People

People in the Computational Gas Dynamics and Plasma Physics Lab at the University of North Dakota.

RESEARCH GROUP

Computational Gas Dynamics and Plasma Physics Lab

Our group develops physics-based computational methods for complex gas-dynamic and plasma phenomena, with an emphasis on kinetic theory, particle simulation, GPU-accelerated high-performance computing.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Chonglin Zhang

Assistant Professor · Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of North Dakota

Kinetic simulation · Plasma physics · Hypersonic flow · GPU-accelerated high-performance computing

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Alseny Diallo

Ph.D. Student

Hypersonic aerothermodynamics · Plasma physics · Scientific AI · Computational methods · High-performance computing

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Brooke Jewett

Hypersonic flow · Direct Simulation Monte Carlo

Spring 2026–Present

Casia Steinhaus

Plasma physics · Particle-in-Cell

Fall 2025–Present
ALUMNI

Laina Behrenbrinker

Hypersonic flow · Direct Simulation Monte Carlo · Spectral analysis

  • Spring 2024–Spring 2026
  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Fall 2024
  • M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2026
  • Now Ph.D. Student at the University of Minnesota

Wei Guo

Plasma physics · Capacitively coupled plasma

  • Spring 2025–Spring 2026
  • M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2026
  • Now Ph.D. Student at the University of Kentucky

Jalen Howard

Hypersonic flow · Nuclear space propulsion

  • Fall 2023–Fall 2024
  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2024
  • Now at Boeing

Fahim Shahriyar

Adaptive mesh refinement · Plume impingement

  • Fall 2024–Spring 2026
  • M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2026
  • Now Ph.D. Student at the University of Arizona