Research Team - UTSA Hypersonics

Faculty

Christopher Combs

Dr. Combs is the Dee Howard Endowed Associate Professor in Aerodynamics in the UTSA Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is also the Aerospace Engineering Program Director at UTSA, KCEID Associate Dean Fellow for Research, and Director of the Center for Advanced Measurements in Extreme Environments (CAMEE). Prior to starting at UTSA, Dr. Combs worked as a Research Assistant Professor at The University of Tennessee Space Institute. His primary area of research interest is in the development and application of non-intrusive diagnostic techniques for compressible flows and he also has extensive experience in investigations of hypersonic boundary layer and SWBLI flow physics. Dr. Combs is active with AIAA, ASME, and APS and is a current member of the AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Technical Committee.

E-mail: ccombs@utsa.edu
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Graduate Students and Post-Docs

Angelina Andrade

Angelina was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She attended the University of North Texas from Fall 2016 to Fall 2019 and graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical and Energy Engineering. Following her undergraduate studies, Angelina continued her education as a graduate student at UTSA pursuing an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a thermal and fluid system concentration. She joined the Hypersonics Lab fall of 2021 and her current research interests are using laser diagnostics to study high-speed flows. She continued her research studies under Dr. Combs as a Ph.D. student starting fall of 2022.

Mark Anguiano

Mark received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from UTSA in 2019 and is now pursuing a Master’s degree with a concentration in thermal and fluid systems. Mark will be part of the team developing a power-generation loop that uses supercritical CO2 as the working fluid. His work in the Rotating Machinery Dynamics section at SwRI also gives him the opportunity to apply his studies directly to the engineering field.

David Balderas

David Balderas was born and raised in Corpus Christi, TX. He earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University Kingsville with a minor in aerospace engineering and mathematics. After graduating, David worked at L3Harris Technologies as a mechanical engineer doing structural design and analysis for military aircraft modifications. He began his M.S. in aerospace engineering at UTSA in the fall of 2023 and is working as a research assistant in the UTSA Hypersonics Lab.

Abinayaa Dhanagopal

Abinayaa Dhanagopal was born and raised in Chennai, India. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from India and a dual master’s degree from Iowa State University (ISU) in Aerospace and mechanical engineering. Leveraging low-speed fluid instabilities, she developed a wind energy harvesting apparatus using cantilevered piezoelectric actuators at ISU’s multiphase flow research laboratory. She joined the Combs Research Group at UTSA in the fall of 2022 as a Ph.D. student. Her research interests lie in hypersonic aerodynamics, combustion, and laser diagnostics. She considers space a unifying force, draws inspiration from space exploration’s technological and philosophical bearings, and eventually hopes to build a career in the same.

Eric Guzman

Eric Guzman is a seasoned mechanical engineer and a dedicated professional with a diverse background and roughly 16 years of industry experience. Hailing from San Antonio, Eric began his journey by serving in the United States Air Force for six years, honing his expertise as a jet engine mechanic for F16’s and F15’s. Following his military service, he seamlessly transitioned to a dynamic decade-long tenure at General Electric (GE), where he assumed pivotal roles including Robotics Borescope Inspector, Project Manager/Mechanical Engineer, and Data Analyst. During this time, Eric also pursued his passion for education, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2023. His commitment to academic excellence led him to embark on a new chapter as a PhD student in mechanical engineering, commencing in the fall of 2023.

David Kendhammer

David was born in La Crosse, WI, and went to the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin – – Platteville for bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Mechanical Engineering through a dual-degree program. This included research in nuclear physics and piezoelectric materials. He then went to Iowa State University for Aerospace Engineering with a focus on orbital dynamics. His thesis was the improvement to a solution for the Global Trajectory Optimization Competition 11 problem statement. In the Fall of 2022, he began his Ph.D. Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in thermal and fluid systems and is a part of the UTSA Hypersonic Laboratory.

Katherine Kim

Katherine Kim was born and raised in Houston, TX. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. During her undergraduate studies, she became the student director of the Texas Spacecraft Laboratory (TSL) and one of the student directors of the Texas Rocket Engineering Laboratory (TREL). Additionally, she worked as a Data Analysis intern at the NASA Ames Research Center to support lunar dust mitigation technologies. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the mentorship of Dr. Combs.

Elijah LaLonde

Elijah LaLonde was born in Alvin, Texas in 1996. He earned his B.S. in physics, graduating Summa Cum Laude, in 2018 from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He did undergraduate research in photovoltaics at Texas State University from the summer of 2018 until graduating at the end of 2018. After finishing his undergraduate studies, he took a year to continue his research in photovoltaics and explore his interests in Electromagnetic Field Theory and Fluid Dynamics. In the fall of 2020, he began his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA as a part of the Combs research group. Since then, he has worked with SwRI on the CONNECT project and is currently studying hypersonic separation events through a grant awarded through the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics.

