Rate My Professor Seetha Raghavan

Seetha Raghavan is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach campus. She holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University (2008), a Master's in Aeronautics and Space Technologies from SUPAERO, France, and a Bachelor's in Mechanical and Production Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her career encompasses 14 years as faculty in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida, most recently as Director of the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Program, where she led the launch of the Ph.D. program in 2019, growing enrollment and awarding degrees. Prior to academia, she accumulated seven years in the aerospace industry as a senior engineer at Singapore Technologies Aerospace, performing aircraft structural analysis, maintenance, repair, and modifications for F-5 upgrades, and R&D in automated non-destructive inspection, and at Messier Bugatti in France designing static and fatigue tests for S-92 wheels and brakes, holding a joint patent.

Dr. Raghavan's research specializations include mechanics of high-temperature coatings for propulsion, hypersonic flight, space exploration, and energy applications, along with multifunctional sensing materials for wear, impact resistance, structural integrity, and damage detection using in-situ synchrotron and neutron diffraction, optical sensors, structural materials, and nanocomposites. Funded by NSF, NASA, DOE's NETL, DARPA, and industry, her advancements feature publications in Nature Communications, Acta Materialia, and the Journal of the European Ceramic Society, innovative functional high-temperature coatings adopted by major aerospace engine partners, and awarded patents. Key publications are 'Residual stress effects of CMAS infiltration in high temperature jet engine ceramic coatings captured non-destructively with confocal Raman-based 3D rendering' (2023, Journal of European Ceramic Society) and 'Thermally grown oxide stress in PS-PVD and EB-PVD thermal barrier coatings observed at various lifetimes via synchrotron X-ray diffraction' (2023, ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology). Awards include the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence Distinguished Purdue Alumni Scholar Award (2023), Women in Aerospace Educator Award (2019), AIAA Associate Fellow election (2013), UCF College of Engineering Teaching Incentive Program awards (2013, 2019), and International Research and Collaboration Award from University of Sydney (2015). She has taught six courses, developed three new graduate courses, mentored students to over 20 fellowships including NSF and NDSEG, and initiated international collaborations for over 30 U.S. students.