AS
Ph.D. Candidate
Alexander Spitzer
Rotor aerodynamic control using multiphase jet flaps (Sprayed Liquid Flap)
Multiphase and Extreme-Environment Flows
Rain, droplets, dust, debris, cavitation, icing, saltation, and shock-droplet interactions.
Related Projects
completed2021–2024
Shock-Droplet Structural Loading
Multiscale simulation and experimental characterization of shock-droplet interactions at hypersonic conditions, including cavitation effects, to assess structural loading on high-speed vehicles encountering rain and atmospheric water droplets.
AFOSR (subcontract through Boston University)
completed2013–2019
Cavity-Rocket Interaction
High-fidelity prediction of the interaction between a rocket exhaust plume and a gaseous cavity for supercavitating high-speed underwater vehicles.
ONR
completed2005–2012
High-Speed Supercavitating Vehicle
CFD development and analysis in support of high-speed, supercavitating underwater vehicle design.
ONR
completed2008–2011
Rotorcraft Icing
High-fidelity computational prediction of ice accretion on rotorcraft surfaces, including discrete element roughness modeling of ice-roughened aerodynamic surfaces.
NASA
completed2011–2016
Ice-Roughened Heat Transfer (Rotorcraft)
Modeling of convective heat transfer on ice-roughened aerodynamic surfaces to improve helicopter ice-accretion prediction.
National Rotorcraft Technology Center (NRTC)
Students & Researchers
JR
Ph.D. Candidate (M.S. to Ph.D. track)
Juan Roldan
Hypersonic CFD; shocked raindrop instability associated with nuclei
SG
Ph.D. Candidate (M.S. to Ph.D. track)
Sagar Gharti
Microgravity fluidics; droplet levitation and space biology
ML
AB
MC
Selected Publications
2026
Water Droplet Breakup Experiments using Acoustic Levitator at Upper Atmospheric Conditions in a Shock Tube
AJ Aguilera, SM Briggs, M Lindsay, B Suarez, S Vasu, M Kinzel, et al.
AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum, 0001, 2026
2026
Novel Methods for Evaluating Shock-Droplet Interactions
B Cavainolo, K Nguyen, R Forehand, R Shannon, M Kinzel, S Grace
AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum, 1733, 2026
2026
Water Droplet Breakup in a Hypersonic Shock Environment
M Lindsay, SM Briggs, AJ Aguilera, S Vasu, M Kinzel, S Grace, et al.
AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum, 1736, 2026
2026
Experimental Assessment of the Sprayed Liquid Flap
G Loubimov, A Spitzer, M Kinzel
Journal of Aircraft, 1-12, 2026
2026
Effect of Entrapped Non-condensable Gas on Shock-Driven Droplet Deformation: Implications for Hypersonic Rain Environments
JP Roldan, B Cavainolo, R Shannon, GA Jaramillo, S Grace, M Kinzel
27th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies …, 2026
2025
Investigation of Water Droplet Breakup in a Shock Environment With High-Speed Imaging
SM Briggs, N Berube, A Aguilera, MP Kinzel, S Vasu, S Grace, et al.
AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, 2057, 2025
2025
The Dragonfly Saltation Experiment: Flowfield and Measurements
RD Lorenz, J Asiatico, M Kinzel, SM MacKenzie, A Chatain, J Radebaugh
LPI Contributions 3072, 3013, 2025
2025
Quantifying Air Layer Dynamics During Water Entry Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
M Lauriston, G Loubimov, JL BELDEN, BA Cavainolo, M Kinzel
78th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, 2025