People
Current Members
Principal Investigator
Joaquim R. R. A. Martins is a Professor at the University of Michigan, where he heads the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Laboratory (MDO Lab) in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. His research involves the development and application of MDO methodologies to the design of aircraft configurations, with a focus on high-fidelity simulations that take advantage of high-performance parallel computing.
He has served as Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal, Optimization and Engineering, and Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. He is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Aircraft.
Research Faculty
Co-Advised PhD Students
Alumni
Post-Doctoral Alumni
Eirikur Jonsson
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Senior Engineer, Supercritical Inc.
Cody Karcher
Current position: CSRI Postdoctoral Fellow at Sandia National Laboratories
Charles Mader
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Senior Software Engineer, Toolpath
Graeme Kennedy
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Gaetan Kenway
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Aerospace Engineer, Volcano Platforms Inc.
John Hwang
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Associate Professor, University of California, San Diego
Mohamed Amine Bouhlel
Current position: Software Application Development Engineer, Intel
Marco Mangano
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Postdoctoral Appointee, Argonne National Laboratory
Ping He
Current position: Assistant Professor, Iowa State University
Raphael Gross
Current position: R&D Engineer, ISAE-SUPAERO
Ruben Perez
Current position: Professor, Royal Military College of Canada
Sicheng He
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Sabet Seraj
(also PhD alumnus)
Current position: Design Optimization Consultant
Turaj Ashuri
Current position: Associate Professor, Kennesaw State University
Xiaosong Du
Current position: Assistant Professor, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Yingqian Liao
(also PhD alumna)
Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher at National Renewable Energy Laboratory
PhD Alumni
Galen Ng
“Hydroelastic Optimization of Composite Appendages”, University of Michigan, July 2025
Current position: Senior Naval Architect, Saronic Technologies
Alasdair Christison Gray
“Geometrically Nonlinear Methods for MDO of Very Flexible Aircraft", University of Michigan, May 2025
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MDO lab
Hannah Hajdik
“Computational geometry for design optimization”, University of Michigan, March 2025
Current position: Senior Multidisciplinary Optimization Engineer, Electra.aero
Alexander Coppeans
“Adaptive Methods for High-Order Aerodynamic Shape Optimization”, University of Michigan, March 2025
Current position: Computational Fluid Dynamics Engineer, Flexcompute
Andrew Lamkin
“Aeropropulsive Design Optimization of a High-Bypass Ratio Turbofan Engine”, University of Michigan, January 2025
Current position: CTO, Supercritical Inc.
Eytan Adler
“Hydrogen-powered aircraft design optimization”, University of Michigan, December 2024
Current position: Performance Engineer, REGENT
Mohamed A. S. A-K
“Numerical Methods for Coupled Aeropropulsive Design Optimization", University of Michigan, December 2024
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, MDO Lab
Bernardo Pacini
“Aerodynamic, Aeroacoustic, and Aerostructural Design Optimization for Propeller-Driven Aircraft" (co advised with Prof. Karthik Duraisamy), University of Michigan, May 2024
Current position: Aerodynamics Simulation Engineer, Joby Aviation
Shugo Kaneko
“Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Delivery Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles Considering Operations", University of Michigan, April 2024
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MDO lab
Marco Mangano
“High-Fidelity Aerostructural Design Optimization of Wind Turbine Rotors", University of Michigan, December 2023
Current position: Postdoctoral Appointee, Argonne National Laboratory
Sabet Seraj
“Aerodynamic Design Optimization of a Supersonic Transport Aircraft Considering Low-Speed Stability“, University of Michigan, December 2023
Current position: Design Optimization Consultant
Ella Wu
“Practical Appropriate Fidelity Optimization for Large-scale Multidisciplinary Aircraft Design”, University of Michigan, December 2022
Current position: Aerodynamic Engineer, Archer Aviation
