Principal Investigator
Dr. Subith Vasu
Research ActivitiesAlternative fuels for propulsion and internal combustion engines, supercritical CO2 power cycles, shock wave physics and chemistry, detonations and explosions, energy conversion processes, laser diagnostics and sensors for combustion and emission, laser spectroscopy, space sensors, chemical kinetics experiments and modeling, non-equilibrium aerothermodynamics, laser ignition, high-altitude balloon measurements, and advanced propulsion engines.
Work History
Education
| Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department | University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL | 2021-Present |
| Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department | University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL | 2018-2021 |
| Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department | University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL | 2012-2018 |
| Post Doctoral Appointee, Combustion Research Facility | Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA | 2010-2011 |
| Post Doctoral Researcher, Mechanical Engineering | Stanford University, Stanford, CA | 2010-2010 |
| Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (major) | Stanford University, Stanford, CA | 2004-2010 |
| M.Tech, Aerospace Engineering | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, India | 2004 |
| B.Tech, Aerospace Engineering | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, India | 2004 |
Post-Doctoral Researchers

Dr. Ramees Rahman
Assistant Professor
Hometown: Kerela, India

Dr. Justin Urso
Assistant Professor
Hometown: Sparr, FL
Dr. Farhan Arafin
Lab Manager
Hometown: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr. Ritesh Ghorpade

Dr. Michael Pierro
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Graduate Students
Nicolas Berube
Lab Manager Hometown: Pembroke Pines, FL
Louis Vest
Lab Manager Hometown: Glendora, CA
Daniel Dyson
Hometown: Lehigh Acres, FL
Nishan Khanal
Hometown: Columbia, MO

Marc Etienne

Jonathan McGaunn
Hometown: Naples, FL

Christopher Dennis

Louis Yovino
Hometown: Parkland, FL

Andrew DeRusha

Marzuqa Ahmed

Christopher Loving

Garrett Mastantuono

Priyankar Garai
Zuhayr Mohammed
David Zamora

Michelle Franzen
Hometown: Porto Alegre, Brazil

Shahzad Bobi
Hometown: Punjab, Pakistan

Marley Albright
Hometown: St. Augustine, FL

Hamil Patel
Hometown: Coral Springs, FL

Koby Rouviere
Hometown: Miami, FL

Anthony Aguilera
Hometown: Hialeah, FL

Nikolas Hulliger

Timothy Loye

Ahmed Safdari
Hometown: Mumbai, India

Alejandro Puerta-Alvardo

Diego Ruiz Pena

Bryan Suarez
Hometown: Orlando, FL

Lucas Pitts

Matthew Fraze

Kesly Lubin

Valerie Rodriguez

Tyler Kreuscher

Oli Valenzuela

Zachary Morris
Hometown: Boynton Beach, FL

Fawzan Ahmed

Sam Klopp
Hometown: Warrenton, VA

Guillermo Barrios
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela

Bright Katey

Mikayla Lindsay

Braden Venger

Jae Kim

Aaron Guenther

Gabriel Duany Izaguirre
Hometown: Miami, FL

Rodrigo Yuraszeck
Hometown: Viña del Mar, Chile

Tomas Ruiz
Undergraduate Students

Amanda Maia
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Allen Benarroch
Anya Ambarish
Hometown: Sterling, VA

