People
Faculty
Joanna M. Austin
Professor of Aerospace
Joanna Austin's research is focused on fundamental problems in reactive, compressible flows across a broad range of applications, including hypervelocity flight and planetary entry, supersonic combustion and detonation, bubble dynamics, and explosive geological events.
Staff
Research Staff
Graduates
Joel M. Lawson
Graduate Student
Joel Lawson is a Ph.D. candidate who joined the Caltech Hypersonics Group in 2016.
He obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in mechanical engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, both from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2015. He also has a Master of Science in aeronautics from Caltech, completed in 2016.
His current research is focused on developing techniques to make measurements of the disturbance environments in the freestream flow of GALCIT's hypersonic ground testing facilities, especially HET and T5.
He enjoys taking the opportunity to travel and explore in the USA and beyond, and especially likes finding new places to eat in LA with his wife Angela.
Matthew G. Leibowitz
Graduate Student
Matthew Leibowitz is a fifth year PhD candidate whose PhD topic is Mid-Wave Infrared Radiation Experiments in Hypervelocity CO2 Blunt Body Flows. Matthew earned a BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University at Buffalo in 2013 and an MS in Aeronautics from Caltech in 2015. He enjoys running in his free time and will be running in the 2019 LA Marathon.
Mallory C. Neet
Graduate Student
Mallory Neet is a Ph.D. candidate in the Caltech Hypersonics Group with a research focus on high speed fluid structure interactions. Mallory earned a B.S.E in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and a minor in mathematics from Purdue University in 2015 and a MS in Aeronautics from Caltech in 2016. In her free time Mallory enjoys swimming and competes as a member of the Caltech masters swim team.
Nelson J. Yanes
Graduate Student
Nelson Yanes is a fifth year PhD candidate. His thesis topic is on ultraviolet spectroscopic measurements of radiation in blunt body hypersonic flows and shock-wave boundary layer interactions. Nelson earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2014 and a M.S. in Aeronautics from Caltech in 2015. He is a member of the Caltech Trombone Choir and a volunteer at the Caltech Rise Program.
Wesley M. Yu
Graduate Student
Wesley Yu is a second year PhD student whose high enthalpy flow characterization work in the Hypervelocity Expansion Tube assists in scramjet design and atmospheric entry applications. Wesley received his BS in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2017 and an MS in Aeronautics from Caltech in 2018. During his free time, he enjoys playing the violin and piano, swimming, and playing basketball.