Director

Prof. Anya Jones
Originally from New Orleans, LA, Prof. Jones joined the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2024 after 14 years on the Aerospace Engineering faculty at the University of Maryland. She earned her Ph.D. in experimental aerodynamics from the University of Cambridge, her S.M. from MIT in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a dual B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering. In addition to running her lab, she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in unsteady aerodynamics, incompressible aerodynamics, and fluid mechanics. Prof. Jones has been awarded the AFOSR Young Investigator Award (2012), NSF CAREER Award (2016), and the PECASE from the White House (2016). In 2017 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award to the Technion in Haifa, Israel (2017-2018) and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship to TU Braunschweig in Germany (2018). She is an associate fellow of AIAA, an active member of APS DFD, and a long-time chair and participant in several NATO Research Technology Organization task groups on gust response and unsteady aerodynamics. .

UCLA Group

Zachary Cowger
Zach grew up in Ridgefield, Washington, before heading south to chase the sun and pursue higher education in Southern California. Inspired by a family legacy of engineering, he earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in 2024. He is currently pursuing his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, with research centered on experimental investigations of the “Seam-Shifted Wake” phenomenon over baseballs in UCLA’s wind tunnel facility. Outside the lab, Zach is a dedicated member of the UCLA Men’s Rowing team. He often starts his mornings on the water in Marina del Rey and ends his evenings perfecting his grilling skills in his backyard.

Henry Jones
Henry was born and raised outside of Austin, Texas. He had an early passion for all types of aircraft and the theory of flight. Eager to learn more, Henry studied Aerospace Engineering at UCLA with a focus in aeronautics. He will receive his Bachelor's degree in the Spring of 2025 and plans on pursuing a Master's degree afterwards. To further his understanding of aerodynamics and contribute to the field of research, Henry joined the lab during his senior year. In his free time, Henry enjoys hiking, road tripping, and rewatching the Lord of the Rings too often.

Nicholas Veracruz
Nick was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and moved to Saint Augustine, Florida when he was five years old. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, and plans to graduate with his B.S. and M.S. in June 2026. Nick has previously interned for SpaceX's Starship Payload team, and is currently an instructor for the introductory rockets class at UCLA. He intends to pursue a career in thermofluids and aerodynamics analysis. In his free time, Nick enjoys playing golf, volleyball, tennis, and binging movies he's seen already.







PhD Students (UMD)

Antonios Gementzopoulos
Antonios was born in a small city in northern Greece and moved to Brooklyn, New York at a young age. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from New York University and M.Res. in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. As an undergraduate researcher, he studied causal relationships in fish schools as part of a project to develop biomimetic underwater robots. During his time in Cambridge, he worked closely with Rolls-Royce to develop software that can aid in the prediction of combustion instabilities in aircraft engines. He is currently interested in the aerodynamics challenges facing the next generation of aircraft such as the prediction and control of gust encounters as well as the transition between vertical and horizontal flight in urban environments. Antonios enjoys exploring nature, playing chess, and can often be found biking to the office but never without a helmet.

Oliver Wild
Oliver was born in Zurich, Switzerland. From early on, he was fascinated by all sorts of aircraft and wanted to understand how they function aerodynamically. He studied mechanical engineering at ETH Zurich with a focus on aerospace engineering, where he received a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree. Oliver worked in several wind tunnels in Switzerland (ETH Zurich, RUAG Aviation), Germany (BMW Group), the UK (Loughborough University), and the US (Caltech) through internships, theses and research projects. He also gained teaching experience early on by instructing undergraduate students in the large subsonic wind tunnel of ETH Zurich for several semesters. His current research focuses on experimental reverse flow aerodynamics over rotorcraft blades carried out in multiple wind tunnel facilities at UMD. In addition to his aerodynamic research, Oliver enjoys gliding, piloting model aircraft, ski racing, and surfing.

Undergraduates (UMD)

Tak (Andy) Yeung
Andy was born and raised in Hong Kong. He has been fascinated by aerospace engineering ever since he read a book explaining the amazing feats of the Space Shuttle program. Guided by his fascination, Andy came to the University of Maryland to study Aerospace Engineering. Along the way, he joined the Autonomous Unmanned Systems Lab under the UMD FIRE program, where he was exposed to the world of robotics and autonomous navigation. Excited to learn new skills, meet new people, and complete his honor research in a new environment, Andy joined the lab during his junior year, where he studied the phenomenon of vortex breakdown. Andy enjoys spending his spare time hiking, playing games, and reading novels.

