Aerospace engineering professor earns Young Investigator Award

Khare’s research focuses on discovering and enhancing the fundamental understanding of mechanisms and processes underlying multiphase fluid dynamics and combustion applicable to contemporary energy conversion and propulsion devices. Since joining UC in 2017, Khare has received five research awards from various professional organizations and substantial external research funding. 

He has been lauded with teaching awards, including the Neil Wandmacher Teaching Award for Early Career Faculty and the Master Educator Award, both from CEAS; Professor of the Semester by the CEAS student tribunal; and Excellence in Teaching Award from the aerospace engineering department. 

Khare is the principal investigator of a three-year $734,000 grant awarded to UC and one other university by the Office of Naval Research, which concentrates on computational sciences relevant to the Navy and associated student training. As a follow-up to the program, Khare said they plan to add a lab to study unmanned underwater vehicles at UC. 

“We want to find out what technical skills are lacking with new recruits or even existing employees in the Navy. We want to know how we can contribute to providing the Navy well-trained graduates so they can run with these new skills and serve the nation,” Khare said.

Khare also has a collaborative project with the US Army Research Laboratory to develop advanced AI-enabled tools for next-generation vertical lift propulsion systems.

He is the co-founder and chair of the faculty advisory committee of the UC Office of Research’s recently established Advanced Research Computing center, which will accelerate computational and data-enabled research across the university. 

Khare earned his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, followed by two years there as a research fellow, before coming to UC as an assistant professor.  

Featured image at top: UC's Engineering Research Center.