Kelly Stephani

Kelly Stephani
Kelly Stephani
Associate Professor; Kritzer Faculty Fellow
(217) 244-9182
4417 Mechanical Engineering Lab

For More Information

Education

  • Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2012
  • M.S. Aerospace Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2006
  • B.S. Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 2005

Academic Positions

  • Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 2023-date
  • Associate Director, Center for Hypersonics and Entry Systems Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2023-date
  • Kritzer Faculty Fellow, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2021-date
  • Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2021-date
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2014-2021
  • Faculty Affiliate, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016-date

Research Interests

  • Hypersonics and high-temperature aerothermodynamics
  • Surface chemistry and plasma-surface interactions
  • Kinetic methods for non-equilibrium reacting flows
  • Kinetic theory and transport processes
  • Fluid mechanics & thermal sciences

Research Areas

  • Applied Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Computation and Applied Math
  • Energy
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Security and Defense
  • Thermo and Heat Transfer
  • Transportation

Chapters in Books

  • "Response of the Meteoroid/Meteorite to Aerodynamic Forces and Ablation," G. Duffa, J. Beck, and K. Stephani, IoP series on Plasma Physics: Hypersonic Meteoroid Entry Physics (2019).

Selected Articles in Journals

Professional Societies

  • Region III Associate Fellow Regional Representative, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2021-2022)
  • Member, American Physical Society
  • Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Service on College Committees

  • Center for Hypersonics and Entry Systems Studies, leadership (2019-present)

Service to Federal and State Government

  • University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics, Co-director (2020-present)

Teaching Honors

  • List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students, Spring 2019
  • List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students, Fall 2017

Research Honors

  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award (2019)
  • AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) Award (2017)
  • NASA Early Career Faculty (ECF) Award (2015)
  • AFOSR Summer Faculty Fellow - AFRL/RQ Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (2015)
  • Stanford CTR Summer Program Fellowship (2010)
  • Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) (2005)

Recent Courses Taught

  • AE 312 - Compressible Flow
  • ME 410 - Intermediate Gas Dynamics
  • ME 510 (AE 510) - Advanced Gas Dynamics
  • TAM 335 AE1 (TAM 335 ZJ1) - Introductory Fluid Mechanics