Founder and Director
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Dr. Nesrin Sarigul-KlijnThe DynaaTECC Research Lab is under the directorship of Dr. Sarigul-Klijn. She directs M.S. thesis and Ph.D. dissertation research of 4-6 students each year. Her research areas are in minimum weight design with aeroelastic and acoustic constraints; landing recovery system studies: winged, rotor, or parachute recovery system trades and scaled flight testing; development of advanced finite element methods to solve steep gradient problems of high temperature due to aerodynamic heating or shock loading; environmental noise control; flow induced vibrations; innovative power generation systems; and long duration space flight effects on the human spine. Dr. Sarigul-Klijn’s complete biography can be found here. Phone: (530) 752-0682 |
Research Associates |
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Dr. Tim MarchelliTim’s Ph.D. dissertation research focused on flow and flexible structure interactions of aerospace systems via finite element based high order formulations involving gradient adaptive transfinite elements. |
Graduate Researchers
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Michael Buonarati, Ph.D. CandidateMichael received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles in May of 2017. During his undergraduate degree, Michael was an award recipient of the Intertek Scholarship and Internship program. He also interned with Intertek where he worked with a 7-axis Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), and analyzed automotive parts. Michael was the founder and team captain of the SAE Aero Design Team in 2016 and 2017. Michael is an avid rugby player and is currently playing for the UC Davis team. Michael received his Master’s degree in 2020 from UC Davis. Michael’s PhD research focus is experimental aspects of airframe noise reduction using tail-tabs. Email: mbuonarati (at) ucdavis.edu |
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Matthew Gabel, Ph.D. CandidateMatthew received his B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Davis in 2017. He is interested in aircraft design, dynamics, and multi-disciplinary research in flow-structure interactions. Matthew is currently pursuing a PhD in using gradient adaptive transfinite elements to model fluid structure interactions and radar cross section for design of aerospace systems. Email: mgabel (at) ucdavis.edu |
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Noah Derita, M.S. Degree Student
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Alex Chemali, M.S. Degree StudentAlex is a Mechanical Engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where he develops optics processing equipment and processes for the National Ignition Facility (NIF). His work involves designing and deploying multi-disciplinary machines in a fast-paced production environment to support NIF’s critical optics needs. As an M.S. student in the DynaaTECC Lab, Alex is focusing on expanding his expertise in high-fidelity computational modeling and acoustics/vibration noise control. |
Alex Laurence, M.S. Degree Student
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Dylan Clinton, M.S. Degree StudentDylan’s research is in dynamic separation aspects of air launched vehicles via simulations and flight tests. |
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Aashay Vartak, M.S. Degree CandidateAashay has interned in roles focused on guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) simulations for satellites. His degree research is in spacecraft trajectory optimization and flight dynamics. In addition to his engineering background, Aashay is actively involved in space policy and advocacy. He is a member of the Space Generation Advisory Council and participated in the United Nations World Space Forum 2025, contributing to discussions on sustainable and inclusive space development. |
Gregory Mellos, Ph.D. StudentGregory Mellos is a Target Fabrication Engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) where he currently works on developing and characterizing high precision complex mechanical designs. These designs must maintain high levels of accuracy and must remain in spec when subjected to extreme cryogenic conditions. Greg has joined the DynaaTECC lab as a MS student in order to grow his skills in computational modeling. Currently his research is looking into applying new finite element formulations techniques on unsteady and compressible Navier–Stokes problems, focusing on cavity flows. Email: gmellos (at) ucdavis.edu
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Blake Hannah, Ph. D. Student
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DynaaTECC Recent Alumni
Peter Lee, Ph.D.Tim Marchelli, Ph.D.Sreejith Ravichandran, M.S. Gregory Mellos, M.S.Blake Hannah, M.S. |
Parakh Vyas, M.S. Parakh’s master’s degree research was in design and testing of in-flight deployable acoustic noise control devices
Jonathan Boyd, M.S. Jonathan’s research was focused on power generation from an oscillating delta wing. |
Megna Hari, Ph.D.with research focus on flow structure interactions and slosh dynamics. Joe Barthel, Ph.D.with a research focus on the design optimization of radiation shielding for human space missions. Joe was the recipient of the 2015 N&M Sarigul-Klijn Flight Research/Space Engineering Award. |
Matthew J. Mills, M.S.with research was focus on determining the effect of long duration space flight on the human spine through the use of mathematical and computational models. Matthew was the recipient of the 2017 N&M Sarigul-Klijn Flight Research/Space Engineering Award. |
Molly Townsend, Ph.D.Her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in. Her dissertation research focused on the Finite Element Simulation of Spaceflight-Induced Gravitational Unloading of the Whole Spine Alex Pensado, M.S.with research focus on Scalability of a Tension Cone Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator |