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Our People

Recent Graduates

Tyler Adams
Graduate Research Assistant
Tyler is from Phoenix, AZ, and received his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from BYU and is looking forward to specializing in Aerospace at Purdue. He's always had a love for fighter jets (pretty much any military aircraft) and his dream is to work on top secret projects in that area. He enjoys playing pretty much all sports; especially soccer, volleyball, tennis, and pickleball. He also loves to play the piano.

Research Interests: High Performance Aircraft, Design, and Simulation
Seejay Patel
Knox Fellow
Seejay graduated with an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue in May of 2022. During his undergrad he was lucky enough to get introduced to research and Dr. D's lab through Nick Gunady. His research interests lie in Urban Air Mobility, specifically in operations and energy infrastructure. In June, he was apart of the team that won the FAA Smart Connected Aviation Student Competition with their Demand Response UAM infrastructure project. He is super excited to continue this work and do more research with the lab!

Research Interests: Urban Air Mobility, Advanced Air Mobility, Energy Infrastructure, MBSE, Reinforcement Learning
Liam Ward
Graduate Research Assistant - Pari
Liam Ward is originally from just outside of Philadelphia, PA. He graduated in May 2022 from Boston University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a concentration in Aerospace Engineering. At BU he served on the structures team of the student-led Rocket Propulsion Group (BURPG), helping to design and build the group’s next liquid-bipropellant rocket. As a Lutchen Distinguished Summer Research Fellow, he developed physics-informed deep learning methods to predict the behavior of complex dynamic systems. He has internship experience developing spaceflight hardware at ABL Space Systems, for the RS1 orbital launch vehicle, at Inversion Space, for a reusable reentry vehicle, and at Hedron Space, for a next-gen optical communications payload. Outside of STEM, Liam enjoys playing and listening to music, learning about history, and exploring new places.

Research Interests: Space Systems Engineering, Hypersonics Materials & Manufacturing, Thermal Protection Materials, Launch & Reentry Vehicles
Vladimir Zeltsman
Graduate Research Assistant
Originally from Ft. Lauderdale Florida, he completed his undergraduate studies here at Purdue. He currently specializes in Aerospace Systems.

Research Interests: Systems, Spacecraft, Aircraft