The Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is seeking enthusiastic PhD candidates 
to work on wind tunnel testing of parachutes fluid-structure
interactions, as part of a NASA sponsored project.

NASA is actively pursuing the design of the largest parachutes 
systems ever built. Large parachutes are a vital technology to 
space exploration and the success of entry, descent and landing 
missions to Mars and back to Earth critically depends on these 
systems. The design of efficient parachute clusters and supersonic 
parachutes poses extraordinary challenges related to inflation 
dynamics, multi-body dynamics and capsule wakes/parachute 
interactions during deployment and descent. A combination of sub-
scale wind tunnel experiments at subsonic and supersonic regimes, 
and softgoods mechanics experiments will be carried out to support 
the development of high-fidelity FSI models for parachute inflation 
dynamics. Students involved in this research will have the 
opportunity to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment with 
researchers at Illinois, NASA and partner US universities.

Desired skills:
- B.S./M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or 
closely related field.
- Prior knowledge and experience in aerodynamics, diagnostics 
and/or fluid-structure interactions.
- Good communication skills and ability to effectively work in a 
team.
- Priority will be given to applicants with prior experience on 
wind tunnel experiments, optical diagnostics and/or data analysis.

The targeted start date is January 2021, although applications will
be accepted through Summer 2021 or until all positions have been 
filled.

Interested candidates should apply by sending an email to Drs. 
Laura Villafane (lvillafa@illinois.edu) and Francesco Panerai 
(fpanerai@illinois.edu). Please include:
- Curriculum Vitae.
- Transcript, GRE and TOEFL (for international students) scores.
- Contact information of two references.
- Include "PhD NASA Parachute" in the subject line of your email.