Sihong Yan received his doctoral and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, under the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE) program. He earned his bachelor's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Before joining UCF, he served as a post-doctoral scholar at two VLROCE centers, located at Pennsylvania State and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Yan’s research areas include multiphase and thermal fluids problems related to hazardous atmospheric conditions including, icing clouds, freezing drizzles and hailstones. In addition to atmospheric research, he is also an active researcher in advance vertical lift vehicle, with a focus on utilizing advanced experimental method to study rotor aerodynamics and fluid-structure interactions.

• Yan, S., Nangle, J., Karli, G., Palacios, J., “The Development of Icing Experiment Techniques for eVTOL UAM Certifications”, AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, Orlando, FL, 2024


• Safieh D.A., Shah, M., Yan, S., Rauleder, J., “Effects of Aero-Propulsive Coupling on High Solidity Electric Ducted Fan Performance for Various Wing Integration Methods”, AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, Orlando, FL, 2024


• Yan S., Palacios, J., “Experiment and Modeling of Ice Accretion from Melting Crystals under Low Erosion Conditions”, AIAA Journal, Under Revision


• Yan, S, Palacios, J., “A Physics-based Drag and Nusselt Number Model of Partially-Melted Ice Crystals for Mixed-phase Turbofan Engine Icing”, International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2023.108798


• Karli, G., Yan, S., McKillip, Rob., Palacios, J., “Drag Performance Degradation Due to Icing of eVTOL.” 78th Vertical Flight Society Annual Forum and Technology Display, 2022, doi: 10.4050/F-0078-2022-17533


• Zahirudin, R.A.R., Valente, V.T., McThane, E., Hafner, A., Birkbeck, Z., Yan, S., Greenwood, E. and Palacios, J., 2023. The Effect of Phase Offset Angle for Coaxial Co-Rotating Rotors. In 79th Vertical Flight Society Annual Forum and Technology Display, FORUM 2023. Vertical Flight Society.


• Raja Zahirudin, R. A., Palacios, J., Yan, S., Nguyen, Xiong, J., “Experimental Acoustic Characterization of Anti-Phase Asymmetric Rotors”, 76th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, 2020, doi: doi.org/10.4050/F-0076-2020-16487


• Yan, S., Opazo, T., Langelaan, J., Palacios, J., “Experimental Evaluation and Flight Simulation of Coaxial-Rotor Vehicles in Icing Clouds.”, Journal of the American Helicopter Society, Vol. 65, No.2, 2020, doi: 10.4050/JAHS.65.022011