Graduate student aims to advance hypersonic turbulence knowledge
Carter standing in front of a white board with calculations written on it.
Carter Vu, a Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering and mechanics, studies that split-second transition when extreme heat, drag and vibrations can impact an aircraft. Photo by Martin Santiago Ojeda.

Research ecosystem at University of Minnesota a winner for Carter Vu

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/03/2026) — Mach 5 is fast. How fast? Just ask Carter Vu, a Ph.D. student studying computational hypersonics at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering (CSE). His research on turbulence that results at speeds of nearly 4,000 mph holds promise for flight vehicles and spacecraft of the future.

“Hypersonics is an incredibly complicated and challenging program, and you really need to get it right at every single scale, at every single level,” said Vu, a member of Professor Graham Candler’s research group in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) on the Twin Cities campus. 

“We are collaborating with people in mathematics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering to improve our numerical methods, to accurately solve this problem down to the molecular scale,” Vu noted. 

Vu, who received the CSE Ronald L. and Janet A. Christenson Fellowship, is using the latest high-fidelity methods in computational fluid dynamics to simulate all the scenarios at play when speed meets fluid — and chaos, specifically extreme heat and massive drag, quickly ensues. 

Vu has been invited to lecture at ONERA, the French national aerospace research center in Meudon, France, and to speak in Florida at Kennedy Space Center’s National Aviation Day. 

Hear about his work in the video below — or read more on the AEM website.

Support University of Minnesota grad students advance research and community impact by giving to the CSE Endowed Fellowship Fund.

Interview by Pauline Oo.

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