Andrew R. Becker

I am a current PhD student studying Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a focus in Aerodynamics and Propulsion, and I expect to graduate in May 2029. I have earned both my BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from the same institution in 2024 and 2025, respectively. I am advised by Dr. Mark Ricklick, with whom I am currently working on an applied hypersonics project. While I cannot go into much detail about this work, I can say I have been the one to man the optics/camera work side of this in a high-temperature environment.

I grew up in Grand Blanc, MI, and spent the first twelve years of my life in The Mitten. During the summer of 2014, my family moved to Ft. Myers, FL, and a year later to Naples, FL, where we experienced the true Floridian summer with Hurricane Irma. In high school, I was a player for the JV and Varsity baseball teams, where we won districts in '19, but the experience was cut short due to COVID-19 in '20. It is because of this experience that I really fell in love with the game and followed my hometown team, the Detroit Tigers, religiously... despite the abysmal '15-'22 seasons. Similarly, I began taking an interest in football  an, somewhat, basketball now that the Lions and Pistons are good (finally). However, I have been following hockey since attending one of the last games played at Joe Louis Arena.

After high school, I began focusing on my health by maintaining a healthy schedule where I would find time to keep my physical health in shape, which I realized had a heavy influence on how I performed in the classroom and other extracurricular activities. It is this balance where I've found the importance in keeping myself as my priority, which has directly translated to my success in academia. Additionally, I find myself listening to a lot of Queen, Ghost, "dad rock," and Eurovision songs while studying or working out.

Since enrolling in ERAU, my interest in rocketry and aerospace has... skyrocketed... through my experience with Project Prometheus, Phantom, and through collaboration with my peers in the Gas Turbine Lab regarding their projects and research in heat transfer, smart materials, and various CFD applications.