Kristi Morgansen

Professor and Chair
Faculty website

Kristi is the Captain of this Spaceship, aligning our efforts to a more excellent department as she also teaches and leads the Nonlinear Dynamics & Control Lab. We're not sure how she does it, but she must get excellent sleep.

 

Rachel Reichert

Administrator

Rachel elevates the management of a rocket scientist department to an art. She is the gateway to our budgets as the head of fiscal and facilities. And she is streamlining all of processes to make us all work more efficiently.

 

Kim Maczko

Assistant to the Chair

Kim holds faculty destinies in her hands as she manages faculty HR and coordinates hiring for faculty, post docs and all academic visiting positions. She is also the portal onto Kristi's calendar.

Stanley Choi

Academic Adviser, Undergraduate Programs
Undergraduate programs

Stanley cares deeply about the undergraduate experience and gives out sage advice to prospective and current students regarding admissions, academic planning, scholarships, and co-curricular activities.  He also manages the A&A department's course listings on the time schedule.

Paul Neubert

Graduate Programs Manager
Graduate programs

Paul manages our masters and doctoral programs including recruitment and admissions, student services, and frontline logistics. He is the perfect blend of competence, comfort and taskmaster to guide our grad students from fact-finding about the department through graduation. Grad students, talk through your plans and quandaries with Paul!

Derrick Van Kirk

Facilities Manager

Derrick comes to A&A from Academic Affairs and HFS. He manages the facilities, space and safety of Guggenheim Hall, Aerospace Engineering and Research Building, and the 3x3 Aerodynamics lab. If you’re looking for a creative solution to your problem, Derrick is the person to contact. If he can’t help you, he certainly knows someone who can.

Carter Beamish

Instructional Lab Manager

Carter manages instructional lab spaces for A&A to ensure they run smoothly. He also helps manage departmental equipment so come to him with any equipment or design questions and he'll do his best to help out without bugging Eliot. 

 

Eliot George

Lead Development Engineer and 3X3 Manager

Sometimes Eliot has to go through the excruciating process of detailing lab and workshop procedures and requirements to non-technical staff. He's "ok" with that. But he'd prefer to get our students and research groups all set up with their tech equipment and supplies and consult with them when needed.

David Wilson

Sr. Computing Specialist

David makes sure our Zoom is working like we expect and we're streaming to all of the right places. He also manages our department hardware and software and supports the technology for our research projects. 

 

Sonia Bill

Grant Manager

Sonia is an expert grant manager, making sure our faculty are on top of all grant requirements. Let her know when you want to apply for funding to launch research projects, so she can assist you through the process. Once your projects have lifted off, she will help with keeping them powered at high altitudes.

Elizabeth Lee

Grant Manager

Liz is our friendly neighborhood Grant Manager unless you forget your deadlines. She will search for you high and low as she is that passionate about keeping the gears of fiscal administration running smoothly. Don't forget your deadlines.

Bryan Elion

Budget Fiscal Analyst

Bryan is our lead in purchasing, A&A budget reconciliation and Procard transactions. He is pretty well-versed in many of the obscure purchasing requests in the department at this point!

Khalid Mohamed

Program Assistant

Sometimes our faculty need extra fiscal support for budgets. Khalid is here for them and also handles department and research purchasing. Need to purchase a rocket booster or an aircraft widget? Khalid will help you with that.

Amy Sprague

Project Manager and 
Communications Specialist

Amy is our resident crusty Philadelphian, but she does get enthusiastic about our research. She writes our department news and features. Go ahead and tell her what you're up to. Beware though: She might give unsolicited advice on using UW colors and fonts.

Wanda Frederick

Community Relations and Communications Specialist

You know all of the faculty awards we've been racking up? Those nominations start with Wanda. And she knows how to communicate our department strengths to deepen our connections to alumni and the community. 

Beth Hacker

JCATI Program Manager
JCATI Website

Beth has been extremely successful at running the JCATI program and making sure our legislators understand the benefits to students, faculty, and the aerospace industry in Washington state. Check when the next annual JCATI symposium is - she runs that too.

Mary Denmon

Deputy Director of Program Operations of WA Space Grant and Interim Director of Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline
WA Space Grant website

Mary manages all of the WA Space Grant educational programs and plans STEM outreach activities. Interested in Lunar Lava Tubes, High Altitude Balloons, or CubeSats? She runs it all.

 

Chris Wallish

Communications Manager

Chris is the voice of WA Space Grant, working on all of the announcements, registrations, events, and promotions covering all of the program's outreach.

Daniel Colvin

Program Coordinator

Daniel manages the fiscal "orbit" of WA Space Grant,  coordinating purchasing, reimbursement, and fiscal reporting for sub awards and direct activities for the WA Space Grant Office.

 

Christopher Hansen

Research Scientist/Engineer - Senior

Chris leads the HIT-SI Lab and the development of 3D numerical tools for studying fusion plasmas. He also collaborates with our national partners (CTFusion, PPPL, Columbia) to make fusion energy a reality.

Aaron Hossack

Research Scientist/Engineer

Aaron operates the HIT-SI3/ HIT-SIU experiment to study sustained spheromak plasmas. He is mastering the use of diagnostic techniques including laser interferometry, spectroscopy, tomography, high-speed imaging, and magnetic sensing.

Kyle Morgan

Research Scientist/Engineer

Kyle uses high-performance computing resources to develop and validate physical models to describe highly non-linear plasmas in the HIT-SI Lab. Studies the formation and sustainment of magnetized plasmas towards the eventual goal of fusion power generation.

Roger Raman

Research Scientist/Engineer Principal

As if it weren't hard enough to produce fusion reactions, the process can get interrupted and damage equipment. Roger is working on strategies to avoid these disruptions.

John Rogers

Engineering Technician Lead

John once remarked how slow lightning is in comparison to the plasmas in his lab. As he's the person who designs, builds, troubleshoots and repairs mechanical and electronic hardware for plasma research, that really says something about his superpowers.

Riley Harris

Test Engineer

Riley ensures that the wind keeps blowing in the KWT and manages day-to-day testing operations, data quality and tunnel maintenance.

 

Cara Winter

Interim Business Manager

Cara keeps the KWT functioning like the aeronautical paradise that it is and supervises the intrepid Wind Tunnel Student Crew. She makes sure the data is always streaming, the wind is always blowing, and the aeronautical models are flying high.

Mckayla Buckley

Student Worker - Admin

With Taylor, Mckayla handles administration tasks including front desk emails, phone calls, packages, and key distribution. As our most senior student worker with an amazing graphic and media skillset, we may try to block her graduation, so she'll stay with us longer.

Drew Deguchi

Student Worker - Comms

Drew is a master of graphics, social media and web content. If you have a new idea for communications, you can ask Amy, but she'll just turn around and ask Drew. 

 

Taylor Odom

Student Worker - Admin

With Mckayla, Taylor handles administration tasks including front desk emails, phone calls, packages, and key distribution. You can ask her about her a capella group, but don't ask her to sing for you - that would be weird.