Research Group Journal Publications Teaching Resume Updated: 25 February 2008

Prof. Laxminarayan L. Raja, Ph.D  Associate Professor Robert and Francis Stark Centennial Fellow in Engineering Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Education: Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin (1996) Address: The University of Texas at Austin,                 Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics                 210, E. 24th Street, WRW 308C                 1, University Station, C0600 Austin, Texas 78712-0235 USA Phone: (512) 471-4279 Fax: (512) 471-3788 Email: lraja@mail.utexas.edu Dr. Raja is an Associate Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin.  He holds a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University, and a B. Tech in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai (Madras) India.          Dr. Raja`s research interests are in low-temperature glow discharge plasmas.  He employs both computational modeling and experimental approaches for fundamental studies of plasmas and their applications.  Current research topics include: -- Plasma actuators for supersonic and hypersonic flow control -- Microdischarge-based small satellite plasma propulsion -- Study of rail-armature contact gap plasmas in electromagnetic launchers -- Atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium discharge phenomena -- Computational methods for plasma simulations including High-Performance Computing (HPC) techniques Current and past research sponsors include the National Science Foundation (NSF), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Ad-Astra Rocket Company, and Institute for Advanced Technology (IAT).  He received the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2001.              Dr. Raja is affiliated with the Center for Aeromechanics Research (CAR) at the University of Texas at Austin.