Juan David Navarro

Juan David was born in Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca (Colombia). He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad EAFIT in 2015. Following his graduation, he received a scholarship from Universidad EAFIT to pursue a Master of Sciences in Engineering under the direction of Dr. Juan Camilo Isaza. During his masters’ studies, he visited Cornell University for a research internship with Dr. Gregory Paul Bewley. Upon graduation in 2019, Juan David joined the Advanced Materials and Mechanical Systems Laboratory at The University of Texas at San Antonio where he finished his doctorate in 2023 under the direction of Dr. David Restrepo. Juan David then continued at UTSA as Postdoctoral Fellow designing novel architected metamaterials for drag reduction and flow control in hypersonic vehicles.

Kenneth Perez

Kenneth Perez received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at San Antonio in May 2016. He will further his education and pursue a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration in Thermal & Fluid Systems. Kenneth interned as a tooling engineer for Boeing working on fighter jets and cargo planes in the Summer of 2021. Additionally, he interned at Ball Aerospace as a technical cryogenics engineer supporting payload instrumentation thermal analysis. He has accepted a full-time role as a rocket propulsion test engineer at Aerojet Rocketdyne where he will be testing ramjets and scramjets engines for hypersonic space defense systems. Outside of work he enjoys exercising, hiking, biking, hanging out with friends and learning anything dealing with hypersonics, fluids, and rockets.

Kevin Posladek

Kevin Posladek was born in San Diego, California and graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2021. His concentration in aerodynamics began during his undergraduate research in subsonic wind tunnel design and testing, and continued when he worked as an Operations Engineering intern at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in 2022, where he worked towards calibration of the X-59 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator air data system. He joined the UTSA Hypersonics Lab in 2022 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. His current research focus is on hypersonic boundary layers.

Bryce Randall

Bryce Randall, born in Norman, Oklahoma, Graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering with a focus on machine systems in Agriculture. Bryce stayed at Oklahoma State to receive a master’s in mechanical and aerospace engineering with a thesis titled “Stability and control analysis of a micro arial vehicle with an inverse Zimmerman planform for use in atmospheric data collection using different methods.” Bryce worked in the O.S.U. OAIRE Lab primarily on rocket projects in conjunction with The Kansas City National Security Campus. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in the Hypersonic Research Group.

Nick Stegmeier

Nick is from South Dakota and received his B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from South Dakota State University (SDSU) where he studied parallel numerical methods for partial differential equations. During his time at SDSU, he interned at Los Alamos National Laboratory and developed software for computational physics and high performance computing. Since graduating with his M.S. in 2019, he has interned at KBR/EROS working on machine learning for satellite imagery, Montana Space Grant Consortium launching high altitude balloons, and NASA Johnson Space Center analyzing spacecraft re-entry aerothermodynamic heating. Nick decided to return to SDSU to finish his B.S. in mechanical engineering, which he completed in May of 2023, and renewed his interest in fluid dynamics. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA and researching high speed flow as part of Dr. Chris Combs’ hypersonics research lab.

Nathan Strasser

Nathan grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and graduated in May 2022 from UNC-Wilmington with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics. He interned at a biotech startup over the summers, developing a conventional vaccine technology used to make a COVID-19 vaccine and a quadrivalent flu vaccine. During the school year, he researched optimization of mutated T7 polymerase to suppress mRNA byproducts. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and conducting research in the Combs Hypersonic Lab. Nathan plans to use his skillset in chemistry to advance hypersonic research before and after graduation.

Chad Williamson

Chad Williamson was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, and earned his B.S. in Mathematics from Truman State University in 2012. He then pursued a software career which included positions at MasterCard, Google, Vynca, and iovation (now TransUnion). After completing his M.S. in Mathematics at Portland State University in 2022, he entered the Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA as part of the hypersonics research group.

