My Fulbright research explores the physics of flight vehicles that can travel over six times the speed of sound, such as space re-entry capsules and glide vehicles. Through a better understanding of high-speed flight, aerospace engineers can more confidently build the next generation of safe and robust supersonic and hypersonic aircraft.
Mark Noftz is an aerospace engineer and PhD candidate in the Gambaro Graduate Program of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. His primary areas of research include high speed aerodynamics and scramjet propulsion systems, and he has a patent for a design method to optimize intakes for air breathing engines.
As a Fulbright scholar, Mark will lead experimental test campaigns in some of Australia’s most prolific hypersonic wind tunnels. He is also excited to collaborate with researchers at UNSW Canberra and the ADFA, strengthening hypersonic research initiatives and trans-pacific partnerships between U.S. and Australian institutions.