{"id":5099,"date":"2026-05-13T15:08:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5099"},"modified":"2026-08-10T12:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T16:09:04","slug":"sofiia-goncharuk","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/sofiia-goncharuk\/","title":{"rendered":"Sofiia Goncharuk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"599\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Goncharuk-Sofiia.jpg\" alt=\"by Corban Swain\" class=\"wp-image-5598\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover;width:200px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Goncharuk-Sofiia.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Goncharuk-Sofiia-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Stevens Institute of Technology<\/strong><br>Faculty Advisor: Prof. Brian Wardle<br>Research Supervisor: Palak Patel<br>Department: Aeronautics and Astronautics<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born and raised in Ukraine, Sofiia Goncharuk moved to the United States at 16. She has a<br>passion for creating a more sustainable and accessible future for communities and ecosystems.<br>Now a rising junior at Stevens Institute of Technology studying Mechanical Engineering, Sofiia<br>is passionate about clean solar and fusion energy, and nanotechnology, and plans to pursue a PhD.<br>During her freshman summer, Sofiia completed an REU at ASPIRE NSF, working on thermal<br>management for high-power EV charging stations and exploring the cooling capabilities of phasechange<br>materials. At MIT, Sofiia works in NECSTLab, developing carbon nanotube-polysiloxane<br>thermal protection ablative materials used as the outer layers of spacecraft during atmospheric<br>reentry. Outside of research, Sofiia volunteers at her local church, raising money for people in need<br>in Ukraine. On campus, Sofiia is active in numerous organizations, and she helped establish a new<br>sustainability-focused Living Learning Community. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, hiking,<br>paddleboarding, and being outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Carbon Nanotubes \u2013Polysiloxane Nanocomposites for Thermal Protection System<br>Sofiia Goncharuk1, Palak B. Patel2, Brian L. Wardle2,3<\/strong><br>1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology<br>2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>3Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Polysiloxane resins such as ultra-high temperature resin (UHTR) show strong promise as ablative<br>materials in thermal protection systems (TPS) for the outermost heat shield layers of atmospheric<br>reentry vehicles. Effective TPS ablatives must exhibit low density, low thermal conductivity, high<br>temperature resistance, and the ability to form a stable char layer during reentry heating. Fiberreinforced<br>polymer composites are the industry standard for TPS applications due to their strengthto-<br>weight ratios. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) represent a promising next-generation reinforcement<br>over traditional carbon microfibers, offering superior specific strength, thermal stability, tunable<br>electrical and thermal properties. The Bulk Nanocomposite Laminating (BNL) process has enabled<br>the manufacture of CNT-polysiloxane (CNT-PS) nanocomposites with uniformly aligned CNTs<br>at high volume fractions. However, no validation testing of these materials under TPS conditions<br>has been performed. This project addresses that gap by manufacturing multi-ply CNT-PS<br>nanocomposite laminates and subjecting them to the principal TPS characterization tests: ablative,<br>emissivity, and micrometeoroid laser-induced particle impact testing. Together, these tests will<br>establish the first experimental validation for CNT-PS nanocomposites as ablative TPS materials.<br>Given their lightweight nature and exceptional mechanical properties, successful validation would<br>position CNT-PS nanocomposites as a novel material for next-generation spacecraft, reducing heat<br>shield mass and lowering manufacturing costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5456,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5099","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5705,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5099\/revisions\/5705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}