Lab Alumni (UMD)

Assaf Krupnik completed his M.S. in the spring of 2023 and began work as Flight Test Engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle.

Alex Goldberg completed his M.S. in the spring of 2023 and began work as an aerodynamicist for Kaman Air Vehicles.

Adina Fleisher completed her B.S. in the spring of 2023 and began her graduate studies at Princeton University.

Adina Fleisher completed his B.S. in the spring of 2023 and began his graduate studies at Lehigh University.

Girguis Sedky completed his Ph.D. in December of 2022 and began work as Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University in January 2023.

Hülya Biler completed her Ph.D. in December of 2021 and moved to the University of Southampton in the UK to begin work as a Research Fellow in the Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Jonathan Lefebvre completed his Ph.D. in May of 2021 and began working as a Research Analyst in Future Vertical Lift at The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Alexandria, VA.

Luke Smith completed his Ph.D. in May of 2020 and accepted a position as an engineer in the Hydroacoustics and Propulsor Design branch of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland.

Nicholas Zhu graduated in the spring of 2019 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and moved to Daytona Beach, FL to begin graduate school at Embry-Riddle.

Zachary Smith completed his M.S. in May of 2018 and accepted a position as an engineer in helicopter dynamics at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Maryland.

Phil Kirk completed his M.S. in May of 2018 and accepted a position as a flight test engineer at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Maryland.

Mohamed Nassif graduated in the spring of 2018 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and moved to Atlanta, GA to begin graduate school at Georgia Tech.

Field Manar completed his Ph.D. in January of 2018 and accepted a position as an engineer in the Hydroacoustics and Propulsor Design branch of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland.

Peter Mancini completed his Ph.D. in the fall of 2017 and began working as a Research Analyst in Cyber Systems at The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Alexandria, VA.

Gino Perrotta completed his Ph.D. in the fall of 2017 and moved to a postdoc position at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Andrew Lind completed his Ph.D. in 2015 and remained in the group as postdoc until 2017, when he began working as an Assistant Research Engineer at the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel.

Max Cassell graduated in the spring of 2016 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and accepted a job at Toyon Research Corporation in Sterling, VA.

Ignacio Andreu graduated in the spring of 2016 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and moved to Illinois continue his studies at the University of Illinois.

Hannah Spooner graduated in the spring of 2015 with her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and moved to Wichita, KS to work on airframe design for Cessna.

Ryan Joyce graduated in the spring of 2015 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and remained on campus to begin graduate school in the fall.

Mateusz Gabryszuk graduated in the spring of 2015 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and remained in the department to begin graduate school in the fall.

Krista Cratty graduated in the spring of 2015 with her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and moved to College Station, TX to begin graduate school at Texas A&M in the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

Nate Beals graduated in the spring of 2014 with his M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, “The Effect of Passive Deformation on the Lift Produced by a Rotating Hinged Wing” and accepted a job at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, MD.

Michael Madden graduated in the spring of 2014 with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UMD. His departmental honors thesis was entitled “Interactions between a Model Turbine and the Seafloor.” He has since moved on to work at NAVAIR in Pax River, MD, performing flight tests on the F35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Kristy Schlueter completed her M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UMD in 2013, entitled “Analysis of Factors Affecting the Aerodynamics of Low Reynolds Number Rotating Wings.” She was awarded the NDSEG Fellowship in 2013 and moved on to pursue a Ph.D. at Caltech.

Sarvesh Sethi was an undergraduate research assistant in 2013. He graduated with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UMD in the spring of 2014, and moved to Ann Arbor, MI to work for Vayu, a small company that designs and builds UAVs for healthcare supply chain management and post-disaster aid delivery.

Mark Glucksman-Glaser earned his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UMD in 2010 and M.S. in 2013, entitled “Effects of Model Scaling on Sediment Transport in Brownout.” He moved on to work for ISSI, supporting NAVAIR at Pax River, MD.

Sid Kolluru completed his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 2010 from UMD and his M.S., entitled “Unsteady Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics of a Rotating Wing,” in 2012. He moved on to work in experimental aerodynamics for Bell Helicopter in Ft. Worth, TX.

Baozhu Zhang was an undergraduate research assistant and a Women in Engineering Research Fellow in 2011-2012. She completed her M.S. in systems engineering at UMD in the spring of 2014, and then moved on to work at AAI as a systems engineer in Cockeysbille, MD.

Oscar Alvarado, an undergraduate research assistant in 2011, completed his M.S. in the AeroSmart lab in 2013.