The Grainger College of Engineering

Raluca Ilie

Raluca Ilie
Raluca Ilie she/her/hers
  • Associate Professor
(217) 300-5358
5054 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg

For More Information

Education

  • Ph.D, Space and Planetary Physics, University of Michigan, 2010

Research Statement

Space Weather impacts numerous facets of everyday life and can have detrimental effects on engineering infrastructure, such as the power grid, satellites, navigation systems, avionics, air travel, telecommunications and more. Therefore space weather prediction is critical to forewarning of solar events that could generate severe space weather at Earth.

My research addresses this need for predictive capabilities by developing and improving high-performance, first-principles computational models to describe and predict the hazardous conditions in the near Earth space leading to geomagnetic storms. I employ a combination of global, multi-physics, large-scale numerical models together with measurements from space borne instruments and ground based stations to study the dynamics of plasmas and electromagnetic fields in the geospace environment. These include three-dimensional global magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) magnetospheric modeling, kinetic drift physics simulations as well as data analysis and interpretation from the TWINS, Cluster, NOAA-POES, THEMIS, Van Allen Probes spacecrafts.

Combining numerical modeling with space mission data quantitatively addresses the flow of energetic particles through the magnetosphere as influenced by global fields, kinetic effects, and loss processes. This provides critical insight into the complex physics describing the Sun's effects on near Earth space in global unified way.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Prof. Ilie welcomes motivated undergraduate students to work in her research group.

Research Interests

  • Development of immersive technologies for education and training
  • Kinetic theory and modeling
  • Multi-physics, large-scale simulations of plasma transport and dynamics
  • Developing theoretical and predictive models of the space environment

Research Areas

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)

Chapters in Books

Monographs

Selected Articles in Journals

Professional Societies

  • American Geophysical Union, Member (since 2005)
  • American Society for Engineering Education, Member (since 2019)
  • American Geophysical Union: SCARF Award Committee, Member (2019- 2020)
  • American Geophysical Union: SCARF Award Committee, Chair (2021-2022)
  • NSF Geospace Environment Modeling, Research Area Coordinator (2018-2024)
  • NSF Geospace Environment Modeling Steering Committee, Member (2018-2024)
  • The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: "Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics)" Committee, Member (2022-2023)

Honors

  • NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Fellowship (for graduate student Pedro Silva) (2023)
  • NASA Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowship (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin) (2023)
  • P. D. Coleman Outstanding Research Award (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin) (2023)
  • NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Fellowship (for graduate student Hsinju Chen) (2022)
  • Yuen T. Lo Outstanding Graduate Research Award (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin) (2021)
  • Indira Gunda Saladi Engineering Research Prize (for undergraduate student Shiru Shong) in 2021 (2021)
  • NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Fellowship (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin) (2021)
  • Outstanding Student Presentation Award (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin), American Geophysical Union, 2020 (2020)
  • Outstanding Student Presentation Award (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin), American Geophysical Union, 2019 (2019)
  • NSF CAREER Award (2019)
  • NASA Heliophysics Early Career Investigator Award (2019)
  • Research Area Coordinator, NSF Geospace Environment Modeling Program (2018-2024)
  • Best Student Presentation Award (for graduate student Mei-Yun Lin), NFS Geospace Environment Modeling Meeting, 2018. (2018)
  • The Air Force Office of Scientific Research: Young Investigator Program (YIP) (2018)

Teaching Honors

  • LIST OF TEACHERS RANKED AS EXCELLENT BY THEIR STUDENTS (Fall 2022)
  • Collins Award for Innovative Teaching (Spring 2021)
  • LIST OF TEACHERS RANKED AS EXCELLENT BY THEIR STUDENTS (Spring 2020)

Research Honors

  • NSF Geospace Environment Modeling Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011-2013)
  • International Space Science Institute (Bern, Switzerland) - Early Career Scientist (2012, 2015)
  • International Space Science Institute (Bern, Switzerland) - Team Leader (2016-2017)
  • The Air Force Office of Scientific Research: Young Investigator Program (YIP) (2018)
  • NSF CAREER Award (2019)
  • NASA Heliophysics Early Career Investigator Award (2019)
  • International Space Science Institute (Bern, Switzerland) - Team Leader (2022-2023)

Recent Courses Taught

  • ECE 210 - Analog Signal Processing
  • ECE 211 - Analog Circuits & Systems
  • ECE 329 - Fields and Waves I
  • ECE 398 RI1 (ECE 398 RI2, ECE 398 RI3, ECE 398 RI4) - Fields and Waves VR Lab
  • ECE 398 RI5 - Special Topics in ECE
  • ECE 590 RSO (ECE 590 RSS) - Space Science & Remote Sensing
  • ECE 598 RIO - EM of Continuum Media

Related News