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Vol. 1, Issue 4 - October 2022

Welcome to The Blast PERC flames
The Blast is the official newsletter of the Purdue Energetics Research Center (PERC), an interdisciplinary team with an overriding focus on energetic materials. Three times a year, members get a “blast” of content highlighting the projects, accomplishments and events associated with PERC and its affiliated faculty, staff, students, alumni and partner organizations.

Faculty Feature PERC flames

Monique McClain: Pioneering Additive Manufacturing Methods
Monique presenting
Monique McClain, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is a key contributor to PERC's additive manufacturing initiatives. Her research focuses on the role of functional grading on combustion performance, 3D printing dissimilar energetic materials and anomaly detection methods that enforce quality control on 3D printed energetics.

This past year, she gave two invited talks on the additive manufacturing of energetic materials: 1) at the American Chemical Society (ACS) 2022 Spring Conference for the Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering and 2) at the 17th Workshop on Pyrotechnic Combustion Mechanisms. Also, McClain and her group's work on vibration assisted printing (VAP) was featured in TCT Magazine. Beyond research, McClain is passionate about improving diversity, equity and inclusion in the fields of energetic materials, propulsion and additive manufacturing.

Programming News PERC flames

AAMP-UP Students Showcase Projects at Energetic Materials Research Symposium
Students, faculty, staff and external partners mingling during the symposium poster session
On July 28, 2022, the Advancing Army Modernization Priorities – Undergraduate Program (AAMP-UP) held its end-of-summer Energetic Materials Research Symposium, which included a poster show and presentations. Representatives from the U.S. Army Research Lab (ARL) and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) - Crane Division—along with Purdue faculty, staff and graduate students—attended the event.

AAMP-UP is a component of the Advancing Army Modernization Priorities – Energetic Materials (AAMP-EM) Cooperative Agreement between PERC and the ARL. This agreement advances research, workforce development, manufacturing, safety and sustainability throughout the energetic materials enterprise. AAMP-UP, the portion of the agreement dedicated to workforce development, introduces students to energetic materials and the myriad of opportunities in defense research.

Read more about the symposium and the students' research projects...

PERC Accomplishments PERC flames
Shreve Undergraduate Teaching Award

Stephen Beaudoin, Director of PERC and Professor of Chemical Engineering, won the 2022-2023 Shreve Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering. Recipients are selected by students each year. This is the third time Beaudoin has received this honor.
 
P.V. Ramachandran headshot Trask Innovation Fund
P.V. Ramachandran, Professor of Chemistry, and his research team received a $50,000 Trask Innovation Fund award for their work on a selective therapeutic for the Clostridiodes Difficile (C.Dif) infection. The Trask Innovation Fund provides support for research that enhances Purdue's intellectual property.
Read more here
 
Jeff Rhoads headshot Purdue Institute for National Security
Jeff Rhoads, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named the inaugural Executive Director of the Purdue Institute for National Security. This interdisciplinary institute, which will include energetic materials, secure microelectronics and hypersonic and space systems, aims to promote national security and bolster the defense ecosystem on campus and within the Greater Lafayette region.
Read more about the institute here
 
National Science Foundation Grant
Shweta Singh, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Environmental and Ecological Engineering, has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop cost-effective processes and frameworks that will help the pharmaceutical industry achieve zero waste in its manufacturing operations. 
Read more about the project here
 
Song Zhang headshot Ruth and Joel Spira Award

Song Zhang, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has won this year's Ruth and Joel Spira Award. Zhang received this award for his outstanding contributions to the School of Mechanical Engineering by inspiring students and fostering excellence in commercial and defense production realization.
 
Mars rocket propellant burn Turning Mars Soil into Rocket Propellant
Former student Alex Hoganson and current students Hetal Rathore and Chase Wernex successfully completed experiments studying whether percholates found in martian soil could be used to create a solid rocket propellant. The team's photograph of the propellant burn tests won a Combustion Art award at the 2022 Spring Technical Meeting of the Central States Section of the Combustion Institute. They also presented their research at the 45th International Pyrotechnics Society Seminar in July.
Read more about the project here
 
GRC logo with photo of PERC faculty, staff and students in attendance at the conference. Gordon Research Conference on Energetic Materials
Davin Piercey (Assistant Professor of Materials Engineering), Marisol Koslowski (Professor of Mechanical Engineering), Brenden Hamilton (Materials Engineering alum, now a Director's Postdoctoral Fellow at LANL) and Christopher Goldenstein (Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering) gave invited talks at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Energetic Materials. Additionally, Diane Patterson (PhD student in Mechanical Engineering), Charles Schwartz (PhD student in Aeronautics and Astronautics) and Diane Collard (Research Scientist in Mechanical Engineering) gave invited talks at the concurrently held Energetic Materials Gordon Research Seminar (GRS).
Read more about the conference here

