Amanda L. Grubb

Georgia Institute of Technology

Amanda Grubb is a fourth year Ph.D. student at Georgia Institute of Technology, in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. She earned her B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. During her undergraduate years, she worked at the Ben Zinn Combustion Lab. She currently works as a graduate research assistant with Dr. Marilyn Smith in the Nonlinear Computational Aeroelasticity Lab. Her current research focus includes investigation of complex rotorcraft aerodynamics, such as dynamic stall. She is experienced in conducting CFD and coupled CFD/CSD analyses using various languages, including NASA's OVERFLOW and FUN3 codes. She has served various leadership roles at the Georgia Tech AHS Student Chapter, and currently leads as the chapter treasurer.

How did you get interested in vertical flight?

"I didn’t choose my research area as much as it chose me. For most of my undergraduate career, I wanted to work on rocket propulsion, and planned a lot of my classes and research with those goals in mind. During my last year of undergrad, my interests started to change and I realized I didn’t want to follow a career in rocket propulsion. When I was offered a graduate research assistant position with Dr. Smith, I had to decide pretty quickly and accepted without too much knowledge in the field. I fell into the research and it’s been the perfect fit."

What are some of your current projects or research interests?

I recently presented a paper, co-written with Professor Marilyn Smith, on the "Development and Application of Temporal Adaptation Methods to Computationally Intensive CFD Simulations" at the 23rd AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference in 2017.

Tell us about your future plans.

"I’m still considering several options for employment after I graduate [with a doctoral degree]. I’ve been able to work with a lot of great people through three different internships I’ve had while in graduate school. There are a lot of exciting opportunities out there and can’t wait to see where those opportunities take me."

What do Amanda's mentors have to say?

"The VFF has made it possible for Georgia Tech to recruit Amanda Grubb, a stellar undergraduate who could have had her pick of fields of interest. Amanda’s talent in leadership is combined with top-notch technical skills. Her potential has already been recognized via recruitment efforts by several organizations well before her proposed graduation."

Prof. Marilyn Smith
Georgia Institute of Technology