People

Wesley L. Harris 
weslhar @ mit.edu
Lab Advisor

Currently, Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Head of New House Residence Hall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; former Associate Provost for Faculty Equity, MIT, 2008 – 2013. Served as Head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT, 2003 – 2008. Served as Associate Administrator for Aeronautics responsible for all programs, facilities, and personnel in Aeronautics at NASA, 1993 – 1995. Academic research associated with unsteady aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, rarefied gas dynamics, sustainment of capital assets, and chaos in sickle cell disease having made seminal contributions in each of these research fields. In academe, worked with industry and governments to design and build joint industry – government – university research and development programs, centers, and institutes; transferred technology effectively. Credited with more than 130 technical papers and presentations. Developed an outstanding record in advancing cultural diversity in academe and in government.

Carter Waligura 
waligura @ mit.edu
High-Speed Error Quantification for RANS Models

Carter is a PhD candidate in the AeroAstro department at MIT focusing his education on computational fluid dynamics, specifically in the hypersonic flow regime. Carter grew up playing baseball and flying RC planes in southwestern Pennsylvania. He then went on to complete his undergraduate education at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio studying Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Carter’s Masters research focus was on turbulence modeling uncertainty quantification, where he examined Reynolds Averaged Naiver Stokes (RANS) methods and their limits in high-speed aerodynamics. His current research focuses on data-driven physics based turbulence modeling developments with the goal of improving hihg-speed surface prediction accuracy. Since moving to Boston, Carter has enjoyed biking around Somerville, snowboarding, learning to sail, and participating in several intramural sports teams.

Geoffrey (Jeff) Svensson
gks23 @ mit.edu
Reduced Order Model Studies on Scramjet Range of Operation

Vaishnavi Ramaswamy
vaish @ mit.edu
Hypersonic Laminar-Turbulent Transition Studies Utilizing Stability Theory Methods

Myrella Cabral
myrella @ mit.edu

Myrella is a PhD candidate in the AeroAstro department at MIT, conducting research on fluid-thermal-structural modeling and analysis for hypersonic flows. She is co-advised by Professors Wesley Harris and Earl Dowell. As a MathWorks Fellow, Myrella is developing a framework to predict the fluid-structure interaction response of panels under hypersonic flow, as well as nonlinear post-flutter behavior. In her spare time, Myrella enjoys biking, reading, and attending classical orchestra concerts. 

Grace Mao
gmao @ mit.edu

Grace is a Master’s student studying hypersonics in the AeroAstro department.  She earned her bachelor’s in AeroAstro at MIT in 2023 with a minor in mathematics. She was on the varsity sailing team in undergrad and still enjoys sailing at the MIT pavilion on nice days. Outside of school and sailing, she enjoys reading, doing triathlons, and trying new foods 🙂. 

Hugh Cairney
hcairney @ mit.edu

Hugh is currently a Master’s student in the Hypersonics Research Lab. He graduated in 2024 from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Physics, where he was also a four-year member of the varsity football team. In his spare time, Hugh loves soccer, F1, specialty coffee, and going for walks around Boston.

Hillel Dei   hdei @ mit.edu   Hillel has been at MIT for his undergrad and will be joining the HRL as a PhD candidate in Fall 2024.

Matthew E Schofield   mschof @ mit.edu

Shannon Cassidy Smith   scsmith7 @ mit.edu

Andrew Welter
awelter @ mit.edu
UROP: Spring 2022, Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023

Andrew is an undergraduate in the AeroAstro department at MIT with interests in computational fluid dynamics and aircraft design in the hypersonic flow regime. His work in the lab has been focused on quantifying turbulence model uncertainty and machine learning implementation. In his spare time, he enjoys producing music and reading.

Fall 2022: Spencer Yoder syoder @ mit.edu

Summer 2023: Gracie Goll gracieg @ mit.edu

Summer 2023: Andre Greene argreene @ mit.edu

Britton ‘Bryt’ Bradley
bryt @ mit.edu
Bryt joined Professor Harris’ Hypersonics Research Laboratory & group on June 1st, 2022.  She has been working at MIT officially since March 23, 1998, and will offer administrative support and (hopefully) wise council to group members based on her years of service at the ‘tvte.

Touchstone Authentication : https://hrl.mit.edu/wp-login.php

Léon Lueer
l_lueer @ mit.edu

Léon was a Visiting Graduate Student from Germany and joined the HRL for March 2024 through January 2025. His current research focuses on the injection of electrophilic gas in reentry plasma to alleviate communications blackout. Léon is currently pursuing a M.Sc. in aerospace engineering at Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig in Germany and a French engineering diploma in mechanical engineering at Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC) in France. He holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering with a specialization in aerospace engineering from TU Braunschweig. His previous experimental and numerical research experience focused on Active Flow Control for Gust Load Alleviation and the conceptual design and optimization of high-lift systems. In his spare time, he enjoys going to the gym, surfing and learning languages.

