Thomas DeFoor

Biography

Thomas joined the Aero-Optics group as a  Ph.D student in the fall of 2024 after earning his Bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics (Aerospace Engineering specialization) at The Ohio State University. Here he studied and optimized active flow control methods for V/STOL aircraft, specifically trailing-edge Coanda actuators for local lift augmentation, under Dr. Jeffrey Bons and Dr. Matthew McCrink. Thomas was also a directed energy scholar in the Air Force Research Laboratory Scholars Program where he aided in a study on shockwave effects on the Shack--Hartmann wavefront sensor. His research interests are the fluid mechanics and dynamics of high-speed flows and their implications on propagating light.