Adhiraj Bhagat will use the award to further supersonic carbon-free fuels research
Adhiraj Bhagat, a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech’s Ben T. Zinn Combustion Laboratory (Combustion Lab), has been awarded the prestigious Quad Fellowship. Administered by the Institute of International Education, the Quad Fellowship is an international initiative developed to award $40,000 to exceptional master’s and doctoral students in STEM fields from United States, Australia, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Now, in its second year, the program builds foundational understanding among Quad Fellows of one another's societies and cultures through programming and networking opportunities with each country's top scientists, technologists, and politicians.
Bhagat’s research focuses on supersonic and pressure gain combustion, emphasizing carbon-free fuels for the aerospace industry. Through his research, he hopes to make high-speed air-breathing propulsion cleaner, more efficient, and commercially available, bringing the world a little closer. He’ll present his research at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Sci-Tech Forum in January 2025.
Adhiraj Bhagat
His affinity for aerospace began as a result of him being a picky eater as a kid, his uncle would visit and pretend the spoon, or fork was an airplane to encourage him to eat. It worked and led Bhagat to pursue aerospace. At 16 he signed up for flight school and ended up learning how to fly before he could drive a car due to India’s driving age of 18.
“After flight school, I realized that this is not just a childhood obsession, but something I was passionate about and eager to learn,” said Bhagat.
He was attracted to the Daniel Guggenheim School’s focus on research and the variety of research areas to choose from. Bhagat left his hometown of Hyderabad, India in 2018 to move to Atlanta to attend Georgia Tech as an undergraduate.
During his first year at Tech, he was able to conduct undergraduate research and during his second year he joined Professor Adam Steinberg’s group at the Combustion Lab.
“The group was small, but it allowed me to work closely with Dr. Steinberg,” he said. “He gave me an opportunity to work on one of his new projects with a graduate student and it was a great experience because he entrusted me with the data acquisition and control of a turbulent combustion project from the get-go.”
It forced Bhagat to learn something he didn’t know before and made him realize which area of aerospace he wanted to ultimately pursue as an international student.
A rig Bhagat uses while working on laser diagnostics for his research in the Combustion Lab.
“As an international student in aerospace, there are always challenges. I was set on finding an internship, but was limited on what I could do. I knew there were going to be obstacles and had to get past them. I ultimately found that research was such a great experience to compensate for some of that industry experience that I was missing because it was so hands on.”
With Steinberg’s help, the undergrad was able to select graduate-level options courses that aligned with his research and gave him a good knowledge base going into graduate school.
He graduated with his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in aerospace engineering in 2022 and 2023 respectively and is on his way to becoming a Triple Yellow Jacket.