News

Jesse Pham, Mechanical Engineering sophomore student at the ASYST lab, presented his research, “Solo Versus Dual: A Comparative Analysis of Instructional General Aviation Accidents,” at the 2025 Honors Research Symposium. His study analyzed NTSB accident data to compare findings between solo and dual instructional flights, highlighting the need for stronger pre-solo training standards. Jesse’s work earned Third Prize in the Undergraduate Research Symposium Poster Competition and was supported by a grant from the University of Arkansas Honors College. Congratulations to Jesse!

Ryker Davis (senior), Kacey Haws (senior), and Jesse Pham (sophomore) presented their research, held as part of Undergraduate Research Week 2025 (https://news.uark.edu/articles/77288/join-the-libraries-and-the-honors-college-for-undergraduate-research-week-2025). Hosted by the Honors College, the symposium provided students an opportunity to showcase their research and creative projects to a broader audience, gaining valuable professional experience and feedback from faculty and peers. Their participation reflects the growing emphasis on undergraduate research at the University of Arkansas, where students have opportunities to engage in hands-on projects across a range of disciplines.

Tolu Olatunji presented her current work at the GradSWE Academic Poster Competition on April 17, 2025. Her poster, “Assessing Pilots’ Proficiency in Aircraft Energy Management,”explored how pilots manage airspeed and energy during simulated flight scenarios. This analysis is based on an experiment designed and conducted by ASYST lab undergraduate researchers, Ryker Davis and Nina Kondur, in 2024. Hosted by the Society of Women Engineers, the event offered graduate students a platform to share research, connect with peers, and receive feedback.

Photo of Dr. Majumdar with Jason Clendenin, who is a Corporate Pilot at University of Arkansas and Air Force Reserve B-52 instructor pilot, assessing the simulator capabilities.

We’re excited to announce the newest addition to the ASYST Lab — a state-of-the-art Frasca flight simulator (advanced aviation training device, AATD). This high-fidelity simulator marks a significant step forward in our lab’s capabilities, enabling cutting-edge research in aviation safety, autonomous systems, and human factors.

The Frasca simulator is equipped with advanced avionics and realistic flight controls, offering a highly immersive environment for both student training and research experiments. It will play a key role in supporting future research projects across multiple domains, including integration with unmanned systems. Dr. Majumdar, with her students, plan to use the simulator for advancing aviation safety and human factors considerations. We look forward to the exciting opportunities this technology will bring to our lab and collaborators in the aerospace research community.

We are excited to welcome Toluwalase (Tolu) Olatunji as the newest Ph.D. student in the ASYST Lab, who joined us in January 2025. Tolu brings an outstanding academic background and has been awarded the prestigious Doctoral Academy Fellowship (DAF) to support her doctoral research. We look forward to the valuable contributions she will make to our research community!

Nina Kondur, an Aerospace Engineering senior from Purdue University, is working as a research assistant at the ASYST lab in Summer ’24. Meanwhile, Ryker Davis, a Mechanical Engineering senior from the University of Arkansas, has joined the research to evaluate pilots’ proficiency in energy management principles. In this photo, the student researchers are setting up the Redbird SD flight simulator at the Fayetteville Public Library for the research experiment with pilots. To learn more about this research and to participate in our study (if you are a student or certified pilot), click here:

https://uark.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_72OwOPW2OPa8rTE.

After Sydney Sommers was awarded the Honors Research Grant in Spring 2024, we have two more undergraduate students, Lauren Westfall and Samson Parker, who have secured the grant. This grant will help them support their honors thesis research starting Fall 2024!

Sydney was the first undergraduate student to join the ASYST Lab in 2023, a month into its inception. In her research, she analyzed General Aviation instructional accidents using the National Transportation Safety Board database.

Please contact Dr. Majumdar through her email (neelm@uark.edu) to follow up on this fantastic opportunity. To learn more, go to Join our team.

Mehedi is a graduate student who completed his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. Upon his arrival in Fayetteville, he found the place reminiscent of Darjeeling, a scenic town in the Himalayan foothills. Welcome Mehedi to this beautiful city and campus!