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WE ARE HIRING MULTIPLE PH.D. STUDENTS (U.S. CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED)

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The Combs research group at UTSA explores high-speed aerodynamic and compressible flow phenomena using cutting-edge optical diagnostic experimental techniques, image processing, and data analysis. We make measurements in supersonic, hypersonic, and reacting flows with broad applications in aerospace and energy, with specific relevance to jet aircraft, air-breathing propulsion, and space access. Our primary research facility is the recently completed UTSA Mach 7 Ludwieg Tube. With experience partnering with NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and DARPA, we are working to push the state-of-the-art in aerothermodynamics and make the next generation of high-speed systems a reality. Please contact Dr. Combs for additional information if you are interested in wind tunnel facility use.

Check out the video overviews of our research below:

In The News

A big week in space: Russian weapons, uncontrolled reentry, and the SLIM moon lander

Figuring out GE Aerospace’s hypersonic aircraft engine breakthrough

NASA Unveils Mind-Blowing Video of Orion Spacecraft Blazing As It Returns to Earth

Starship’s 33 Engines Created The Mother Of All ‘Shock Diamonds’

SpaceX continues preparing for potential Friday launch

India wins and Russia loses in the new race to the moon

UTSA faculty earn tenure, promotion, emeritus recognition

Three faculty members earn NSF Early CAREER Awards to accelerate research

Hypersonic Fever! With Chris Combs and Alex Hollings – The Hermeus Podcast 18

Combs and Restrepo Receive NSF CAREER Project Awards

Why Starship’s Explosion Spells Much Bigger Troubles for SpaceX

Mysterious spiral over Alaska probably a result of SpaceX launch

How X-planes may solve the sonic boom problem

UTSA researcher Chris Combs explores new frontiers in state-of-the-art hypersonics lab

This selfie above China’s balloon was taken over Missouri. Here’s how we know that

George Jetson was born in 2022, so where are our flying cars?

Clip shows rocket in Kazakhstan, not ‘strange light’ before Turkey quake

San Antonio profs are grappling with that AI thing that helps students write — and maybe cheat

Supersonic twist

The race to field America’s first hypersonic aircraft

Video: Shock Waves, Expansion Fans & Supersonic Flow – Dr. Chris Combs | Podcast #88

American technology boosts China’s hypersonic missile program

NASA’s Artemis program has San Antonio, South Texas connections

Flying Commercially at Supersonic Speed Could be in Our Future

UTSA unveils new master’s program that prepares students for careers in aerospace engineering

Graduate degree will prepare UTSA students for high-demand careers in aerospace engineering

Everything We Know About the Air Force’s Secret Plan to Develop a Hypersonic Bomber

Russia’s bluster over International Space Station

UFOs, a portal to another dimension? We verify the origin of the spiral of light seen in New Zealand

On video: The truth about a strange figure in the sky that some thought was a portal to another dimension

The University of Texas at San Antonio leads materials separation study

Video: Russia and China are ahead of US in hypersonic missile technology. Here’s why

Thread on Boeing Starliner Design

‘Space Jellyfish’ mystery solved after bizarre glow lights up skies and baffles locals

How Russia Beat America to the Hypersonic Missile

What are hypersonic weapons and is Russia’s use of them in Ukraine the start of a new arms race?

How will the Russian invasion impact U.S.-Russia cooperation in space?

This Week in CFD (Feb. 25, 2022)

10 Biggest Myths in (High-Speed) Aerodynamics

NASA Announces End To ISS, Plans Crash Into Pacific Ocean

China ‘Mocks’ US Hypersonic Tech With New Wind Tunnel ‘Success’; Experts Decode Beijing’s Next-Gen Weapons Program

Check Out This New Rendering Of Boeing’s Hypersonic Aircraft Design

Commentary: Time for Elon to lead as a human, too

A New Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Will Put China ’20 to 30 Years Ahead’ of the West

UT-Austin and UT-San Antonio granted $1.5 million to research hypersonics, the future of high-speed travel

Father of five juggles family and research to earn master’s degree

Commentary: Other close encounters to watch for

Hypersonic ‘arms race risks military misstep’ from China, US and Russia

UTSA’s hypersonics research brings new opportunities for innovation, student growth

Dr. Christopher Combs to lead research into hypersonic separation events

Department of Defense’s Joint Hypersonics Transition Office announces inaugural University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics awardees

Texas University opens hypersonic wind tunnel

New hypersonic facility accelerates UTSA as leader in aerospace projects

‘7 times the speed of sound’: UTSA goes hypersonic to study the next generation of flight

Chances of falling Chinese rocket landing in populated area? Slim … but not none

This Is What It Would Be Like to Ride Starship During Its Epic “Belly Flop” Maneuver

How hypersonics research at UTSA will propel Mars missions and more

United’s emergency landing might not be an isolated incident

Accelerator: NASA’s Perseverance lands, San Antonio hypersonics lab rises

Spaceplanes: The return of the reusable spacecraft?

Hypersonics Project Aims to Transform Sensing for High-Speed Vehicles

Could I Climb Into a SpaceX Cargo Rideshare and Yeet Myself Into Space?

New high-tech video camera creating unique opportunities

Port San Antonio hailed as ideal space to launch Space Command

Graduate School Application Advice from Dr. Chris Combs

Russia, China, the U.S.: Who Will Win the Hypersonic Arms Race?

Raw Speed: The Extreme Conditions of Hypersonic Flight

University leading effort to prep for local aerospace economy

NASA visit to UTSA highlight’s CAMEE’s first anniversary

Airplane Geeks Podcast Ep. 622: Hypersonic Flight w/ Dr. Chris Combs

The sky is the limit for UTSA students selected for NASA competition

UTSA’s NASA advanced measurements center hosts inaugural conference

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Thread on Vapor Cones

USAF Errantly Reveals Research On ICBM-Range Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Thread on Detonation Engines

Extreme environments center hosts virtual teacher workshop

The Need for Speed (and Maneuverability)

Researchers receive funding to study hypersonic flight environments

This Proposed Plasma Jet Technology Could Someday Change Space Travel

This Scientist Says He’s Built a Jet Engine That Turns Electricity Directly Into Thrust

Thread on Turbine-Based Combined Cycle Engines

Chinese Rocket ‘Size of a Large Van’ Falls Uncontrollably Back to Earth

Coast-To-Coast in 30 Minutes: Solving the Physics of Hypersonic Flight

Combs receives USAF grant to study effects of hypersonic shock waves

BBC Newsday: Update on Russian Avangard Hypersonic Weapon (Audio at 18:20)

Russian intercontinental hypersonic weapon has become operational

Air Force awards grants to 40 scientists and engineers through young investigator research program

At the Heart of Aerospace: San Antonio, Texas

CPS Energy supports clean energy and grid cybersecurity research at UTSA

Apprenticeship Programs Are Too Few And Far Between

UTSA wins $3M NASA award to launch extreme environments center

SwRI, UTSA researchers create innovative model for sCO2 power generation

UTSA to receive $3M NASA grant for space research

NASA Awards Universities Funding That May Support Moon to Mars

VPREDKE Seeds Innovation with $430,000 in funding to UTSA Faculty

UTSA launching aerospace engineering certificate

UTSA College of Engineering soars with new aerospace engineering certificate

Boeing, StandardAero adding jobs in San Antonio