Nick Parziale

Nick Parziale is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he currently holds the George Meade Bond Chair in Mechanical Engineering (2025-). He leads a research group focused on thermal/fluids engineering with applications in defense and energy/sustainability, specializing in high-speed and reacting flows. His laboratory conducts cutting-edge research in hypersonic aerodynamics, boundary-layer instability, and advanced optical diagnostics.

Dr. Parziale earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2013 with a dissertation on 'Slender-Body Hypervelocity Boundary-Layer Instability,' an M.S. from Caltech in 2009, and a B.S.M.E. from SUNY Binghamton with honors in 2008. His academic career at Stevens began as a Visiting Assistant Professor in 2013-2014, progressing through Assistant Professor (2014-2020), Associate Professor (2020-2024), and Full Professor (2024-), culminating in his appointment to the George Meade Bond Chair in 2025.

Parziale's research spans hypersonic flows, boundary-layer transition, turbulence measurement, and multiphase interactions, with particular expertise in advanced optical diagnostics including Krypton Tagging Velocimetry (KTV) and Focused Laser Differential Interferometry (FLDI). His work has significant applications in defense systems, particularly in understanding aerobreakup phenomena and high-speed flow characterization. The research group has secured substantial funding from agencies including the Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and NASA, with recent projects focusing on supersonic and hypersonic inlet flow dynamics, turbulence quantification, and experimental characterization of high-speed flows.

His scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2024, the Stevens Outstanding Teacher Award in 2025, and multiple Young Investigator Awards from both the Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) (2024)
• Outstanding Teacher Award from the Stevens Alumni Association (2025)
• George Meade Bond Chair in Mechanical Engineering (2025)
• Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) (FY 2020)
• Stevens Employee Excellence Award for 'Excellence in All We Do.' (2020)
• Stevens Provost's Early Career Award for Research Excellence (2019)

Dr. Parziale has successfully mentored numerous doctoral and master's students, with recent graduates including Alex Dworzanczyk (Ph.D. 2025), Christopher Houthuysen (Ph.D. 2023), Roshan Adhikari (Ph.D. 2023), Ahsan Hameed (Ph.D. 2023), and David Shekhtman (Ph.D. 2022). His current doctoral students include Timothy Keenoy, Jaden Kokinakos, Jett Langhorn, Anthony Marino, Ben Segall, and Ava Steneck. His research program has secured over $5 million in external funding, including major grants such as the ONR MURI on 'Particulate and Precipitation Effects on High-speed Flight Vehicles' ($1.2M), the ONR YIP on 'Scaling and Structure in Transitional and Turbulent Hypervelocity Flows' ($468K), and the ONR DURIP for 'Time Resolved, Non-Intrusive Measurements in Unsteady Hypersonic Flows' ($755K).

The Parziale Research Group operates advanced experimental facilities including a Mach 6 reflected-shock tunnel and conducts research in collaboration with government laboratories such as AEDC Tunnel-9, Southwest Research Institute, and NASA Langley. The group actively participates in major conferences including AIAA SciTech and Aviation forums, where they regularly present cutting-edge findings in hypersonic flow characterization and optical diagnostic development.