Timothée Pourpoint
Research Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Dr. Timothée Pourpoint received his M.S. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in December 2000 and an Engineer's Degree from ESTACA University in Paris, France, in July 2000. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. Dr. Pourpoint's Ph.D. work focused on gaining a fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical processes leading to the hypergolic ignition of a catalytically promoted fuel with rocket-grade hydrogen peroxide. As he was completing his Ph.D. requirements, he led the development of the Integrated Gas Turbine Combustion Facility at the Maurice Zucrow High Pressure Laboratory. Over the last five years, he has been involved with the design, operation, and upgrade of several high-pressure systems used in the aerospace and automotive industries, including many rocket engine testing programs. He has published several papers on the development and use of test facilities.
Dr. Pourpoint's research interests relate to propellant storage and combustion. In a current project, Dr. Pourpoint is developing safe and efficient ways to use high-pressure hydrogen in vehicles through a combination of gas and solid-state storage approaches. Associated with faculty members in the mechanical engineering department at Purdue University, Pourpoint and his team focus their research on the use of metal hydrides and cryo-sorbents materials for hydrogen storage. High-purity hydrogen is provided by a bulk hydrogen storage facility designed by Pourpoint and implemented under his supervision at Purdue's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.
Another major research effort for Dr. Pourpoint and his students is part of a recently awarded Multiple University Research Initiative aimed at enhancing knowledge in fundamental processes relative to spray formation and combustion of gelled hypergolic propellants. His part in a research team of eleven faculty (eight from Purdue University, two from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and one from Iowa State University) is dedicated to fundamental experiments and analyses to determine the effects gels have on vaporization, ignition, flame spreading, and chemical kinetics.