Dominique Hoskin
dhoskin @ mit.edu
Leading Edge Effects on Hypersonic Boundary Layer Receptivity and Transition

Prior degrees: SM and SB in aeronautics and astronautics both from MIT

Dominique Hoskin defended his thesis in July 2024. He was a PhD candidate investigating transitional hypersonic boundary layers and shockwave boundary layer interactions, with a specific focus on boundary layer receptivity to freestream disturbances. A key objective of his work is discovering the sensitivity of hypersonic boundary layer simulations to computational grid resolution in the leading-edge region. As a MathWorks Fellow, Dominique will focus on using the EXASIM code, a massively parallel high-order discontinuous Galerkin finite element code, to perform direct numerical simulations in three dimensions on a hypersonic flat plate with and without an impinging shockwave. To accomplish these objectives, he has been given an allocation of node hours on the SUMMIT supercomputer at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The anticipated results of his work could greatly improve the understanding and management of boundary layer transition on hypersonic vehicles, which is essential to vehicle design and performance. More broadly, his work could have significant implications for the performance of high-speed vehicles.

Nathanael Jenkins   naja20 @ mit.edu   Imperial College London Exchange Student – Fall 2023->Summer 2024

Timur Ciaran Uyumaz   timuyu @ mit.edu   Imperial College London Exchange Student – Fall 2023->Summer 2024

Kendra Lynn Middleton
middleken @ mit.edu

Kendra was a Master’s student studying hypersonics in the AeroAstro department at MIT Fall 2022->Spring 2024.  She earned her B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering with a minor in the German language at the United States Air Force Academy in 2022, and she graduated as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.  She was a Lincoln Laboratories Fellow, and she has gone on to enter pilot training following her time at MIT.  She enjoys reading and going to the gym in her spare time.  

Claire Mathilde Namuroy   cnamuroy @ mit.edu   MIT-Imperial Summer Researcher – Summer 2022 & beyond

Lee Lopez
leelopez @ mit.edu
Aerothermal Heating Coupling with SBLI and Liquid Metal Cooling

Lee successfully defended his PhD thesis on Friday May 3rd, 2024. He was a PhD student in the Hypersonics Research Lab. His research focuses on computational methods for hypersonic aero thermo dynamics , hypersonic shock – wave/boundary – layer interaction (SBLI), and the use of liquid metals to mitigate surface heating in high – enthalpy gas flows. Originally from Long Island, Lee completed his undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering at The Cooper Union in New York. When not in the lab, Lee enjoys cycling and watching sports, especially baseball and soccer.

Chelsea Onyeador
Onyeador @ mit.edu
Finite Difference Hypersonic Boundary Layers

Chelsea successfully defended her thesis in May 2024. She was a 3rd year PhD student studying Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. She earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University in 2018 and an S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT in 2021. Her research centers on the simulation on similar and non-similar hypersonic boundary layers with temperature-varying properties. As an active member of the MIT Black Graduate Students Association and various other student advocacy groups, Chelsea is a strong supporter of inclusion and anti-racist reforms in academia. As a Graduate Resident Advisor, during her spare time, she can be found playing bass guitar, electric guitar, and clarinet; or watching TV. She is also the lead Thermal Design Engineer at Enoir Power Technologies.

Stewart Isaacs
sisaacs @ mit.edu
Physics-based modeling for novel clean energy systems

Stewart has successfully completed his PhD in the Aeronautics and Astronautics department as of Spring 2024. His research interests are in modeling and developing novel clean energy systems, particularly productive-use and decentralized solar systems, to understand how these systems will inform energy justice and sustainable development. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Stewart previously earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and an SM in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He also has served as an Archer-Cornfield Teaching Fellow at Ashesi University and co-taught Introduction to Energy in Global Development at MIT’s D-Lab. Outside of his work, he enjoys participating in sports such as competitive jump rope and club gymnastics.

Durgesh Chandel
dchandel @ mit.edu

See more information about Dr. Chandel’s research publications here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JAVheuAAAAAJ&hl=en

Isabelle May Atkinson   imatkins @ mit.edu   MIT-Imperial Summer Researcher – Summer 2023

Obadele Akan   oakan @ mit.edu   MSRP Intern – Summer 2023

​Rayna Carter   raynacar @ mit.edu   MSRP Intern – Summer 2023

Mykenzie Clark   mykenzie @ mit.edu   MSRP Intern – Summer 2023

Matthew A. Clarke
mclarke@mit.edu

Matthew is an Engineering Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (A.A.) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also a member of the V/STOL Aircraft Systems Technical Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in A.A. from Stanford University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University. His research focuses on aircraft design, aerodynamics, and aeroacoustics, with an emphasis on the analysis and optimization of vehicles for regional and urban air mobility. It encompasses system modeling of novel battery technology for electric propulsion applications and the impact of aircraft noise on transportation network planning. He also explores how noise and battery state of health can guide the development of regional and urban air mobility vehicles for commuter travel around major cities and transit hubs.

HRL Departure : Spring 2023

Nihal Simha nsimha @ mit.edu MIT-Imperial Summer Researcher – Summer 2022

Ben Couchman
blsc@mit.edu
Output Adaptive High Speed Simulation with Novel Shock Sensor Development

Ben Couchman (he/him/his) is a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He works on robust output adaptive simulation, with application to high speed and chemically reacting flows. Prior to his PhD studies, Ben spent three years in industry in the UK working as a consultant and a software developer, solving problems in environments governed by complex multi-physics involving high speeds and energy densities. Ben also holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Aerospace and Aerothermal engineering from the University of Cambridge.

HRL Departure : April 2022

Kevin Sabo
ksabo@mit.edu
Non-Boltzman Chemical Model Definition for Hypersonic Plasma Absorption Simulation

HRL Departure : early 2022

Humberto (Humby) Caldelas II
caldelas@mit.edu
Experimental Studies on Plasma Absorption Around a Capsule Utlizing SF6

HRL Departure : June 2021