Master of Science / Particulate ingestion has been an ongoing issue in the aviation industry as aircraft are required to operate in hostile environments. Ingesting particulates such as sand or dust can erode and damage engine components. This damage will affect the life cycle of parts and compromise the safety of the aircraft. This issue is very costly and dangerous. In order to combat these issues, a particle sensor with the ability to monitor in-stream particulate size, shape, and mass flow rate is necessary. Our team with the Advanced Propulsion and Power Laboratory developed a non-intrusive optical sensor that is able to characterize non-spherical particles. This sensor has been used in various applications through the years; however, most recently, the sensor has been demonstrated at the Virginia Tech M250 engine inlet. This was the first time that the sensor was directly attached to an engine's inlet and subjected to engine conditions. For this validation, highly erosive, coarse quartz was used. Utilizing laser and cameras, the sensor is able to deduce the particles' average shape and size distributions. From those measurements, the mass flow rate of the particle can be calculated. The works provided in the thesis show that particle ingestion rates can be measured to an acceptably high accuracy. In contrast, refinement of the processing techniques can provide spatially resolved measurements of particle characteristics as well.