Technology Transfer
Newly Awarded Patents
  • Xianfan Xu, Bryan Boudouris (Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering) and Liang Pan: "Continuous and scalable 3D nanoprinting" (Patent #11305482B2)

  • Fabio Semperlotti, Haitian Hao, Carlo Scalo (Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering) and Mihir Sen: "Thermoacoustic device and method of making the same" (Patent #11375320B2)
 
Purdue #6 in the world for utility patents in 2021 according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Purdue University #6 in the World for Utility Patents

In 2021, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued 169 utility patents for Purdue inventions, making it the #6 entity internationally, as well as the top university in both Indiana and the Big Ten. PERC researchers were involved in eight approved patents in 2021.
Read more here

Faculty/Staff Publications & Presentations
 

Featured Publication
Cover of Combustion and Flame journal Most Downloaded Papers in Combustion and Flame

A paper authored by Terrence Meyer's research group, "On the effects of reactant stratification and wall curvature in non-premixed rotating detonation combustors," was listed as one of the most downloaded papers since its publication. This work is a result of a collaboration between Purdue and Spectral Energies, LLC.
Preview the article here

Student News PERC flames

Graduations & New Positions
Ten PERC-affiliated graduate students graduated from four programs in the College of Engineering and one program in the College of Science in August 2022:
  • Siddhartha Akkiraju, PhD, Chemical Engineering
  • Usman Bajwa, MS, Aeronautics & Astronautics
  • Victoria Boulos, PhD, Chemistry
  • Mateo Gomez, PhD, Mechanical Engineering
  • Zherui Guo, PhD, Aeronautics & Astronautics; now a Postdoctoral Researcher at Idaho National Lab
  • Alexander Hoganson, MS, Mechanical Engineering; now a Propulsion Engineer at Blue Origin
  • Abdul Imran, BS, Mechanical Engineering
  • Daniel Klinger, MS, Aeronautics & Astronautics; now a Research Engineer at Purdue
  • Naveed Rahman, PhD, Mechanical Engineering
  • Dominque Wozniak, PhD, Materials Engineering

Alum Spotlights PERC flames
Kelly Brayton headshot Kelly Brayton

Kelly Brayton received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University in 2021. She is now a graduate student researcher in Chemical Engineering at Columbia University.

Read more about Brayton here
 
Spencer Fehlberg headshot Spencer Fehlberg

Spencer Fehlberg received his MS in Mechanical Engineering in August 2020. He is now a Propulsion Engineer for Northrop Grumman at the Allegany Ballistics Lab.

Read more about Fehlberg here
 
Prashanth Bangalore Venkatesh headshot Prashanth Bangalore Venkatesh

Prashanth Bangalore Venkatesh graduated from both the MS and PhD programs in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He completed his PhD in May 2020. He is now a Lead Propulsion Analyst at Agile Space Industries, Inc.

Read more about Bangalore Venkatesh here

PERC Events PERC flames

Save the Date: 2023 Purdue Energetic Materials Summit
The Purdue Energetic Materials Summit Workshops and Symposium '23 (PEMS '23) will be held May 23-25, 2022. PEMS is a biennial summit designed to bring together thought leaders and decision makers in the defense, security and academic communities to discuss key challenges and potential technical solutions associated with energetic materials. This will be the first PEMS event since 2019! PERC faculty and staff look forward to seeing you on campus. '23 PEMS logo

Related Purdue Defense News PERC flames

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Visits Purdue
Hicks listens to a presentation by Mark Lundstrom Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks visited Purdue on Aug. 18, 2022 and toured essential research facilities on campus, including Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories and Birck Nanotechnology Center—both which house integral PERC projects.

Read more here
 

Secretaries of State, Commerce Discuss Microelectronics at Purdue
Gov. Holcomb, Sec. Blinken, Mitch Daniels, Sec. Raimondo, and Sen. Young participate in a panel discussion on microelectronics. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Governor Eric Holcomb, and Senator Todd Young toured Birck Nanotechnology Center to kick off a national semiconductor initiative related to the CHIPS and Science Act. This legislation will fund semiconductor research & development and manufacturing.

Read more here
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