage using constant temperature ane-mometry
Diego Sanchez
MS 12/2023
Critical technologies to enhance efficiency accuracy in turbines
John Grunenwald
MS 12/2023
Investigation of rotating detonation physics and design of a mixer for a rotating detonation engine
Luis Zarate Sanchez
MS 7/2023
Experimental Study of Boundary Layer Separation and in a Low-Reynolds, High-Diffusion Passage through Infrared Thermography
Ford Lynch
MS 7/2023
Performance of supersonic turbomachinery for rotating detonation engines – Co-advised with Prof. James Braun
Stephen Bean
MS 5/2023
Optimization and analysis of squealer tip geometries in supercritical CO2
Andrea Ruan
MS 2/2023
Experimental characterization of high lift transonic turbine rotor performance in an annular cascade
Connor McQueen
MS 2/2023
Development of Particle Image Velocimetry for a high speed two-stage turbine
Nathaniel Kiefer
MS 2/2023
Development and characterization of Mach 2-6 Nozzle using High-frequency optical and surface techniques
Sergio Grasa
MS 12/2022
Design and optimization of diffusive turbine nozzle guide vanes downstream of a transonic rotating detonation combustor
James Twaddle
MS 12/2022
Experimental assessment of transonic Rossiter cavity in developing acoustic streaming and its effects on heat transfer
Nicholas Long
MS 11/2022
Development of a novel experimental methodology for testing turbine rotor designs in a non-rotating annular cascade
Roberto Nares Alcalá
MS 07/2022
Development of high-fidelity temperature probe to assess heat transfer enhancement with acoustic enhancement
Hunter Nowak
MS 04/2022
Controlling quasi-2D separation with flow injection
John Paulson
MS 04/2022
Analysis on Separated Regions in Internal Flows through Particle Image Velocimetry
Antoni Rebassa
MS 11/2021
Aerothermal characterization and multi-objective optimization of finned heat exchangers
Aubrey McKelvy
MS 11/2021
High precision force application and temperature resistant probe nacelles for supersonic exhaust characterization
Michael Butzen
MS 07/2021
Design of Test Section for Modulating Heat Flux Using Acoustic Streaming in Narrow Channel Experiments
Syed Shoiab
MS 06/2021
Development of shear stress measurement technique and plotting surface streak lines using oil technique
Santiago Salinas
MS 05/2021
Sensor calibration system and methodology for tip clearance measurements in turbomachines
Antonio Castillo Sauca
MS 05/2021
Development of experimental capabilities for the aerothermal characterization of surface air-cooled heat exchangers
Daniel Inman
MS 02/2020
Particle Image Velocimetry in a High Pressure Turbine stage at aerodynamically engine representative conditions
Shawn Willette
MS 04/2019
On the design of a fast opening valve for rapid release of a pressure differential within Ludwieg Tubes
Udit Vyas
MS 04/2019
Aerodynamic investigation and optimization of compact engine intakes for high subsonic speed applications
Swapnil Ingale
MS 12/2018, Senior Turbine Test Assistant 2020-2022
Characterization of the Purdue Experimental Turbine Aerothermal Lab Rigs using Hot Wires
Lakshya Bhatnagar
MS 08/2018
Atomic Layer Thermopile Film for Heat Flux Measurement in high speed and high temperature flows
Shengqi Lu
MS 06/2018
Development of high-frequency virtual thermocouples
Raunaq Kumaran
MS Spring 2022
Ryan Bohr
MS Fall 2020
Siddhant Joshi
MS Spring 2020
Jose David Ramirez
MS Spring 2020
Nathan Humbert
MS Fall 2019
Val Joiner
MS Spring 2019
Hongyi Shao
MS Spring 2018
Naga Tejadeep Kalipi
MS Fall 2016
Yutao Zheng
MS Spring 2016