Ivett A. Leyva became the head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University in September 2021. Previously, she was at the Air Force for 15 years. She was the program officer for Hypersonic Aerodynamics at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, AFRL and prior to that she was a researcher at the AFRL Rocket Lab working on liquid rocket instabilities. Her technical expertise is in hypersonic aerodynamics and liquid rocket engines. While at the Air Force Ivett also worked on the protection of basic and applied research. Ivett holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from Caltech. Her Ph.D. was in Aeronautics. Ivett has six patents and has authored numerous papers and two book chapters. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Air Force Research Laboratory, a National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, and a recipient of a Civilian Achievement Medal and two meritorious Civilian Service Awards and Medals from the Air Force. Ivett has participated in six NRC reports and was a member of the ASEB for 6 years.
AEGSA: How do you briefly pitch your professional background?
Dr. Levya: I am an aerospace engineer with technical expertise in hypersonic aerodynamics and combustion instabilities for liquid rockets.
AEGSA: What was your most memorable grad school experience?
Dr. Levya: The people I got to hang out with. They were truly exceptional.
AEGSA: How does your grad school experience compare to the grad students you observe in 2023?
Dr. Levya: Not sure, I was a very happy student. I sure hope students here and everywhere are still having a lot of fun doing their M.S. and Ph.D.
AEGSA: In your professional experience at A&M so far, what are few things that you are most proud of?
Dr. Levya: In terms of students, teaching both UG and Graduate students continues to be a great experience, and all the times I have been able to help students one on one with all sorts of challenges. In terms of faculty, I am very proud of all the successful award packages that our department has put forward. I am also so grateful to all the professors who see AERO as their family and sacrifice so much so that the student experience continues to be as good as we can make it. In terms of staff, I can’t thank them enough for their selfless service to AERO. In terms of the department, I am proud of all the changes we have made, with the help of the leadership team, to streamline some of our processes and give a more accurate reflection of our strengths. In terms of the college, I am very grateful for the strong support I have found on my fellow department heads and the College of Engineering Staff. In terms of philanthropy, I am very proud of the progress we have made working as a team with the Foundation and the Association of Former Students.
AEGSA: What is something you wish you did differently in your career?
Dr. Levya: No, I have had the privilege to always be in a position to choose what I want to do and yes, some choices have been better than others but so far I have always been able to tilt the balance to having many more positive than negative outcomes in all my career steps.
AEGSA: What does a typical day in the life of a department head look like? How do you spend your free time?
Dr. Levya: No two days are the same. The best attitude I can have is that every day I will face a challenge I was not expecting and I will rely on myself and different people to come up with a solution. Of course, there are deadlines and projects that I work on for days, weeks, or months, like teaching quality, awards, reviews, visits to other departments, philanthropy, etc.
AEGSA: For incoming students’ benefit, how does our program compare to other leading institutions in the field?
Dr. Levya: We officially are number 10 in Grad rankings for AERO but if you come and spend time with our faculty, students, staff and see the caliber of our facilities and the research we do leveraging them, and the content of our courses, you will soon realize that unofficially we are already performing much higher than number 10.
AEGSA: From your point of view, what are some differences between careers in industry or academia?
Dr. Levya: They are very different. Most industries need to make a profit so you are always tracking customer needs and feedback. Industry rarely is involved in basic research which is the cornerstone of academia. I think deeper collaborations between academia and industry would be great for the US.
AEGSA: Is there any advice you would give the current graduate students?
Dr. Levya: Work as hard as you possibly can because an outstanding dissertation can be the beginning of a distinguished career. Learn as much as you can in a broad set of topics. Your future self will thank you. Have fun with the same passion that you do the other two.
In conversation with AEGSA
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