8/7/2026 Debra Levey Larson
Written by Debra Levey Larson
Aerospace engineering faculty and researcher Theresa Saxton-Fox has worked with a long list of undergrad students. In fact, she has welcomed them to participate in her research projects every summer since she joined the faculty in 2019.
“I love taking on undergraduate researchers,” she said. “They bring a lot of energy to the team, which improves the overall quality of my research group. I enjoy watching them develop into more mature and independent researchers. My graduate students also enjoy mentoring undergraduates and gain mentorship skills through participating.”
This summer, aerospace engineering senior Benedict Benvito Themas worked with Saxton-Fox through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, which is coordinated by NASA’s Illinois Space Grant Consortium. Themas’ project was part of research focused on a new drag reduction approach for minimizing turbulent boundary layer drag on aircraft and specifically, to build an experimental set up that could oscillate a plate in the wind tunnel.
“Benedict built a test stand to oscillate the plate, identified, purchased, and set up new sensors to track the motion of the plate and carefully measured the motion of the plate,” Saxton-Fox said. “He identified key challenges with the friction of the original design and made good suggestions on next steps. He was very independent and hardworking and resilient when things did not go exactly to plan.”
Themas said the biggest obstacle he encountered was planning the logistics of the test rig, such as figuring out what parts he needed to order, and a couple of delays while waiting for them to arrive.
“Luckily, the lab has tons of spare parts that gave me the flexibility to improvise in these scenarios,” he said.
What surprised Themas most was about the nature of fluid research and how initial long-term goals can change based on what researchers learn in the process.
“My professor explained to me that the goal of research is to document what we learned trying to answer our questions, and figure out what to do or study next, which is why most research papers end with future work,” he said.
Aerospace senior, Aljawan Abdulrahim, worked with Jeff Baur and his grad student, Asim Shahzad in the additive manufacturing lab for her UROP summer research project.
The research poster she presented, along with aerospace engineering junior, Nicholas Western, at a symposium during the final week of the program was titled, “High temperature carbon-carbon via polymer infiltration and pyrolysis of additively manufactured vascular composites.”
Abdulrahim said she and Western hit two major hurdles during the research. The first was, during the pyrolysis, or baking process, their materials cracked. When the resin inside heated, it degraded and released trapped gases too quickly, causing the material to fracture.
“I ran thermal tests to pinpoint the exact temperature where the material was most vulnerable,” she said. “Based on that data, I redesigned the heating cycle, slowing down the temperature rise and letting the material rest at key temperatures. This gave the gases time to escape safely and eliminated the excessive cracking.
“The second obstacle was a physical manufacturing challenge,” she said. “To keep the tiny channels open while 3D printing, we had to insert temporary metal wires to act as molds. However, the sticky resin kept bonding to the metal, making it impossible to pull the wires out later without destroying the sample. I had to find the perfect Goldilocks window in the curing process. Through trial and error, I established a precise protocol to pull the wires out when the resin was just firm enough to hold its shape, but not yet fully cured and stuck to the metal. Both challenges pushed me to balance data analysis with hands-on problem-solving.”
Abdulrahim added encouragement to other undergrads who are considering applying to UROP by saying that research isn’t as intimidating as it may seem.
“You’re not expected to know everything when you begin, and there are mentors who can help you learn along the way,” she said. “This experience has made me more comfortable asking questions, trying new things and learning from mistakes.”
According to Heidi Bjerke, who coordinates NASA’s Illinois Space Grant Consortium, 2026 marks the 23rd year of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.
“UROP is designed to cultivate and support research partnerships between University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduates and faculty members. All projects focus on NASA-related science and/or engineering research,” she said.
UROP is an intensive, 10-week paid summer research program for approximately 20 undergraduate students in STEM fields. For more information, visit the UROP website.