Heran Miao

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Why did you choose Aeronautics and Astronautics?
To contribute to the space exploration that's essential for our civilization

Best event or organization you’ve participated in within AAE?
Purdue Orbital

Best event or organization you’ve participated in outside of AAE?
Purdue Bands and Orchestra

Why did you want to be an AAE Ambassador?
To spread the influence of Purdue AAE program and help students to find the right path for the future

Favorite place on campus?
Armstrong Building

Favorite class you’ve taken thus far and why?
AAE 333, Fluid Mechanics: this course introduced some critical and fundamental concepts for understanding the aerodynamic or aircrafts. These concepts seem complicated to comprehend at the beginning but are interconnected with other fundamental physics and can be applied to real life aerospace scenarios. The lab of this course also allows students to get hands on experiences with facilities such as wind tunnels and flow visualization tanks.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a potential AAE student?
Make sure you take advantage of our AAE student organizations to help you grasp an understanding on which career paths to specialize in.

Who is someone you look up to in the Aero/Astro industry and why?
One person I really look up to in the aerospace industry is Gene Kranz, who was a NASA flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs. He's most famous for leading Mission Control during Apollo 13, where his leadership and calm decision-making helped bring the astronauts home safely after the oxygen tank explosion.

What motivates you to succeed?
Witnessing the accomplishments and discoveries my professors made in their researches made me realize that there are infinite possibilities in the aerospace industry that are still waiting to be developed.

What is your ultimate career goal?
Become a propulsion engineer at leading research facilities and contribute to the development of sustainable supersonic or hypersonic engines.

What do you like to do when you’re not studying/in the lab or classroom?
Play tennis, soccer, basketball, or saxophone

Favorite Fun Fact about Purdue?
As the cradle of astronauts, more than 25 astronauts are Purdue alumni, including Neil Armstrong