Madison Taylor Hobbs

Madison Hobbs is a graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics whose research develops computational frameworks for tracking structural stability in hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators during re-entry. Reusable hypersonic systems promise cost reductions and increased mission cadence, yet NASA’s LOFTID flight test revealed discrepancies between predicted and observed structural dynamics. She is developing a trajectory-resolved MATLAB solver that continuously evaluates stability margins as aerodynamic pressure, convective heating, and temperature-dependent material stiffness evolve through re-entry. The framework will incorporate a custom structural solver, built on MATLAB’s Partial Differential Equation and Optimization Toolboxes, capable of large shell deformations with embedded energy-barrier probing to reduce computational overhead from external solver data transfers. Madison will couple steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes CFD solutions from US3D with reduced-order aerodynamic models to generate re-entry loads. Her work builds on fluid-thermal-structural coupling experience from her prior MathWorks Fellowship on LAURA-MATLAB ablation modeling. As a second-year MathWorks Fellow, Madison will develop the aerothermal-structural stability framework for open-source release. Her research could establish the computational foundation needed for future structural certification of next-generation reusable hypersonic systems.