TSU PRISM Seminar Series No. 20(February 26, 2024) @ Google Meet

Aerospace Engineering and Hypersonics Research at UTSA

★ February 26, 2024, 21:00 PM (UTC+8)
Speaker: Prof. Christopher Combs from UTSA, USA
Title: Aerospace Engineering and Hypersonics Research at UTSA

VIDEO

Dr. Combs is the Dee Howard Endowed Associate Professor in Aerodynamics in the UTSA Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he is the Director of the Aerospace Engineering program, Director of the Center for Advanced Measurements in Extreme Environments, Director of the UTSA Hypersonics Lab, and Associate Dean Fellow for Research in the Klesse College of Engineering & Integrated Design. In the UTSA Hypersonics Lab, Combs leads a research group of over 20 graduate and undergraduate students studying problems related to hypersonic aerothermodynamics. He holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Evansville and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin where he was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow. His primary area of research interest is in the development and application of non-intrusive laser-based measurement techniques for compressible flows and he has extensive experience in investigations of hypersonic flow physics, with over 50 technical publications in this field and over $16M in research funding from various organizations including NASA, USAF, NSF, US Navy, JHTO, and DARPA. Recognized as a recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER and Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program awards, Dr. Combs led the design and construction of the new Mach 7 wind tunnel facility at UTSA. He is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and is also active with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Physical Society. Dr. Combs serves as a board member for the Dee Howard Foundation and is also a member of a variety of technical and service committees including the AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Technical Committee, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Committee, and the Dee Howard Foundation Education Advisory Council.

Abstract

This presentation will provide an introduction to the emerging aerospace engineering program at UTSA and the new hypersonic experimental research capability on campus (particularly focused on hypersonic aerodynamics and non-intrusive diagnostic development). Completed in 2021, the UTSA Mach 7 Ludwieg tube is a unique facility within American universities—one of only six at a U.S. academic institution operating at a Mach number of 7 or higher and one of only two with the current combination of high-Reynolds number (up to 200×10⁶ m^-1) and high-Mach number capability. The facility is also unique in that UTSA students were heavily involved in its design and construction. This has empowered the students to take responsibility for day-to-day facility operations, thus providing an excellent hands-on learning experience. The added availability of high-speed diagnostics equipment at UTSA makes the experimental test capability exceptionally rare.