Aviation Analytics Research Assistant - School of Aviation

Dr. Gupta's Research Group is seeking undergraduate or graduate student researchers to support multiple ongoing research projects related to aviation systems, emerging technologies, and data-driven analysis. Students will assist faculty researchers with literature review, data analysis, modeling, documentation, and general research support activities across a range of aviation-focused studies.

Projects may involve topics such as aviation data analytics, advanced air mobility (AAM), airport systems and infrastructure, weather and environmental applications, and the evaluation of emerging technologies. Specific assignments will vary based on project needs and student background.

• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Professionalism
• Technology

• Assist with literature searches, reviews, and annotated summaries using provided research questions, frameworks, or templates.
• Support data collection, organization, and preprocessing, including handling datasets, spreadsheets, or structured documents.
• Assist with basic data analysis, such as descriptive statistics, simple comparisons, trend identification, or visualizations under faculty guidance.
• Contribute to research documentation and technical writing, including short summaries, tables, figures, report sections, or publications.
• Support research workflow management, including organizing files, tracking sources, and maintaining version control or documentation logs.
• Participate in regular project meetings, progress check-ins, and collaborative discussions with faculty and other student researchers.
• Follow research ethics, data integrity, and professionalism standards, including proper citation, confidentiality, and responsible data handling.
• Perform additional research-related tasks as assigned by the faculty, depending on project scope and timelines.

• Enrollment as an undergraduate or graduate student in aviation, engineering, data science, meteorology, computer science, geography/GIS, education, or a related field. A strong GPA is important, but not the only requirement.
• Most of the research will be focused on technology-enabled solutions to aviation problems, therefore, skills from various backgrounds may be helpful - especially on larger projects where team work is fundamental.
• Some experience with academic research tasks, such as literature review, data organization, referencing, structured analysis, and methodological approach.
• Basic familiarity with data tools such as Excel, Word, PPT, or similar platforms. For students from computer science or related fields, basic programming skills are needed (coding language is not as important as strong understanding of foundational logic and debugging skills).
• Introductory understanding of research methods (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed), appropriate to undergraduate or graduate level coursework.
• Strong attention to detail, including accurate documentation and data handling.
• Ability to communicate clearly in written and verbal formats within a research team.
• Willingness to learn new analytical tools, research frameworks, or domain-specific concepts as needed.
• Professionalism, reliability, and ability to manage multiple tasks or deadlines. Prompt communication and responsiveness is paramount and a basic requirement.
• Good academic standing at the university (recommended GPA: 3.25 or higher).

• Coursework or experience in data analysis, statistics, or programming (e.g., Python, R, MATLAB, SPSS). Students from computer science or closely related fields should demonstrate strong programming proficiency, including the ability to write, modify, and debug code to support project needs.
• Experience with systematic or structured literature reviews.
• Familiarity with GIS, modeling, simulation, or visualization tools.
• Interest in emerging aviation systems, such as AAM, AI/ML applications, technology-enabled solutions, weather analytics, or airline/airport operations management.
• Prior experience contributing to technical reports, research posters, or conference papers.
• Ability to work across multiple projects with different scopes and timelines.