Current Students
Chris Birkbeck
Chris is a masters student in mechanical engineering. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Penn State. He’s from Tannersville, PA and enjoys watching and playing sports, especially hockey, in his free time and his favorite movie series is Star Wars.
Jen Colborn
Jen began her work as a doctorate student with RFDL in the summer of 2020. Previously, she received her Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and MS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton in Ohio while researching alternative jet fuel performance with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Her current research is focused on understanding the relative contribution of convective and radiative heat transfer in gas turbine combustors, through experimental measurements of heat flux as well as several laser diagnostics. her free time, Jen enjoys hiking, swimming, and reading.
Sagar Jalui (co-advised by Dr. Guha Manogharan)
Sagar Jalui is a graduate student in the PhD in Mechanical Engineeringprogram and pursues concurrent MS in Additive Manufacturing & Design program. He has been a part of the RDFL and the SHAPE Lab collaborative team since September 2019. He graduated in May 2019 with a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and MBA in Technology Management from NMIMS University, Mumbai, India. His interests in AM technologies and Industry 4.0 have enabled him to gather experiences ranging from extrusion based fabrication of high-grade polymers to binder jetting for neurosurgical applications. His current research focuseson design for Metal-AM, specifically for hot section components of Industrial Gas Turbines.Outside of work, he enjoys cooking, playing the guitar, and listening to Ed Sheeran.
Pratikshya Mohanty (co-advised by Dr. Yuan Xuan)
Pratikshya started working at RFDL and CRFL labs in the Fall of 2022. She holds a master’s degree in Machine Design and Analysis from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering from National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (INDIA). Before joining Penn State, she worked for GE Vernova as an Edison Engineer and then in Combustion operability and design. Her current research is focused on fuel injector designs for gas turbines, hydrodynamic instabilities in complex flows and computational analysis of high-hydrogen flames. When she is not thinking about combustion science, she is usually gardening in the spring or curating music for her Spotify playlist.
Parvaneh Motiei
Parvaneh is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering and started working at RFDL lab in the Fall of 2020. She holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical engineering from Shiraz University researching on thermal management and waste heat recovery systems. Her current research is focused on combustion characterization of solid biomass fuels specifically hydrochar using multiple diagnostic techniques such as Particle Image Velocimetry, Chemiluminescence imaging, and Multi-color thermometry. In her free time, she enjoys painting and hiking.
Porter Richens (co-advised by Dr. Stephen Lynch)
Porter began working as a graduate student with RFDL in the summer of 2023 and is working on his masters in mechanical engineering. He graduated from Brigham Young University – Idaho with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. His current work is focused on ceramic matrix composites in high-hydrogen combustion environments. In his free time he enjoys reading, playing racquetball, hiking, and spending time at home with his wife and dogs.
Javier Rodriguez Camacho
Javier started working as a graduate student with RFDL in Fall 2021. He is pursuing a PhD in the mechanical engineering program. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and worked on material science projects, specifically nanofabrication and ceramic nanoparticle reinforcements. His current work is focused on the impact of exhaust gas recirculation on the behavior and stability of combustion processes. During his free time, he enjoys playing video games, watching series, and relaxing (sleeping).
Alumni
Renee Dorer – MS 2023
Erica Winegardner – MS 2022
Ashwini Karmarkar – PhD 2022
Daniel Doleiden – PhD 2022
Elana Herceg – MS 2022
Xiaoling Chen – PhD 2021
Casey Kracht – MS 2021
John Strollo – MS 2020
Seth Westfall – MS 2020
Kaylyn Beseler – MS 2019
Adam Howie – MS 2019
Ankit Tyagi – PhD 2019
Wyatt Culler – PhD 2018
Anand Makwana – PhD 2018
Matt Parmenteri – MS 2018
Andrew Church – MS 2017
Meghan Smith (Borz) – MS 2016
Sam Hansford – MS 2016
Nick Houghton – MS 2016