Casey Leigh-Anne Denham

Title: Aerospace Technologist

Projects: ATM-X UAM Subproject, CAS SUSAN

Originally from Western North Carolina, Casey has always had a passion for airplanes. She was first introduced to aerospace engineering at a summer camp in elementary school, solidifying her dream to work at NASA. She attended other aerospace engineering summer camps in high school, including Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics at Appalachian State University and Summer Engineering Camp at North Carolina State University.

She began her first internship at NASA Langley Research Center only two days after graduating from high school in 2011. Interning under Dr. Bruce Owens in the Flight Dynamics Branch for five summers throughout her undergraduate education, she worked on dynamic wind tunnel tests, including forced oscillation and rotary balance testing of the FASER aircraft. After receiving her Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering in 2015 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she began her Doctoral studies at Virginia Tech. Three years into her program, she received a Pathways position in the Aeronautics Systems Analysis Branch at NASA Langley and moved to Hampton, Virginia to work full time while completing her degree. After a successful dissertation defense in 2022, Casey converted to a full time employee in the Aerospace Systems Analysis Branch.

Casey is particularly active in employee resource groups at NASA Langley. After serving as the Center Chair for Promoting Agency Cross-Connections (PAXC) for several semesters, she served as the National Director for the agency-wide student group in Fall 2019. In 2021 she was one of the founding members of Langley’s 11^th employee resource group – North American Indigenous Heritage Community (NAIHC). She is also a member of the Allies and Advocates for Women (A2W), Employees Enabled and Empowered (EEE), and the Langley Emerging and Advancing Professionals (LEAP) employee groups.

Awards

Superior Accomplishment Award (Group) – February 2022
- Group award for significant achievements with NASA Langley’s Employee Resource Groups

Education/Professional Experience

SB in Aeronautical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015
MS in Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2018
PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2022
Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars (LARSS) Intern, 2011-2015
Pathways Internship Experience Program Intern, 2018-2022

Publications

ORCID Profile

Dissertation

Denham, C. L., “Framework for Estimating Performance and Associated Uncertainty of Modified Aircraft Configurations,” Doctoral Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, June 2022.

Journal Papers

Denham, C. L., Patil, M., Roy, C. J., and Alexandrov, N., “Framework for Estimating Performance and Associated Uncertainty for Modified Aircraft Configurations,” Aerospace, Vol. 9, No. 9, Sep 2022, p. 490. doi:10.3390/aerospace9090490.

Conference Papers

Denham, C. L., Patil, M., Roy, C. J., and Alexandrov, N. A., “Application of Framework for Estimating Performance and Associated Uncertainty for Modified Aircraft Configurations Using NASA’s X-57 Maxwell”, AIAA SciTech, January 2023.
Denham, C. L., Chau, T., Ryan, G. W., and Jansen, R., “Mission Profiles for the SUSAN Electrofan Concept”, AIAA SciTech, January 2023.
Denham, C. L., Cummings, W. G., and Smith, J. C., “Theoretical and Simulated Capacity of Urban Air Mobility Airspace Characteristics”, AIAA SciTech, January 2023.
Cummings, W. G., Denham, C. L., and Smith, J. C., “Effect of Airspace Characteristics on Urban Air Mobility Airspace Capacity”, AIAA SciTech, January 2023.
Jansen, R., et. al., “Update on Subsonic Single Aft Engine (SUSAN) Electrofan Trade Space Exploration”, 33^rd Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, September 2022.
Denham, C. L., Jansen, R. H., “Initial Regulatory and Certification Approach for the SUSAN Electrofan Concept”, AIAA-2022-2180, AIAA SciTech, January 2022.
Jansen, R., et al., “Subsonic Single Aft Engine (SUSAN) Transport Aircraft Concept and Trade Space Exploration”, AIAA 2022-2179, AIAA SciTech, January 2022.
Denham, C. L., Patil, M., Roy, C. J., and Alexandrov, N., “Applicability of Framework for Estimating Performance and Associated Uncertainty for Modified Aircraft Configurations”, AIAA-2021-2793, AIAA AVIATION, August 2021.
Schaefer, J. A., Romero, V. J., Schafer, S. R., Leyde, B., and Denham, C. L., “Approaches for Quantifying Uncertainties in Computational Modeling for Aerospace Applications”, AIAA-2020-1520, AIAA SciTech Forum, January 2020.
Denham, C. L., Patil, M., and Roy, C. J., “Estimating Uncertainty Bounds for Modified Configurations from an Aerodynamic Model of a Nominal Configuration”, AIAA-2018-1762, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, January 2018.
Denham, C. L, and Owens, D. B., “Rotary Balance Wind Tunnel Testing for the FASER Flight Research Aircraft”, AIAA-2016-3105, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, June 2016.
Hale, L., Denham, C. L., Luxhøj, J. T. Mancini, C., Woolsey, C., and Mooney, R., “Assessing System Safety for an Urban, Tethered UAS”, AIAA-2016-3595, 16th AIAA ATIO Conference, June 2016.
Hoe, G., Owens, D. B., and Denham, C. L., “Forced Oscillation Wind Tunnel Testing for FASER Flight Research Aircraft”, AIAA-2012-4645, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, June 2012.

Contributions to Larger Works

Levitt, I. Phojanamongkolkij, N., Horn, A., and Witzberger, K., “UAM Airspace Research Roadmap Rev 1.2,” NASA/TM-20220008917, Washington, D.C., Jun 2022.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (ed.), Recommended Practice: When Flight Modelling Is Used to Reduce Flight Testing Supporting Aircraft Certification, AIAA R-154-2021, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Reston, VA, January 2021.