Nicholas Branch, B.S. AE '17, has been named to Aviation Week's 20/Twenties list of outstanding young aerospace researchers and students for 2018.

The December 2017 graduate of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering will be returning to Tech in January to pursue his master's degree under the tutelage of his advisor, Professor Mitchell L.R. Walker, II.

"I'll be looking at plasma material interaction in Dr. Walker's High-powered Electric Propulsion Lab," says Branch, a native of Cornwall, NY.

"When rockets re-enter the atmosphere we have to better understand what happens between materials and the plasma if we want to reduce degradation. I'm excited to dive into this subject as a grad student."

Sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the 20/Twenties list recognizes raw talent and leadership in up-and-coming students across the nation. As one of the 2018 inductees, Branch has been invited to an AIAA-sponsored awards ceremony, to take place on March 1 in Washington, D.C.

Joining him will be his advisor, Dr. Mitchell Walker.

"Offering Nicholas an undergrad research position in my lab was a great decision. He designed and installed an arcjet propellant feed, developed a diagnostic procedure to characterize the arcjet plasma, and installed a beam dump to extract the beam energy of a Hall effect thruster from the vacuum chamber. His analysis was first-rate and his attention to detail was remarkable. He really is someone to watch."