Josh Anibal
“Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of Heat Exchangers”, University of Michigan, December 2022
Current position: HPC Software Developer, NASA Ames Research Center
Anil Yildirim
“Robust Methods for Aeropropulsive Design Optimization", University of Michigan, September 2021
Current position: Post-Doctoral Fellow, MDO lab
Benjamin Brelje
“Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Electric Aircraft Considering Systems Modeling and Packaging”, University of Michigan, August 2021
Current position: Multidisciplinary Optimization Engineer, Joby Aviation
Yingqian Liao
“High-fidelity Hydrostructural Optimization of Composite Hydrodynamic Lifting Surfaces” (co advised with Prof. Julie Young), University of Michigan, August 2021
Current position: Post-Doctoral Fellow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Sicheng He
“Aerodynamic Shape Optimization using a Time-Spectral Approach for Limit Cycle Oscillation Prediction”, University of Michigan, April 2021
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Shamsheer Chauhan
“Optimization Studies for Aircraft Considering Propeller-Wing Interaction”, University of Michigan, December 2020
Current position: Senior Research Engineer, Collins Aerospace
Eirikur Jonsson
“High-fidelity Aerostructural Optimization of Flexible Wings with Flutter Constraints”, University of Michigan, July 2020
Current position: Post-Doctoral Fellow, MDO lab
Nicolas Bons
“High-Fidelity Wing Design Exploration with Gradient-Based Optimization”, University of Michigan, May 2020
Current position: Senior Principal Systems Engineer, Northrop Grumman
Gustavo Halila
“Aerodynamic Shape Optimization and Modeling for Flows Including Transition to Turbulence Effects”, University of Michigan, May 2020
Current position: Lead Aerodynamicist and CFD Engineer, Embraer and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, PUCPR
John Jasa
“Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of an Aircraft Considering Path-Dependent Performance”, University of Michigan, December 2019
Current position: Senior Researcher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Justin Gray
“Design Optimization of a Boundary Layer Ingestion Propulsor Using a Coupled Aeropropulsive Model”, University of Michigan, October 2018
Current position: CTO, Toolpath
Ney Secco
“Component-based Aerodynamic Shape Optimization using Overset Meshes”, University of Michigan, July 2018
Current position: Assistant Professor, Technological Institute of Aeronautics, Brazil
Timothy Brooks
“Design Optimization of Flexible Aircraft Wings Using Tow-Steered Composites”, University of Michigan, May 2018
Current position: Senior Aerospace Engineer, Supercritical Inc.
David Burdette
“High-Fidelity Aerostructural Design Optimization of Transport Aircraft with Continuous Morphing Trailing Edge Technology”, University of Michigan, Sep 2017
Current position: Machine Learning Engineer, RTX
Nitin Garg
“High-Fidelity Hydrostructural Design Optimization of Lifting Surfaces” (co advised with Prof. Julie Young), University of Michigan, May 2017
Current position: Engineer, REGENT
Rhea Liem
“Multimission Fuel-Burn Minimization in Aircraft Design: A Surrogate-Modeling Approach”, University of Toronto, May 2015
Current position: Reader in Sustainable Aviation, Imperial College London
Andrew Lambe
“Matrix-Free Methods for Multidisciplinary Design Optimization”, University of Toronto, May 2015
Current position: Senior Software Engineer, Sightline Innovation Inc.
Zhoujie (Peter) Lyu
“High-Fidelity Aerodynamic Design Optimization of Aircraft Configurations”, University of Michigan, Dec 2014
Current position: Field CTO & VP of Solutions, Luminary Cloud
John Hwang
“A modular approach to the large-scale design optimization of aerospace systems”, University of Michigan, Dec 2014
Current position: Associate Professor, University of California, San Diego
Nansi Xue
“Design and Optimization of Lithium-Ion Batteries for Electric-Vehicle Applications”, University of Michigan, Dec 2013
Current position: Senior Controls Engineer, Archer Aviation
Wenbo Du
“Multi-Scale Modeling, Surrogate-Based Analysis, and Optimization of Lithium-Ion Batteries for Vehicle Applications” (co-advised with Prof. Wei Shyy), University of Michigan, July 2013
Current position: Director, Rescale Global Support
Gaetan Kenway
“A Scalable Parallel Approach for Multi-Point High-Fidelity Aerostructural Optimization of Aircraft Configurations”, University of Toronto, Feb 2013
Current position: Aerospace Engineer, Volcano Platforms Inc.
Graeme Kennedy
“Aerostructural Analysis and Design Optimization of Composite Aircraft”, University of Toronto, Aug 2012
Current position: Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Sohrab Haghighat
“Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of A Highly Flexible Aeroservoelastic Wing” (co-advised with Prof. Hugh Liu), University of Toronto, Apr 2012
Current position: CEO, Hestus
Kai James
“Aerostructural Shape and Topology Optimization of Aircraft Wings”, University of Toronto, Apr 2012
Current position: Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Charles Mader
“Stability-Constrained Aerodynamic Shape Optimization with Applications to Flying Wings”, University of Toronto, Feb 2012
Current position: Senior Software Engineer, Toolpath
Alan Yu
“A Configurable B-Spline Parameterization Method for Structural Optimization of Wing Boxes”, University of Toronto, Dec 2008
Current position: Senior Quantitative Analytics Specialist, Wells Fargo
Masters Alumni
Tristan Dhert
“High-fidelity aerodynamic shape optimization of wind turbine blades” (TUDelft Masters thesis), University of Michigan
Current position: Head of Balance Sheet Solutions & Derivatives, Resolution Life
Sander van den Broek
“Towards High-Fidelity Aeroelastic Analysis of Wind Turbines” (TUDelft Masters thesis), University of Michigan, May 2014
Current position: Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol
Jason Kao
May 2014
Current position: Research Engineer, Air Force Research Laboratory
Cody Paige
“Extension of the ADjoint approach to a laminar Navier-Stokes solver”, University of Toronto, Nov 2012
Current position: Director of the Space Exploration Initiative, MIT Media Lab
Benjamin Yan
“A framework for aerostructural analysis of wind turbine blades”, University of Toronto, Aug 2008
Current position: Director ff Information Technology at Geneseeq Biotech Inc
Fredyanto Koko
“Aerostructural and Trajectory Optimization of Morphing Wingtip Devices” (TUDelft Masters thesis), University of Michigan, Aug 2011
Current position: Founder & CEO, MIKROLETTE
Edmund Lee
“Structural Topology Optimization with Design Dependent Loads”, University of Toronto, Aug 2011
Current position: Data Science Specialist, BMO Financial Group
Quinn Thomson
“Automatic Implementation or Response-Surface-Based MDO Algorithms”, University of Toronto, Aug 2009
Current position: iOS Developer, Robots and Pencils
Peter Jansen
“Aerostructural Optimization of Nonplanar Lifting Surfaces”, University of Toronto, Aug 2009
Current position: Research Associate and Lecturer, Royal Military College of Canada
Ryan Henderson
“Aircraft Conceptual Design Optimization with Emissions Minimization”, University of Toronto, Aug 2009
Current position: Manager, Benefits Realization Management, NAV CANADA
Scott Moon
“Wing Aerostructural Optimization with Aeroelastic Constraints”, University of Toronto, May 2009
Current position: Senior Manager for Serial Production, Testing and Launch, ispace.inc
Christopher Marriage
“Automatic Implementation of MDO Algorithms”, University of Toronto, Aug 2008
Current position: Managing Director, Accenture, Chicago
Ian Chittick
“A New Subspace Optimization Method for Aero-structural Design”, University of Toronto, Aug 2007
Current position: Engineering Specialist, Bombardier Aerospace
Charles Mader
“ADjoint: An Approach for the Rapid Development of Discrete Adjoint Solvers”, University of Toronto, Aug 2007
Current position: Senior Software Engineer, Toolpath
Nathan Tedford
“Comparison of MDO Architectures within a Universal Framework”, University of Toronto, Aug 2006
Current position: Director of Nuclear Technologies, Hatch Ltd.
Praveen Thokala
“Airfoil Shape Optimization Using Variable-Complexity Methods”, University of Toronto, Aug 2005
Current position: Director, PT Health Economics Ltd.
Nicholas Poon
“Adaptive Constraint Aggregation for Design Optimization Using Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis”, University of Toronto, Aug 2005
Current position: Assistant Vice President, Bank of America Merrill Lynch