Rate My Professor Rajan Kumar

Rajan Kumar serves as Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, part of Florida State University. He is also the Director of the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP), a multi-university, statewide research, technology, and education center founded in 2008. Dr. Kumar holds a B.Tech. in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, India (1992), an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (2000), and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the same institution (2005). With more than 25 years of experience in experimental aerodynamics spanning academia and government research laboratories, he was appointed department chair effective December 20, 2024, succeeding Professor William Oates.

His research focuses on experimental aerodynamics, supersonic and hypersonic flows, advanced flow diagnostics, active flow and noise control, and the development of high-speed test facilities. As principal investigator and co-principal investigator, Kumar has obtained over $30 million in funding from the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and leading aerospace industries. Recent awards include a $3.9 million U.S. Air Force grant for advancing hypersonic technology research and participation in a $5 million Air Force-funded center of excellence. He has published more than 150 papers in prestigious aerospace journals and conferences. Among his most influential publications are "Experiments on free and impinging supersonic microjets" (Experiments in Fluids, 2008), "Experimental study of physical mechanisms in the control of supersonic impinging jets using microjets" (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2008), "Control of high-temperature supersonic impinging jets using microjets" (AIAA Journal, 2009), "Drag reduction on a flat-back ground vehicle with active flow control" (Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 2015), and "Studies on the influence of steady microactuators on shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction" (AIAA Journal, 2013). Through his leadership at FCAAP and extensive contributions, Dr. Kumar significantly impacts advancements in aero-propulsion and high-speed flow technologies.