UMN Alumna, Kelly Stephani, Awarded PECASE

The President announced the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) on July 2, 2019.

UMN alumna, Kelly Stephani, who is now at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was among the scientists and engineers chosen for this honor. 

Kelly Stephani is currently an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC primarily researching fluid mechanics and also a Faculty Affiliate for the department of Aerospace Engineering at UIUC. She earned her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota in 2005, and she received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Professor Stephani’s research interests are in hypersonics and high-temperature aerothermodynamics, surface chemistry and plasma-surface interactions, kinetic methods for non-equilibrium reacting flows, kinetic theory and transport processes, and fluid mechanics and thermal sciences. She is a member of the American Physical Society, an Associate Fellow of the AIAA, and was awarded the AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program Award in 2017.

“The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.”

The PECASE was established in 1996 and is awarded to scientists and engineers who do outstanding research in the STEM field.