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News
Student milestones, awards, conference presentations, and updates from the AEON Lab.
Welcome, Josh!
Josh Dobelbower graduated with his B.S. in May 2026 and is starting his Ph.D. in the AEON Lab this August.
Luis is now a Ph.D. candidate!
Luis Alarcon Aneiva passed his General Exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate.
Luis wins the AIAA William T. Piper Sr. General Aviation Systems Graduate Award
Luis Alarcon Aneiva named a recipient of AIAA's William T. Piper, Sr. General Aviation Systems Graduate Award.
Luis wins the Link Foundation's Modeling, Simulation, and Training Fellowship
Luis Alarcon Aneiva named a Link Foundation fellow for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Congratulations, Dr. Bhattarai!
Aayush Bhattarai completed his Ph.D. and is joining the University of North Dakota as an Assistant Teaching Professor.
Commencement 2026
The lab attended Auburn's spring commencement — Niklas Schulmeyer and Md Mijanur Rahman received their Ph.D.s, and Luis Alarcon Aneiva received his M.S.
Congratulations, Dr. Schulmeyer!
Niklas Schulmeyer completed his Ph.D. and is staying close, accepting a job offer with Delta Airlines.
Congratulations, Dr. Rahman!
Md Mijanur Rahman completed his Ph.D. — the first Ph.D. earned in the AEON Lab — and is joining JSX as Director of Engineering.
September 23, 2025That makes three — Congratulations Niklas!!
Niklas Schulmeyer passed his General Exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate, working on methods of automatically generating training scenarios that target specific operation modes in terms of Situational Awareness.
July 9, 2025Mijan is our newest Ph.D. candidate!
Mijan Rahman passed his General Exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate, now working on composite scores based on behavior, performance, and physiological state — the Fitness to Fly (F2Y) score.
June 30, 2025Aayush is a Ph.D. candidate!
Aayush Bhattarai passed his General Exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate, working on the design of modular flight deck information displays to help pilots avoid controlled flight into terrain in mountainous regions.
May 26, 2025Check out our research at the International Symposium on Aviation Psychology
The lab actively participated in ISAP with five papers, three presentations, and three posters. Niklas Schulmeyer and Luis Alarcon Aneiva presented in the finals of the Stanley Roscoe Best Student Paper competition.
May 20, 2025AIAA William T. Piper Sr. General Aviation Systems Graduate Award
Aayush Bhattarai named 2025 recipient of the William T. Piper, Sr. General Aviation Systems Graduate Award by AIAA's General Aviation Technical Committee.
Design for Humanity Challenge
Mijan Rahman and his team won the Design for Humanity Challenge hosted by Auburn's Office of Career Development and Corporate Relations.
We are moving!
Our lab is relocating to the Aerospace Engineering department at Auburn University.
Riata Business Plan Competition
Md Mijanur Rahman, Niklas Schulmeyer, and Luis Alarcon Aneiva participated in the 2024 Riata Business Plan Competition.
More simulators in the lab!
We have acquired three Cirrus SR-20 simulators with real Garmin avionics for research.
Lab awarded an NSF Early CAREER award
Dr. Fala has received an NSF Early CAREER award for our research on VR flight training.
Welcome to the lab, Nastaran!
Nastaran Arzamani joined the lab to work on her Ph.D.