USU student wins prestigious NASA fellowship

Jeff Taylor, a mechanical and aerospace graduate student at Utah State University, is one of five students nationwide to receive a widely sought-after fellowship from NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

For Taylor and his advisor Doug Hunsaker, receiving the fellowship caught them both off guard. NASA put out a solicitation, talking about what they were looking for in prospective candidates. However, Taylor’s research focuses on making commercial aircraft more fuel efficient did not specifically meet NASA’s list of goals.

“Neither me or my advisor really thought we were going to get it since it wasn’t something that they listed in their projects and I had also proposed the same kind of thing in other fellowships and didn’t get those,” Taylor said. “But we thought, why not give it one last shot? And we did. It was really exciting.”

As a student, Taylor said he was always interested in aircraft. He studied chemical engineering with that in mind and has taken more classes in which he developed an interest in the Aerodynamic side of things. He emphasizes taking a mathematical approach to studying how wing shape can increase the efficiency of fuel in commercial airlines.

“Most of the time when we think about NASA we think about the space side of things, but they do a lot with aircraft as well,” Taylor said. “The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate right now has a strategic implementation plan and they are basically looking at how to make commercial aircraft more fuel efficient so that they can be faster, more affordable, and use less fuel. I am looking at the fuel economy side of it.”

“There are many different programs and grants awarded by NASA,” said Katherine Brown, one of NASA’s headquarters public affairs officers.

This is not only a huge opportunity for him to perform his research but strengthens a link between Utah State and NASA, she said.

The fellowship lasts for three years. Every year Taylor will have the opportunity to spend 10 weeks in Mountain View, California, continuing his research and taking advantage of the resources that are there. This will give him experience and leverage in his field of study, he said.

Taylor expressed specifically that this fellowship came about because of a lot of hard work and support both from his family and those who support him at Utah State.

harley.barnes@aggiemail.usu.edu