Undergraduate Students

Jonah Barbosa	Jonah Barbosa was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is currently an undergraduate student at UTSA pursuing his second bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Before pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Jonah first attended Texas A&M University where he graduated Spring of 2020 with a B.S. in applied exercise physiology with a minor in psychology. He joined the UTSA Hypersonic lab in late spring of 2022 and since then he has helped with experiment operations and looks forward to continuing to grow his understanding of non-intrusive diagnostics specifically with Schlieren imaging.
Sofía Gutiérrez	Sofía Gutiérrez is a sophomore Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia. She has taken courses in robotics, programming, scientific computing, data analysis, engineering, and languages such as English, French, and German. She was part of the electric traction vehicle team at the University of Antioquia, “Squalo Martello,” in charge of the 3D design for the vehicle’s cockpit, implementing aerodynamic requirements to the user’s needs. She belongs to the Mechanical Design Research Group (GDM) at the University of Antioquia. She is the leader of the “APIDAE (Adaptación Producción e Investigación de Drones de Alta Eficiencia)” Research line, which focuses on designing and manufacturing drones, where she specializes in generative design and additive manufacturing. During the 2022 Spring, she did a research internship on generative design and topological optimization of drone structures at Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. During the Summer of 2022, she worked as a CAMEE research intern at the Hypersonics lab at the University of Texas at San Antonio, assisting with high-speed wind tunnel testing and developing data and image analysis with shock wave/boundary layer interaction, pressure-sensitive paint, shade tracking, background subtraction, spectral analysis. She will pursue a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering to make her dream come true of being a NASA scientist. She enjoys nature and art and loves trail running in her free time.
Patrick Hughes	Patrick Hughes is a first-year undergraduate student at UTSA majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Political Science. He joined Dr. Combs’ research group in Fall 2022 and hopes to gain research experience, grow his knowledge in the field of hypersonic testing. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in aerospace engineering. In his free time Patrick likes to yo-yo, read, and hike.
Rafael Lopez	Rafael is a second-year mechanical engineering undergraduate at UTSA. He was raised in Washington state where he earned his associates degree in Aviation Maintenance. He transferred to UTSA in fall 2022 to pursue a bachelors in mechanical engineering. Rafael currently works in the Hypersonics Lab as an undergraduate research assistant, mentored by Kevin Posladek. In his free time, he likes working on his Miata, playing video games, and thrifting. Rafael is also the secretary for the UTSA chapter of AIAA.
Devin Moltz	Devin Moltz was born and raised in San Antonio and is currently in his 4th year of a mechanical engineering undergraduate degree at UTSA. He aims to obtain the aerospace certification for undergraduates by the time he graduates in December of 2023. Devin began working in Dr. Combs’ hypersonic lab in early 2022 and has developed skills in CFD and Python along with learning how to run experiments and assist the graduate students. In the summer of 2023, Devin was an intern for the lab where he helped to produce CFD models of simulations such as hypersonic nozzles and an IC3X geometry. In his free time, he likes to play video games with friends, work out, and take his dog out for hikes or to the park.
Brenda Perez	Brenda Perez was born and raised in Laredo, Texas. She began her undergraduate studies at Texas A&M International University in 2019, and in the fall of 2021, Brenda transferred to UTSA to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. In the spring of 2022, she joined UTSA’s Hypersonics Lab where she is currently working as an undergraduate research assistant. Her current projects include assisting in the research of hypersonic separation events and developing a new data acquisition triggering system to use during wind tunnel testing. In her free time, Brenda enjoys reading, working on art projects, and spending time with her friends.
Isaias Rangel	Isaias Rangel was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He began his undergraduate studies at the Alamo Colleges in 2017 and participated in their CIMA program in partnership with UTSA to enhance his research experience. In 2020, he transferred to UTSA to continue his pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. In the Fall of 2023 as a senior, he joined Dr. Combs’ hypersonic lab working as an undergraduate research assistant hoping to further enhance his research experience and break into the aerospace field after he graduates. In his free time, he enjoys producing music, going to concerts, and watching movies.
Edward Gonzalez Rebollar	Edward was born in Mexico City and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is currently a third-year undergraduate student at UTSA pursuing a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business Administration. Edward joined Dr. Combs’ research lab in Spring 2022 and is currently assisting in research on hypersonic separation events funded through the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics. After graduation, he plans on pursuing a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and playing the guitar.
Neil Sawant	Neil Sawant is a second-year mechanical engineering undergraduate at UTSA. He is from India and came to UTSA for his undergraduate studies in 2021. He joined Dr. Combs’ lab in the Summer of his Freshman year as a Citymester intern. He currently works with the Hypersonics Lab as an undergraduate research assistant, helping run experiments and designing equipment for the lab. After graduating, Neil hopes to complete a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from a prestigious institution. In his free time, he likes playing video games, occasionally mountain bikes, and works with the FSAE club at UTSA.

Alumni

Graduate: Stephanie Cottier (MS ’19, St. Mary’s U.); Prince Dukuze (MS ’20, CPS Energy); Raj Patel (MS ’21, Axiom Space); Diego Bass (MS ’21, Navistar); Dean Kaialau (MS ’21, Aerospace Corp.); Matt Garcia (MS ’22, US Navy); Valeria Delgado (MS ’22); Brandon Donald (MS ’22, Firefly Aerospace); Eugene Hoffman (PhD ’23, Southwest Research Institute)

Undergraduate: George Gonzalez (BS ’19, Boeing), DJ Bell (BS ’19, Boeing), Christopher Kunz (BS ’19, Boeing), Anmar Jabbar (BS ’19, Pike Corp.), Jordan Foster (BS ’20, L3 Harris), Dean Kaialau (BS ’20), Tomas Bello (BS ’20, HEB), Diana Magana (BS ’20, HEB), Raj Patel (BS ’20), Matt Garcia (BS ’20), Michael Rittenberry (BS ’20), Natasia Upadhaya (BS ’20), Ivana Chen (BS ’22, Rolls Royce), Hayden Bilbo (BS ’22), Austin Rendon (BS ’22, JHU-APL), Veronika Granado (BS ’23)