Purdue’s Impact Science Lab, and Purdue University by association, have been accepted into the Aeroballistics Range Association. The ARA is an exclusive technical society of organizations involved in experimental study served by guns and related mechanical launchers.

Member organizations include national labs and defense agencies from around the world, including NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL), and Sandia National Labs.

Purdue, like all members, was voted in based on its capabilities — and the Impact Science Lab is something unique, says Zherui Martinez-Guo (BSAAE ’11, MSAAE ’14, Ph.D. AAE ’20), the lab’s lead professor and Purdue liaison to the ARA.

“We're very specialized. We have hydraulic presses, Kolsky bars, different gun sizes from small particles to large plates, high speed cameras, and various optical, laser, and X-ray diagnostics. We can get snapshots of how materials transform in time and test materials up to very high loading rates. It's a tricky regime, but it’s something our lab is good at,” Martinez-Guo says.

Students and researchers in the Impact Science Lab study how materials compress,  stretch, deform, shear, and ultimately fail. The data they collect improves the simulations done in the engineering design process, helping engineers identify weak points that lead to potential failure in complex systems like jet engines. Those simulations lead to better real-world prototypes, reducing the overall design time and producing better final products.

Martinez-Guo took over the Impact Science Lab from former AAE professor Weinong Chen, who is now chair of aerospace engineering at Iowa State University. Martinez-Guo conducted his PhD research in the Impact Science Lab, studying the ballistic impact resistance of high-performance composite fibers. He served as a distinguished postdoctoral associate at Idaho National Laboratory before returning to Purdue as a research assistant professor in 2024.