Jonathan Sanchez

Colton Ashworth

Esteban Diaz-Rodriguez

Henry Mack

Nicholas Walsh

Avril Elmer-Santiago

Brianna Rick

Matt Ziegler

Ashley Thornton

Savannah Fowler

Savannah Taylor

Thuy-Linh Le

Tariqullah Wardak

Jordan Flick

Katherine Coyle
Vasu Lab Alumni
Post-Docs (15 Total)
M.S. Thesis (41 Total)
REU Summer Interns and Vistors
Post-Docs (15 Total)
| Name | Current Position |
|---|---|
| Dr. Carlos Velez | Research Engineer, GE Global Research Center, NY |
| Dr. Batikan Köroğlu | Research Staff, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, CA |
| Dr. Frank Barnes | R&D Engineer, Aerojet-Rocketdyne, Jupiter, FL |
| Dr. Sergey V. Panteleev | Chief Engineer, Center of Metrology of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia |
| Dr. Suhyeon Park | R&D Engineer, Samsung, Seoul, S. Korea |
| Dr. Chun-Hung Wang | Faculty, Northland Pioneer College, AZ |
| Dr. Raghu Veera Manikantachari Kancherla | Senior Combustion R&D Engineer, Power Systems Manufacturing (PSM), FL |
| Dr. Erik Ninnemann | Test Engineer, SpaceX, TX |
| Dr. Zachary Loparo | Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD), MD |
| Dr. Kyle Thurmond | Staff Scientist at Los Alamos National Lab, NM |
| Dr. Anthony Terracciano | Spacecraft Propulsion Engineer, The Boeing Company, FL |
| Dr. Ramees Rahman | Research Assistant Professor, UCF |
| Dr. Justin Urso | Research Assistant Professor, UCF |
| Dr. Gihun Kim | Research Engineer, NSWC IHD, MD |
| Dr. Cory Kinney | Aero Design Engineer – Combustion, Siemens Energy, FL |
M.S. Thesis (41 Total)
| Name | Subsequent Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Thompson | Lockheed Martin, Orlando, FL | |
| Kyle Thurmond | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Owen Pryor | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Anthony Terracciano | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Joseph Lopez | NASA KSC, FL | |
| Michael Villar | Engineer, Department of Defense, VA | |
| Leigh Nash | Engineer, Mitsubishi Hitashi Power Systems Americas, Lake Mary, FL | |
| Samuel Barak | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Akshita Parupalli | Engineer, Lockheed Martin SkunkWorks, Palmdale, CA | |
| Erik Ninnemann | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Andrew Laich | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Cory Kinney | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Sami Alawadhi | Research Engineer, Kuwait Insitute of Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait | |
| Bader Almansour | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Robert Greene | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Daniel Dyson | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Jessica Baker | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Jacklyn Higgs | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Sydney Briggs | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Nicolas Berube | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Michael Pierro | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Nishan Khanal | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Jonathan McGaunn | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Christopher Loving | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Marc Etienne | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Juan Cruz Pellegrini | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| David Zamora | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Alex-Abraham Pothen | Aero Design Engineer – Combustion, Siemens Energy, FL | |
| Zuhayr Pasha Mohammed | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Garrett Mastantuono | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Louis Yovino | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Timothy Loye | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Christopher Dennis | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Ahmed Safdari | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Koby Rouviere | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Hamil Patel | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Andrew DeRusha | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Marley Albright | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Michelle Franzen | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Marzuqa Ahmed | Continued PhD at UCF, FL | |
| Nikolas Hulliger | ||
| Anthony Aguilera | Continued PhD at UCF, FL |
REU Summer Interns and Vistors
| Name | Affiliation | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Ladislav Vesely | Czech Technical University, Prague* | 2017 – 2018 |
| Camille Phillips | NSF- REU, Georgia Southern University | Summer 2019 |
| Marzuqa Ahmed | NSF – REU, New York University** | Summer 2021 |
| Julia Kondrat’yev | NSF – REU, University of Western Florida | Summer 2022 |
| Kesly Lubin | NSF – REU, University of Central Florida** | Summer 2023 |
| Gabriela Rivas | NSF – REU, University of Central Florida | Summer 2023 |
| Kevin Salazar Flores | NSF – REU, University of Central Florida | Summer 2023 |
| Madeline Raynor | NSF – REU, University of Central Florida | Summer 2023 |
| Prof. Rehab M. I. Elsamra | Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science,Alexandria University, Egypt | 2021 – 2023 |
| Julia Meredith | NSF – REU, University of Central Florida | Summer 2024 |
| Madalyn Pullins | NSF – REU, Utah State University | Summer 2025 |
| Savannah Taylor | NSF – REU, University of Central Florida | Summer 2025 |
*later joined UCF MAE department with CATER **later joined Ph.D Program with PI
