{"692254":{"#nid":"692254","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ellen Mazumdar Earns NASA Early Career Faculty Award for Spacecraft Heat Shield Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/mazumdar-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEllen Yi Chen Mazumdar,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E assistant professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, has received a NASA Early Career Faculty (ECF) Award to develop new methods for studying the extreme conditions spacecraft experience during atmospheric entry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis award is part of NASA\u2019s Space Technology Research Grants Program, which supports groundbreaking projects with the potential to transform space science and technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough the three-year, $750,000 award, Mazumdar and her research team will develop laser-based methods to simultaneously measure temperature, chemical species, gas velocity, and other properties in the gases surrounding heat shield materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe aim to implement our measurement techniques in arc jet or plasma jet facilities, like the ones at NASA, to assist with the evaluation of thermal protection systems for next-generation spacecraft,\u201d Mazumdar said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project uses ultrafast lasers, which produce extremely short, high-intensity pulses. These pulses allow researchers to study the behavior of molecules on extremely short timescales and measure properties that can improve understanding of the gases surrounding a spacecraft during atmospheric entry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazumdar said she and her students are excited about this project and hope it will help NASA develop new heat shields for spacecraft traveling to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/news\/ellen-mazumdar-earns-nasa-early-career-faculty-award-spacecraft-heat-shield-research\u0022\u003ERead Full Story on the ME Webpage\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/mazumdar-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEllen Yi Chen Mazumdar,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E assistant professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, has received a NASA Early Career Faculty (ECF) Award to develop new methods for studying the extreme conditions spacecraft experience during atmospheric entry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis award is part of NASA\u2019s Space Technology Research Grants Program, which supports groundbreaking projects with the potential to transform space science and technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough the three-year, $750,000 award, Mazumdar and her research team will develop laser-based methods to simultaneously measure temperature, chemical species, gas velocity, and other properties in the gases surrounding heat shield materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe aim to implement our measurement techniques in arc jet or plasma jet facilities, like the ones at NASA, to assist with the evaluation of thermal protection systems for next-generation spacecraft,\u201d Mazumdar said.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ellen Yi Chen Mazumdar, assistant professor in the Woodruff School has received a NASA Early Career Faculty (ECF) Award to develop new methods for studying the extreme conditions spacecraft experience during atmospheric entry."}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2026-09-03 14:18:57","changed_gmt":"2026-09-03 14:21:47","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681060":{"id":"681060","type":"image","title":"Mazumdar_web.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EEllen Yi Chen Mazumdar, assistant professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1788445171","gmt_created":"2026-09-03 14:19:31","changed":"1788445171","gmt_changed":"2026-09-03 14:19:31","alt":"Ellen Yi Chen Mazumdar, assistant professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering","file":{"fid":"265411","name":"Mazumdar_web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/03\/Mazumdar_web.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/03\/Mazumdar_web.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":137639,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/09\/03\/Mazumdar_web.jpg?itok=HbzEsBLK"}}},"media_ids":["681060"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/news\/ellen-mazumdar-earns-nasa-early-career-faculty-award-spacecraft-heat-shield-research","title":"Full Story on the ME Newspage"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETracie Troha, ME Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}