Luca Massa

Luca Massa is an Associate Professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he has served since 2016. His research centers on chemically reactive flows and the multi-scale coupling between fluid dynamics and thermochemistry in high-speed flight.

Education

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering – Mississippi State University
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Politecnico di Bari, Italy

Research Interests

Massa’s work seeks innovative ways to couple fluid and chemical scales to improve aerospace-vehicle performance. In hypersonic transition he studies how acoustic modes interacting with fluid thermochemistry can delay turbulence onset, enabling lighter thermal-protection systems and larger payloads. In plasma-coupled combustion he develops computational models to exploit weakly-ionized plasma for radical generation and controlled ignition in high-speed combustors.

Publication Trends

His 2023-2025 publications reveal an intense focus on solid-fuel scramjets, plasma-assisted ignition, and hypersonic heat-flux reconstruction. The body of work integrates large-eddy simulation, reduced-order modeling, and experimental validation to advance understanding of combustion instability, detonation dynamics, and thermal management in extreme environments.

Contact & Resources

Office: Virginia Tech Swing Space, Room 232, 1600 Innovation Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Email: lmassa@vt.edu
Phone: (540) 231-6940
Google Scholar: Profile