People

Imon Chakraborty
Assistant Professor

Email: imonchakraborty@auburn.edu
Phone: +1-334-844-6821
AU faculty page

Dr. Imon Chakraborty (Ee-mon Chalk-row-boar-tea) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. He joined Auburn in Fall 2018, and prior to that worked as a Research Engineer at Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering. He received his PhD (2015) and Master of Science (2011) degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, India (2009). He hails from the city of Kolkata in India. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a member of the AIAA Aircraft Design Technical Committee and the AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Technical Committee. He is the Technical Discipline Chair/Co-Chair for Aircraft Design for the AIAA SCITECH Forum.
Dr. Chakraborty is an active Private Pilot and owns a Vans RV-6A aircraft. He has flown the Cessna 152, Cessna 172, Diamond DA20, Diamond DA40, and Piper Cherokee/Warrior aircraft.

Aashutosh Aman Mishra
Graduate Student

Aashutosh Aman Mishra, from Nepal, is a graduate student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. He joined VSDDL in Fall 2019. He received his undergraduate degree from Tribhuvan University, Pulchowk Campus, Nepal. He has experience with XFLR5, ANSYS, SolidWorks, and MATLAB/Simulink from his previous work. At VSDDL, he is working on the continued development of Parametric Energy-based Aircraft Configuration Evaluator (PEACE), an aircraft sizing and mission analysis framework. His dissertation research focuses on incorporating stability and control considerations into aircraft sizing for the conceptual design phase of novel air vehicle and propulsion system architectures. He also has experience with developing aero-propulsive models using the FlightStream flow solver and incorporating them into VSDDL’s PEACE and MADCASP frameworks. He is a student member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the President of the Nepalese Students Association at Auburn University.

Anthony Comer
Graduate Student

Anthony Comer is a graduate student pursuing an Aerospace Engineering doctoral degree at Auburn University. He began his work at the VSDDL as an undergraduate student in Fall 2018. He graduated from Auburn in May 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and began his graduate studies in the Summer, focusing on aircraft stability & control and flight simulation. His current work involves implementing, refining, and testing flight control system architectures for Simplified Vehicle Operations (SVO) of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft using flight simulation. He also leads all simulator-related work, including hardware and software design, maintenance, and upgrades. Anthony has also gained experience working with MATLAB/Simulink, SolidWorks, Arduinos, and 3D printers through his coursework and research. He is currently working on the development of lift-plus-cruise and tilt-wing eVTOL flight control systems and gain optimization algorithms. He is a student member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Rajan Bhandari
Graduate Student

Rajan Bhandari is a graduate student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. He is from Nepal. He completed his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the Institute of Engineering, Thapathali Campus, Nepal. Rajan joined Auburn University and VSDDL in the spring of 2022. He has prior experience working with MATLAB, SOLIDWORKS, and CATIA during his undergraduate studies and professional experience. He is currently working on aircraft design optimization using genetic algorithms with a focus on unconventional air vehicle with all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion system architectures. He previously participated in the undergraduate design competition organized by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2017 and was one of the finalists. He is a student member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Stefanus Harris Putra
Graduate Student

Stefanus Harris Putra is a graduate student in Auburn University’s Aerospace Engineering Department. He joined Auburn in 2018 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in Spring 2022. At VSDDL, his work includes the construction, maintenance, upgrades, and testing for the VSDDL flight simulators. He has helped design various parts for the simulators, including inceptors, control loading devices, projector mounts, and custom rudder pedals. His broad research focus is on aircraft design and sizing. He was the vice president of Sigma Gamma Tau’s Auburn Chapter for the 2021-2022 term. He is a student member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Bikash Kunwar
Graduate Student

Bikash Kunwar (Bee-kash Ku-wor) is a graduate student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. He joined Auburn in Fall 2022. He received his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tribhuvan University, Nepal (2019). After graduation and before starting graduate studies, he worked with a small team of drone enthusiasts in Nepal to design, build, and test lift-plus-cruise type vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing UAV for emergency medicine delivery to rural parts of the country. He is currently working on developing parametric aero-propulsive model for sizing and optimization of Urban Air Mobility Vehicles. He also served as the president of the Society of Mechanical Engineering Students (SOMES), Pulchowk Campus (2018-2019). He is a student member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He also loves to cycle, hike, read books, and write poems. Website: https://b-kunwar.github.io/

Benjamin Davis
Graduate Student

Benjamin Davis is a graduate student pursuing a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. He began working with VSDDL as an undergraduate in the fall of 2022 and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in the spring of 2023. He has experience with NPSS, FlightStream, MATLAB/Simulink, Ardupilot, SOLIDWORKS, Python, and C++. He also has experience using and maintaining FDM and SLA 3D printers. Ben works to reconfigure and upgrade the flight simulators in use by VSDDL for testing Simplified Vehicle Operations (SVO) flight control architectures through piloted simulations. Ben is working on the characterization of various configurations of electric hybrid aircraft, with a focus on gas turbines and the use of NPSS. As an undergraduate, Ben worked with the Auburn Rocketry Association (AURA) as the payload lead where he developed much of his skills with 3D printing, software development, and electronics.

Cole McCormick
Graduate Student

Cole McCormick is a graduate student pursuing an Aerospace Engineering doctoral degree at Auburn University. He graduated from Auburn in Spring 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. In Fall 2024 he joined VSDDL and began his graduate studies with a focus on aircraft sizing and optimization. At VSDDL he works on development of subscale aircraft for flight testing and has assisted in assembly of flight simulators. As an undergraduate student Cole was structures lead then lead engineer for Auburn’s Design Build Fly team, where he developed sizing and optimization scripts. He has prior experience with MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C++, XFLR5, AVL, FlightStream, and SOLIDWORKS. He is a student member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and an officer for the Auburn chapter of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS).

Maddie Harper
Graduate Student

Maddie Harper is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree with thesis in aerospace engineering via Auburn’s online graduate program. She graduated from Auburn University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. Alongside her research and classwork, she currently works as a full-time Aeronautical Engineer at Frasca International in Urbana, IL where she develops and maintains aerodynamic, flight dynamics, ground handling, control loading, and propulsion models and supports qualification for flight simulation training devices. Her thesis work includes developing a systematic approach to calibrating propeller-driven aircraft models to flight test data. In her previous studies and work experiences, Maddie has been familiarized with many coding languages and simulation softwares such as MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C++, COMSOL, and FlightStream. She is an active alumni member of the STEM professional and social sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon (AOE) and a member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).