Flame-Fluids-Energy Lab

Abhishek Saha

Principal Investigator

contact: asaha@ucsd.edu

Abhishek Saha is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California San Diego. Before joining UCSD in 2018, Prof. Saha was an Associate Research Scholar in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. He received his MS and PhD degrees, both in Mechanical Engineering, from the University of Central Florida in 2010 and 2012, respectively. He received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for the quality, content, and exemplary nature of his PhD research. In 2022, Prof. Saha received the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. 

Aditya Potnis

PhD Candidate

Contact: apotnis@eng.ucsd.edu

Aditya Potnis joined UCSD as a PhD student in Winter 2019. Aditya completed his prior education from India receiving his Bachelor’s degree (B.Tech) from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology and Master’s degree (M.E.) from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. Prior to joining UCSD, he worked at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a part of Prof. Saptarshi Basu’s research group. Aditya’s research interests lie in the fields of experimental fluid mechanics and combustion.

Yue Weng

PhD Candidate

Contact: y9weng@eng.ucsd.edu 

Yue is a PhD candidate in Aerospace Engineering. He joined Saha Research Group in Winter 2019 as an M.S. student. Before joining UCSD, Yue completed his undergraduate study at Beihang University (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) and received his B.S. Degree in Aircraft Propulsion Engineering in 2018. Yue’s research interests lie in experimental fluid dynamics and thermoacoustic instability. 

Sombuddha Bagchi

PhD Student

Contact: sobagchi@eng.ucsd.edu 

Sombuddha joined Saha Research Group as a PhD student in Fall 2019. Before coming to UCSD, he completed his undergraduate studies at Jadavpur University and earned a Bachelor's degree (B. Tech) in Mechanical Engineering. Sombuddha's research focuses on dynamics of aero-elastic instabilities including aerodynamic flutter. 

Brooklyn Asai

PhD Student

Contact: basai@ucsd.edu

Brooklyn joined Saha Research Group as a PhD student in Fall 2022. Prior to arriving at UCSD she received her undergraduate and Master's degree (M.S.) in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University. Her current research focuses on droplet impact on liquid surfaces.

Jose Rivera-lizarralde

PhD Student

Contact: j1rivera@ucsd.edu

After completing his BS in Aerospace Engineering at UCSD, Jose joined our group as a PhD student in Fall 2022. His current research focuses on dynamics and propagation of flames.

Blake Andersen

MS Student 

Contact: banderse@ucsd.edu

Blake is a BS-MS student in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research focuses on droplets and mixing. Blake is also passionate about rocketry and an active member of Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, an undergraduate student organization at UCSD.

Yihong Zhu

Undergraduate Student 

Contact: yiz141@ucsd.edu

Yihong is an undergraduate student in Aerospace Engineering at UCSD. He joined Saha Research Group in Spring 2023. His current research area is in thermoacoustic instability.

Research Staff:

Vishnu R. Unni (2018-2020) Current Position: Asst. Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad

MS. Students:

Patrick Finn (Degree year 2022) Next Position: Virgin Galactic

Yue Weng (Degree year 2020) Next Position: PhD student (Saha Research Group, UCSD)

Xian Wu (Degree year 2020) Next Position: PhD student (U. Michigan)

Undergraduate Students:

Blake Andersen (Degree year 2023) Next Position: MS Student (Saha Research Group, UCSD)

Kusal Uprety (Degree year 2023) Next Position: MS Student (Stanford)

Soyoung Shin (Degree year 2021) Next Position: PhD Student (Caltech)

Stacho Aguilar Ruiz (Degree year 2021) Next Position: MS Student (Georgia Tech)/Lockheed Martin

Summer Interns:

Alexia Chavez Gaxiola (ENLACE 2023, Tecnológico Nacional de México) 

Eduardo Ortega Alvarez (ENLACE 2023, Instituto Politécnico Nacional)

Martín Luna Martínez (ENLACE 2022)

Iván Arizpe Dueñas (ENLACE 2022)

Vanessa Gonzalez Nuñez (ENLACE 2019)

Patsy Arely Miranda Cortez (ENLACE 2019)