Dr. Durgesh Chandel is a Senior Data Scientist at Magnite Inc., and a former Postdoctoral Associate in the Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL) at MIT where she attended LEAPS workshops.  Her postdoctoral research focused on the integrated aero-propulsive system design for NASA’s sustainable civil aircraft concept under the CHEETA (Center for Highly-Efficient Electrical Technologies for Aircraft) program.  Durgesh obtained her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral research focused on hypersonic nonequilibrium flows with application to NASA's spacecraft atmospheric entry missions. Durgesh is passionate about empowering women and minorities in STEM globally and also co-faciliated LEAPS course with Dr. Rigos. Durgesh also conducts workshops to promote Aerospace higher education along with her team of 25 volunteers and is a right candidate as an instructor to grow Epistimi further. Durgesh brings plethora of exposure and expertise from a range of technical and cultural environments she has grown in starting from India to Germany to USA.

She was also a summer intern at NASA Ames Research Center,  where she supported simulations and characterization of NASA’s Electric-Arc Shock tube (EAST) facility. She had interned at Max Planck Institute in Goettingen, Germany working on Granular flows. Durgesh holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s dual degree in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, and is a graduate from the MIT LEAPS (LEAdership and Professional Strategies & Skills Training) program and Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program.  Durgesh is passionate about teaching, mentoring, and technical service. She is a member of the AIAA Thermophysics Technical Committee and AIAA Diversity working group, and the founder of  WeLEAP Aerospace -Global, an online STEM mentorship platform.