Lucas Guaglardi

Lucas Guaglardi knew he was on the right track with aerospace engineering when he saw the remote control plane he helped design from scratch with the Arizona State University Air Devils club actually fly during its first test flight.

“It was an ‘aha!’ moment,” Guaglardi says.

Guaglardi knew from a young age that he wanted to pursue aeronautics. However, choosing which university to attend was a more difficult decision.

“I wanted to program software for airplanes, but I wasn’t exactly sure where to go for college,” Guaglardi says. “I knew I wanted to attend a highly competitive engineering school and after significant consideration, including talking with my parents and visiting the school, I decided to go to ASU.”

During his time in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, he got involved in research, led student groups and strived to acquire the necessary skills to achieve his dream of becoming an aircraft designer and engineer.

He participated in the NASA Space Grant Program twice, where he worked on aircraft performance calculations and designed, built and tested various electric ducted fan nacelle configurations to evaluate their respective impacts on static thrust and power consumption.

“Designing and manufacturing the nacelles, fitting them, establishing the test setup and, finally, testing and interpreting the results was an enjoyable process,” Guaglardi says.

He also served as vice president and later as president of Air Devils, a group that designs and builds flying machines to participate in the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics Design/Build/Fly Competition.

Guaglardi credits much of his early success to his student colleagues and ASU’s faculty and staff. He is grateful for former Professor of Practice Timothy Takahashi, who he says gave him insightful advice throughout much of his time at ASU.

“He was key to my involvement in the NASA Space Grant Program,” he says.

He also thanks Professor Marc Mignolet for his support during his time at ASU.

After graduation, Guaglardi plans to enroll in the aerospace propulsion program at Cranfield University in England and looks forward to making positive contributions to the aerospace industry.

“I would like to be a part of designing a modern hypersonic system or even become a professor,” he says.

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ fall 2024 class here.