Hi, I'm Abhi—an Aerospace Engineer driven by an insatiable curiosity and a passion for turning ambitious ideas into reality. From designing and manufacturing jet engines and pioneering in autonomous robotics to building software that bridges the gap between the digital and physical worlds, I am fueled by a love for exploration and self-learning. With every project, I strive to push boundaries and inspire innovation in aerospace and beyond.

My Journey

Watching scientists juggle colorful chemicals fascinated me as a child, but Mechanix, a toy of bolts and beams, shifted my focus to engineering. Building helicopters and battle-bots sparked my creativity. And the launch of the STS-135 (the last Space Shuttle) finally ignited my passion for flight. This love for aerospace continued strong through my childhood, even when faced with missions that didn't quite seem to go nominally...
Abhi's Space Program didn't quite take off...

Education

Aerospace Engineering

2023 - 2027
Iowa State University has been the launchpad for my aerospace journey, where I'm tackling everything from advanced thermodynamics to structural design. With a GPA of 3.83, I am immersed in projects like designing combustion chambers and modeling avionics.

Cyber Physical Systems

2025 - 2027
As a natural extension of my aerospace passion, I'm pursuing a minor in Cyber-Physical Systems to master the art of integrating software with hardware. I am pursuing cutting-edge technologies like autonomous navigation, simulation design, and embedded systems.

Why Aerospace?

STS-135 (the last Space Shuttle) sparked my fascination with flying machines at seven years old. Today, at 19, I'm still amazed by its complexity. This technological marvel is unquestionably something I wanted to be a part of. This enduring passion for rockets and airplanes led me to pursue Aerospace Engineering.

Why C-P Systems?

I love creating robots, simulations, and websites like this one! The ability to transform abstractions into functional, visual realities within seconds is fascinating. It feels natural to combine my skills with computers to breathe life into complex physical systems through seamless integration and design.

Key Projects

J.E.T. - Advanced Manufacturing

Club
Skills used: Advanced ThermodynamicsSolidWorksComputer Fluid DynamicsPython
I am designing and manufacturing the heart of our jet engine: the combustion chamber. Crafted from rolled stainless steel sheet metal, its dimensions and geometry balance thermal limits, performance requirements, and efficiency.As a member of J.E.T. ("Jet Engine Team"—a humorously unexacting name I proudly coined), I frequently go beyond my current coursework. I independently research, implement new ideas, run simulations, and effectively communicate changes with my team to refine our designs.For guidance, I've been referring to Combustion Engineering by Ragland and Bryden to understand thermodynamics and establish the basic geometry of the engine. The combustion chamber consists of two concentric components: the combustor and the liner. The combustor sustains the flame, while the liner is precisely designed to allow airflow that ensures stoichiometric reactions and cools the combustion products.The liner is a simple rolled aluminum cylinder with a 6-inch diameter. The combustor, on the other hand, is more intricate. It begins as a truncated stainless steel cone, with its mouth carefully sized to direct approximately 83% of the incoming air into the liner, leaving the rest for the combustor. At the base of the cone, fuel injectors initiate the flame, which is sustained in the next segment of the combustor.The combustor transitions from the truncated cone into a cylindrical shape featuring a series of carefully positioned holes. These holes are categorized into three groups, following the direction of airflow:
  1. Primary Holes: Sixteen holes consume about 20% of the airflow, sustaining the flame.
  2. Intermediate Holes: Twelve holes use 30% of the airflow to combust any remaining fuel and slightly cool the products.
  3. Dilution Holes: Eight holes consume the remaining airflow, cooling the products further to protect downstream aluminum components.
The geometry is dynamic, with dimensions adjusted daily based on ongoing calculations and simulations. We've developed a Python script using the Pint library to streamline this process to ensure unit consistency. Numerous variables are optimized to achieve our goal of producing 25 pounds of thrust.

