Vaishnavi Ramaswamy

vaish@mit.edu

Vaishnavi ispursuing her PhD in the area ofstability and transition of high speed boundarylayers with thermochemical nonequilibrium.Following her undergraduate education in India,Vaishnavi completed her mastersfrom MIT in 2020, focusing on infrared measurement of boundarylayer transition movement duetosurface waviness on fan blades.Hercurrentresearch focuses onunderstandingthe impact of chemical diffusion and freestream disturbances on hypersonic boundarylayer transition,and has applications forreentryvehicle aerodynamics, anddesign of hypersoniccruise vehicles.Outside of her research,Vaishnavi advocates for graduate students on issuescenteredaround affordable housing,stipend rates, and foodinsecurity among students.She is an avid reader,fountain pen collector,andenjoys painting and calligraphy,in her spare time.

Geoffrey Svensson

gks23@mit.edu

Geoff is a PhD candidate currently researching plasma assisted combustion for supersonic flows. His research has been primarily focused on developing new computational methods to analyze and quantify plasma combustion phenomena, specifically by developing novel Reduced Order Models (ROMs) as well as modifying computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes to accommodate the many physical processes at play. Geoff’s biggest passions in life are engines and sport cars, especially internal combustion, and he fixes up old BMWs as a hobby in his spare time.

Carter Waligura

waligura@mit.edu

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.

Myrella Vieira 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. 

Madison Taylor Hobbs

mthobbs@mit.edu

Madison Taylor Hobbs is a master’s student in the department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. She joined the Hypersonics Research Laboratory in January 2025 and hopes to combine her experience from SpaceX in computational structural modeling and knowledge of mechanics of materials with hypersonic flow research.

Madison graduated with Distinction from Harvey Mudd College, earning a Bachelor of Science in Applied Dynamics with a concentration in Classics and honors in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. In her free time, she enjoys reading, judo, and spending time with her dog, Miles Davis.

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

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.

Lee Lopez

leelopez@mit.edu

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

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

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

Matthew A. Clarke

mclarke@mit.edu

Matthew was an Engineering Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (A.A.) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Spring 2023. 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.

Kevin Sabo

ksabo@mit.edu

Non-Boltzman Chemical Model Definition for Hypersonic Plasma Absorption Simulation