AEM student receives a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

The department would like to congratulate AEM graduate student, Luci Baker, on being awarded a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship from the Department of Defense (DOD). This prestigious fellowship recognizes and supports individuals who have demonstrated the ability and special aptitude for advanced training in science and engineering.

Luci graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota in the spring of 2016. Now, she is pursuing a Ph.D. degree under advisor, Professor Filippo Coletti. Her current research involves particle-laden turbulent flows, for which she is working on two projects.

In the first project, she is analyzing the results of a direct numerical simulation of micro particles suspended in homogenous turbulence, which she says is applicable to how dust or other particles behave in the atmosphere. The goal of this is to determine how micro particles form clusters in turbulence, and to determine what fractal properties the clusters have.

In the second project, she is experimentally studying very dense suspensions of hydrogel spheres in a turbulent water channel. She says, “The hydrogel spheres are nearly neutrally buoyant, and their size is comparable to the boundary layer momentum thickness. I am looking at how the particles modify the turbulence and interact with the fluid.”

Luci credits much of her preparation for graduate school to her AEM education, which provided her with many research opportunities and gave her a strong background in mechanics. She says, “I decided to continue at the University of Minnesota for graduate school because of the excellent fluid mechanics research group here, and to continue working on the research I did as an undergraduate, which I found very interesting.”

The department wishes Luci the best of luck as she continues working towards her Ph.D.