Nerdy Birds

Club
Skills used: Autonomous NavigationComputer VisionInertial NavigationTeam LeadershipJava
I served as the team lead during the 2022-2023 season, taking on additional responsibilities in programming while actively contributing to the design and manufacturing of our robot. Designed for the FTC Robotics Competition, the B-4/B-5 represented our flagship innovation—a culmination of advanced technologies I developed. This effort led us to secure first place at districts and rank among the top third of teams at the state level, marking the best performance in our team's 10-year history.The most impressive feature of our robot was the novel autonomous mode I designed, which surpassed anything we had seen in FTC to date. Operating within the competition's tight 30-second autonomous period, the system used cutting-edge sensors and software to execute tasks precisely. The robot utilized computer vision to identify obstacles, dynamically adapting its behavior based on gameplay elements.At the core of this innovation was a guided A* pathfinding system. It integrated manual route inputs with real-time decisions to guide the robot to scoring elements efficiently, ensuring precise alignment and placement on goals. Additionally, I incorporated color and brightness sensors to recognize floor patterns and infer positional hints. At the same time, the onboard IMU tracked accelerations and forces to maintain an accurate understanding of the robot's orientation and position. Periodic ground-based position checks further refined its spatial awareness.I also introduced "driver-relative controls," revolutionizing how the robot responded to operator inputs. This system, enabled by mecanum wheels, advanced mathematics, and robust programming, decoupled the robot's movement from its local orientation. Regardless of its rotation or position, the robot moved relative to the playing field, allowing drivers to intuitively command strafing, backward movement, and more from their perspective.This integration of autonomous functionality and driver-friendly controls transformed our robot into a high-performing machine with innovative features. These advancements were instrumental in achieving our historic success during the competition.

Cloud Surfers

Educational
Skills used: SolidWorksMATLAB
Scientific data can be massive—often spanning multiple petabytes. For perspective, 1PB equals 1,000,000 gigabytes. Projects like the first image of the Milky Way's black hole required over 5PB of data. Transferring such volumes over the internet or even high-speed cables is slow; in the black hole project's case, it took two months. In fact, physically transporting hard drives by air is often faster than digital transfer.Cloud Surfers was my solution to this problem, which our team further developed. The Cloud Surfers drone is designed to carry four trays, each holding up to 40 HDDs (hard disk drives), providing a total storage capacity of approximately 5.2PB—perfect for transporting data-intensive projects like black hole images.The fully autonomous drone features easily manufacturable trays designed for rapid deployment at universities, labs, and research centers. Instead of slotting in each hard drive individually, users can quickly load full trays directly into the fuselage, minimizing downtime.For performance, we selected the Roncz Low Drag airfoil for the main wings, the NACA 0012 airfoil for the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and the Rotax 914 engine for propulsion. This configuration allows the drone to carry 160kg of HDDs and 376kg of fuel, achieving a trans-European flight range of 3,229km, exceeding our 3,000km target. For perspective, this range is nearly equivalent to a flight from Salt Lake City, Utah, to New York.I led the CAD modeling, established design requirements, and ensured compliance with both federal and international regulations, shaping Cloud Surfers into a feasible and impactful solution for high-volume data transport.

Other Projects

BlitzKit

Hobby
Skills used: TypeScriptC++C#WebGL
BlitzKit is a passion project of mine that documents the armor profiles, ammunition, and statistics of around 700 tanks spanning from World War I to the Cold War. Originally a hobby, I never expected it to involve aerospace engineering concepts—let alone reach half a million monthly views.The flagship feature of BlitzKit is its dynamic armor profile, a real-time rendering system that simulates how shells interact with armor from any given angle and position. This GLSL-based OpenGL renderer models shell penetration behavior in real-time, an incredibly complex problem requiring research into fluid dynamics and shell impact heuristics.BlitzKit accounts for two types of armor:
  1. Spaced armor: Layers of armor with air gaps between them, highly effective against explosive shells.
  2. Primary armor: The final, typically thickest layer that protects the crew compartment.
The site also simulates three primary shell types:
  1. Kinetic shells (AP, APCR): Delivers a concentrated energy impact to penetrate armor.
  2. Explosive shells (HE, HESH): Relies on detonation and thin armor to cause internal damage or spalling.
  3. HEAT shells: Uses a shaped charge jet of molten metal to penetrate thick armor but vulnerable to spaced armor and external modules.
With endless combinations of armor types, angles, shell configurations, and impact conditions, BlitzKit provides an engaging and technically rich real-time simulation—bringing tank combat mechanics to life in a way that's both visually and analytically compelling.

Stellar

Hobby
Skills used: TypeScript
My first proper endeavour into cyber-physical systems was the creation of my own CAD software. Though 2-dimensional, I was pushing my middle-school mathematical limits and researching capabilities beyond what I had been formally taught.

Avionics in Rocketry Club

Club
Skills used: Cyber-Physical IntegrationC++Flutter
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F-4 Phantom II Digitalization

Educational
Skills used: SolidWorks
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