Graduate Students
Zachary Stein
Zac is a graduate student currently pursuing a PhD in Aerospace Engineering with an interest in aerospace materials research. In his spare time, he enjoys designing and building high-power rockets, exploring new topics, and volunteering in STEM-related outreach to students in the Greater Orlando area. In the lab, Zac studies the detrimental degradation effects caused by molten sand deposits (CMAS) on high temperature coatings, such as thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) and environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) in jet engine applications. This research led him to lead in designing and conducting experiments at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) during Summer 2018. He presented those results as part of his Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) at UCF in July 2018. Zac was able to expand upon his research on CMAS and TBC interactions when he participated in a National Science Foundation sponsored International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program where he spent 10 weeks during Summer 2019 conducting research with collaborators at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany. Zac returned to DLR in May 2021 when he was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Fellowship. During his Fulbright, Zac is focused on characterizing the effects of CMAS infiltration into multilayer high temperature environmental barrier coatings (EBCs), which formed the basis of his PhD work. Recently, Zac has also been awarded the prestigious Department of Defense’s 2021 National Defense Science and Engineering (NDSEG) Fellowship to support his PhD work. Zac is focusing on capturing the effects of CMAS infiltration into novel CMAS-resistant coatings and characterize these coatings through both contemporary and innovative measurement techniques. Zac joined the lab as an undergraduate in Spring 2018 and has continued his research in the lab as a graduate student in Fall 2020.
Publications
Journal Papers:
Chance Barrett, Zachary Stein, Johnathan Hernandez, Ravisankar Naraparaju, Uwe Schulz, Laurene Tetard, and Seetha Raghavan, “Detrimental effects of sand ingression in jet engine ceramic coatings captured with Raman-based 3D rendering,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 41(2), 1664-1671, 2021.
Zachary Stein, Peter Kenesei, Jun-Sang Park, Jonathan Almer, Ravisankar Naraparaju, Uwe Schulz, and Seetha Raghavan, “High-energy X-ray phase analysis of CMAS-infiltrated 7YSZ thermal barrier coatings: Effect of time and temperature“, Journal of Materials Research, 35(17), 2300-2310, 2020.
Conference Proceedings:
Hessein Ali, Zachary Stein, Quentin Fouliard, Hossein Ebrahimi, Peter Warren, Seetha Raghavan, Ranajay Ghosh, “Computational Model of Mechano-Electrochemical Effect of Aluminum Alloys Corrosion”, Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2021. (Accepted)
Zachary Stein, Ravisankar Naraparaju, Uwe Schulz, Peter Kenesei, Jun-Sang Park, Jonathan Almer, Seetha Raghavan, “Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction Study of Phase Transformation in CMAS Ingressed EB-PVD Thermal Barrier Coatings,” AIAA Scitech Forum, Orlando, FL, January 6-10, 2020.
Posters/Video Presentations:
D’Esposito V., Stein Z., Raghavan S., “Effects of CMAS Infiltration on Thermal Barrier Coatings Analyzed by Confocal Raman Spectroscopy and Synchrotron High-Energy X-Rays” UCF Student Scholar Symposium, UCF, April, 2021.
Stein Z., Haldar S., Park J., Kenesei P., Almer J., Naraparaju R., Raghavan S., “CMAS Ingression Study on EB-PVD Thermal Barrier Coatings Using Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction” Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, UCF, April, 2019.
Smith M., Stein Z., Northam M., Rossmann L., Sarley B., Park J., Kenesei P., Almer J., Harder B., Viswanathan V., Raghavan S., “Phase Volume Fraction Compared Between PS-PVD & EB-PVD After Thermal Cycling Via X-Ray Diffraction” Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, UCF, April, 2019.
Vo K., Stein Z., Esteves R., Gu S., Gou J., Raghavan S., “3D Printed Stress Sensing Coating on Composite Materials” Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, UCF, April, 2019.
Stein Z., Bohorquez E., Rossmann L., Park J., Kenesei P., Almer J., Naraparaju R., Raghavan S. “Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction Study of CMAS Ingression in Electron-Beam Physical Vapor Deposition Thermal Barrier Coatings” UCF SURF poster presentation, July, 2018.
Stein Z., Bohorquez E., Rossmann L., Naraparaju R., Raghavan S., “X-ray Diffraction Studies of CMAS Infiltrated Thermal Barrier Coating”, Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, UCF, April, 2018.
Thesis: Zachary Stein, “Degradation From CMAS Infiltration in 7YSZ EB-PVD Thermal Barrier Coatings” Undergraduate Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2020 (2020 – 762)
Ashley Tirado
tiradopa@my.erau.edu
Ashley is a recent Embry-Riddle graduate with a B.S in Aerospace Engineering. She has begun her master’s in aerospace engineering, structures and materials. She joined the RRG when she was granted the opportunity to partake in the M-STAR fellowship, in conjunct with UCF. This provided her the wonderful opportunity of intern with NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) summer in 2023. Her primary goals are to investigate the wear resistance of ceramic coating, trying to achieve a ceramic coating with enhanced mechanical properties to protect architecture when exposed to the harsh lunar environments. Awarded the NSTGRO24 fellowship, she is grateful to have been given the opportunity to continue with this investigation as her thesis. Because of these opportunities, she has been awarded the Women in Aerospace award, as well as the prestigious USRA Distinguished Undergraduate Award.
Publications
Conference Proceedings:
Ashley Tirado Pujols, Zachary Stein, Seetha Raghavan, Christopher Wohl, Valerie Wiesner, Investigating the Resilience of 8 mol% Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Coatings for Lunar Environments, AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, January 6-10, 2025
Zachary Stein, Christopher Wohl, Valerie Wiesner, Seetha Raghavan, Ashley Tirado-Pujols, Abrasive Effects of Lunar Regolith on Material Wear for Long-Term Lunar Applications, 14th Global Young Investigator Forum on Sustainability: Sustainable Materials Development, January 26-30, 2025
Posters/Video Presentations:
Ashley Tirado Pujols, Zachary Stein, Christopher Wohl, Valerie Wiesner, Seetha Raghavan, Investigating Durability of 8YSZ via Wear and Erosion Testing for Lunar Applications, 49th International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC2025)
Punyada Jantananont
jantanap@my.erau.edu
Punyada Jantananont is a Graduate Research Assistant in the RRG group at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace engineering with a focus on Structures and Materials. Her research explores the curing behavior of resin-based materials under simulated microgravity conditions using advanced optical sensing methods. She is passionate about container-less processing, in-space manufacturing, and the structural design of aerospace systems. Punyada holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and is dedicated to advancing materials and structural technologies for space applications.