• Department Head, Aerospace Engineering
  • Arthur McFarland Professor, Aerospace Engineering
  • College of Engineering Excellence Professor
Ivett A. Leyva

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Aeronautics, California Institute of Technology - 1999
  • M.S., Aeronautics, California Institute of Technology - 1995
  • B.S., Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology - 1994

Research Interests

    • Hypersonic aerodynamics

Certifications & Memberships

  • Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – 2021
  • Fellow, Air Force Research Laboratory – 2019
  • Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – 2012
  • National Associate, National Research Council of the National Academies – 2011

Awards & Honors

  • Meritorious Civilian Service Award and Medal, Air Force – 2020, 2019
  • Commander Coin, Air Force Research Laboratory – 2019
  • Technology Rising Star Award, Women of Color STEM Conference – 2015
  • STEM Military and Civilian Hero Award, Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Corporation – 2015
  • W.R. Marshall Award, Institute for Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems - Americas - 2014

Selected Publications

  • Leyva, I. A, "The relentless pursuit of hypersonic flight," Physics Today, Volume 70, Issue 11, Pages 30-36, November 2017
  • Forliti, D.J., Wegener, J., Min, C., and Leyva, I.A., “Quantitative analysis of forced and unforced turbulent multiphase coaxial jets,” Journal of Fluids Engineering, V. 143, n. 1, 2021, 011406.
  • Leyva, I. A, and Cummings R.M, "Introduction to the Special Section on the Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) Flight Experiment, " Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 58, No. 1 (2021), pp. 4-5 doi: doi/abs/10.2514/1.A34872.
  • Jewell, J., Leyva, I.A., Shepherd, J.E., “Turbulent spots in hypervelocity flow,” Experiments in Fluids, 58, 32 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-017-2317-y.
  • Jewell, J., Parziale, N., Leyva, I, Shepherd, J., “Effects of Shock-Tube Cleanliness on Slender-Body Hypersonic Instability and Transition Studies at High-Enthalpy,” AIAA Journal, Volume 55, Issue 1, 2016.
  • Badakhshan, A., Danczyk, S., Forliti, D., Leyva, I.A., Talley, D., “Nano-ignition Torch Applied to Cryogenic H2/O2 Coaxial Jet,”, AIAA 2016-0184.
  • Forliti, D., Badakhshan, A., Wegener, J., Leyva, I.A., Talley, D., “The Response of Cryogenic H2/O2 Coaxial Jet Flames to Acoustic Disturbances,” AIAA 2015-1607.
  • Parziale, N., Jewell, J., Leyva, I, Shepherd, J., Hornung, H., “Effects of Shock-Tube Cleanliness on Slender-Body Hypersonic Instability and Transition Studies at High- Enthalpy,” AIAA 2015-1786.
  • Fedorov, A., Soudakov, V., Leyva, I. A., “Stability analysis of high-speed boundary-layer flow with gas injection,” AIAA 2014-2498.
  • Wegener, J., Forliti, D., Leyva, I.A., Talley, D., “Receptivity of a Cryogenic Coaxial Gas-Liquid Jet to Acoustic Disturbances,” AIAA 2014, 3487.
  • Wegener, J.,Leyva, I.A., Forliti, D., Talley, D., “Development of a Facility for Combustion Stability Experiments at Supercritical Pressure,” AIAA 2014-137.