MEET SOME OF OUR FXB FELLOWS

Devina Sanjaya

Devina Sanjaya (born in Jakarta, Indonesia) is a François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Fellow for the period of 2016 – 2019. Devina joined the aerospace engineering doctoral program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2014 and earned her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and Scientific Computing in 2019. Under supervision of Professor Krzysztof Fidkowski, Devina developed novel mesh adaptation techniques to improve the efficiency and accuracy of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools for aircraft design and performance analysis. In particular, her research aimed to generate higher-quality meshes and to eliminate the need for expert knowledge and human intervention in the mesh generation and adaptation process. Prior to her doctoral study, Devina earned her M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University (2014) and her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2011). Devina is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, continuing FXB’s legacy by advancing the field of aerospace engineering and scientific computing, educating the next-generation aerospace engineers, and actively promoting a welcoming environment for females and underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The FXB Fellowship acted as a testament to her merit as an academic, helping her to establish herself as a young researcher and a faculty member. During her appointment as an FXB Fellow, Devina was not only an active researcher, but also a dedicated mentor. Some of her achievements include getting multiple invitations for summer research collaborations at the NASA Ames Research Center, co-organizing a mini-symposium for the 2018 International Conference on Spectral and High-Order Methods (ICOSAHOM), and being selected for mentor of the year award by the University of Michigan’s Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach (CEDO). Today, Devina remains committed to giving back to the community by sharing her Michigan engineering experiences with prospective students and developing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) action plans for the University of Tennessee’s Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering Department and College of Engineering. In her spare time, Devina continues to pursue her interests in golf, violin, piano, and baking.