Victor Maldonado, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Victor Maldonado is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University, where he directs the Flow Control and Aerodynamics Lab. He received his Ph.D. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2012, in the field of applied fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. Dr. Maldonado was a postdoctoral scholar at Texas Tech University in 2012 before joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 2013 to 2018. His research interests encompass applications in the area of Aerospace and Energy. In 2018 he was awarded the NSF CAREER Award for his work on blade tip vortex breakdown and flow control to improve power efficiency mitigate structural vibration. He was a faculty Summer Research Fellow at the NASA Glenn Research Center (2016) and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (2022). Currently his is pursuing research on aerodynamics and structural mechanics of reconfigurable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and improving the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft using a novel distributed ducted fan-wing ‘FanFoil' concept.  

Research Interests

• High Energy Fluid Mechanics  
• Breakdown and Control of Vortex Structures
• Fixed-Wing and Rotating Blade Aerodynamics 
• Fluid Mixing and Combustion Control
• Hybrid and Reconfigurable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design 

Personal Information

Curriculum Vitae

Education

• Ph.D., Aeronautical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (2012)
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (2006)
• B.S., Aeronautical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (2004)