Patrick Meagher has been an assistant professor in the UCF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since August of 2025. Meagher’s research focuses on the deployment of extreme-scale computational fluid dynamics and molecular dynamics simulations to reveal unique physics occurring in the supersonic or hypersonic reacting flows at the micro and nano scale, and to couple these phenomena to the performance of high-speed propulsion systems and vehicles.

Meagher received his Ph.D. under the advisement of Xinyu Zhao from the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Connecticut in 2025, with the thesis titled “The Role of Microscopic Transport Phenomena in the Detonation Cell Cycle.” Dr. Meagher also received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2020 from the University of Connecticut, graduating summa cum laude. In 2022 he was awarded the Zeldovich Fellowship by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for excellence in detonation research. Meagher was also appointed as a visiting student researcher in the NanoEnergy Lab at Stanford University in 2022, and served as a student researcher with Google Research in 2023. In addition to his research, Meagher is also an active member of the amateur rocketry community and is a certified flyer with the Tripoli Rocketry Association.