Biography:
Dr. Chloe Dedic is an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Before starting at UVA in 2018, Dr. Dedic was a visiting researcher with the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) at NASA Langley Research Center and obtained her PhD in mechanical engineering at Iowa State University in 2017. She was recently awarded a DARPA Young Faculty Award (2020), a NASA Early Career Faculty Award (2020), and an AFOSR Young Investigator Program award (2021). Dr. Dedic’s research interests are centered around the development and application of advanced laser-based diagnostics and nonlinear spectroscopy techniques to study reacting and nonequilibrium flows with the goal of furthering technologies related to clean and efficient energy utilization and the propulsion and aerodynamics of hypersonic vehicles.
Vision Statement:
As a member of the Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute Executive Committee, I would be eager to continue existing and lead new efforts aimed at supporting the diversity and inclusion of all ESSCI members—targeting young researchers in particular. For example, including both targeted group networking and one-on-one or small-group mentoring events for students and early career members at the ESSCI Technical Meeting (or as virtual activities) are excellent ways to reach out to junior members and support diversity in our scientific community. I have experience planning a student networking event with fun, technical presentations for another scientific organization, and I would be interested in organizing a similar event at the ESSCI Technical Meeting. Additionally, I envision growing undergraduate student participation in the ESSCI Technical Meeting with the goal of recruiting and retaining top graduate students within the ESSCI community and encouraging their future involvement at national and international Combustion Institute meetings. One way to increase undergraduate student involvement is the addition of an undergraduate research poster session at the section meeting to provide a presentation platform for undergraduate researchers that may not have sufficient experience or work for a paper and oral presentation. Finally, I would be interested in proposing a scientific art competition—similar to the competition hosted by CSSCI—either at the spring technical meeting or as an asynchronous event to keep early career members engaged in the community. Entries could additionally be used for the ESSCI website and as advertising for future meetings and events.