Dr. Tejas Puranik is a Senior Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center (through USRA) working with the Aviation Systems Division. His research is at the intersection of AI/Machine Learning and problems in Air Traffic Management, Aviation Safety, and Sustainability. Prior to joining NASA, Tejas worked at Georgia Tech as a Research Engineer for three years at the Aerospace Systems Design Lab working on aviation safety and sustainability, digital engineering, and modeling and simulation. He has authored over 50 conference and journal publications to date and is a senior member of AIAA. He is a member of the Air Transportation Systems and Intelligent Systems technical committees and was also the AIAA Young Professional chair for networking and professional development from 2019-2022.

During his time at Georgia Tech, Tejas was a member of the School of Aerospace Engineering Student Advisory Council (SAESAC). He was also a recipient of the Sam Nunn Security Program (SNSP) fellowship awarded to top Ph.D. candidates for high research caliber and leadership potential to receive training in methods and frameworks of technology and security policy. As a graduate student at Tech, he has interned at Gulfstream Aerospace in the systems validation group. He also worked at the FAA Technical center in Atlantic City as a summer fellow in the System Safety Section.

He received his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering with honors from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai and a master’s and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech.