Panel on Armor and Armaments
 

Chair

R. BYRON PIPES, NAE, is the John L. Bray Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Purdue University since 2004. He is a member of the Royal Society of Engineering Sciences of Sweden (1995). Composite materials has been the focus of his scholarship for the past 28 years. He has developed analytical models and carried out experiments with the objective of developing a fundamental understanding of the design, durability and manufacturing of these materials systems and structures. He served as Goodyear Endowed Professor of Polymer Engineering at the University of Akron during 2001-04. He was Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the College of William and Mary during 1999-2001, where he pursued research at the NASA Langley Research Center in the field of carbon nanotechnology. He served as President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1993-98. Dr. Pipes was Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Delaware from 1991-93 and served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Director of the Center for Composite Materials during 1977-91 at the same institution. He was appointed Robert L. Spencer Professor of Engineering in 1986 in recognition of his outstanding scholarship in the field of polymer composite materials ranging over the subject areas of advanced manufacturing science, durability, design and characterization. Dr Pipes received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and the MSE from Princeton University. He is the recipient of the Gustus L. Larson Award of Pi Tau Sigma and the Chaire Francqui, Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award in Belgium. He holds Fellow rank in ASC, ASME and SAMPE.

Members

MELVIN R. BAER is a senior scientist in engineering sciences at Sandia National Laboratories. Over the past 25 years, he has published fundamental and basic research in the field of energetic materials involving the initiation, deflagration, and detonation processes in propellants, explosives, intermetallics, and pyrotechnics. He has served as a consultant in energetic materials for several government agencies and has participated in numerous explosives review and investigation programs, such as the Advanced Energetics Integrated Process Team (IPT) group, the U.S. Navy reinvestigation of the USS Iowa incident, and the National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the TWA 800 accident. Dr. Baer received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Colorado State University.

THOMAS W. EAGAR, NAE, is Professor of Materials Engineering and Engineering Systems in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His primary research interest is manufacturing with a special emphasis on welding and joining processes. This work involves many industries, including electronic packaging, automotive, aerospace and shipbuilding. Specific processes include soldering, brazing, arc welding, laser welding, electron beam processing and diffusion bonding. Research topics include sensors and controls, thermodynamics, arc physics, heat and fluid flow, mathematical modeling, microstructural development, chemical kinetics and process physics. In addition, in recent years he has been involved in materials selection, failure analysis, manufacturing policy, manufacturing management, and engineering education.

MARK EBERHART is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry at the Colorado School of Mines, where he directs the Molecular Theory Group (MTG). At the MTG knowledge of bonding is obtained through detailed topological analyses of the spatial distribution of electrons in molecules and solids. Many subtle aspects of the distribution become obvious when viewed from a topological perspective. The accompanying topological formalism gives well-defined, unambiguous, meaningful and consistent definitions to previously indeterminate quantities such as atomic bonds and basins. His work is based primarily on first principles computations, which provide the electron charge densities, and topological analysis software developed at the MTG. He is also exploring the topological and geometric origins responsible for the stability of amorphous metallic alloys. In addition to his work on condensed phase systems, his group has active research programs exploring the relationships between charge density and the chemical properties of molecular systems, both organic and inorganic. Dr. Eberhart holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado, an M.S. degree in Physical Biochemistry from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

RANDALL M. GERMAN is professor of Mechanical Engineering and associate dean of Engineering at San Diego State University. His research interests are materials processing; particulate materials, powder consolidation, sintering, and microstructure evolution, powder metallurgy, powder injection molding, rapid prototyping, and advanced ceramics. His research and teaching deal with the net-shape fabrication of engineering materials via sintering techniques as used in powder metallurgy, cemented carbides, and ceramics. His appointments have included the following: Associate Dean of Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, San Diego State University (2008 on); Chaired Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University (2005-2008); Brush Chair Professor in Materials and Director of the Center for Innovative Sintered Products at Penn State University (1991-2006); Hunt Professor of Materials Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1980-1991); Director of Research, J. M. Ney Co., Bloomfield, CT (1978-1980); Director of R&D, Mott Corp., Farmington, CT (1977-1978); Staff Member, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (1969-1977); and Materials Scientist, Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, OH (1968-1969). Dr. German obtained his PhD from the University of California at Davis (1975), following an MS degree in Metallurgical Engineering from The Ohio State University (1971) and an honor’s BS degree in Materials Science and Engineering from San Jose State University (1968).

MICHAEL JAFFE is Research Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, and Materials Program; and Director, of the Medical Device Concept Laboratory at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His research intersts are process-structure-property relationships of polymers and related materials; fiber and film formation; designed material performance through process and microstructure control; kinetics and mechanisms of phase transitions; biological paradigms in material science; thermal analysis of materials, polymers, fibers; utilizing the industry-university-government interface to facilitate technical development/commercialization; translation of new technology to commercial success; and strategic implications of technology development. Dr. Jaffe has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (1967) and a B. A. in Chemistry from the Cornell University (1963).

BERNARD H. KEAR, NAE, is the State of New Jersey Professor and Director, Center for Nanomaterials Research at the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, School of Engineering, at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His research interests have been centered on the synthesis, processing, structure, and properties of inorganic solids, for a broad range of structural applications. His current research is concerned with chemical processing of nanophase metals, ceramics, cermets and composites, starting from aqueous solution or metalorganic precursors. His previous work, 1963-81 at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, addressed fundamental aspects of dislocation interactions, phase transformations, and solidification behaviour in nickel-base superalloys. This work contributed to the successful development of directional solidification of single crystal turbine blades, and rapid solidification powder atomization and laser surface treatments. From 1981-86, at Exxon, his research activities were focussed on developing methods for chemical vapor deposition surface passivation teatments, and for catalytic growth of carbon whiskers from hydrocarbon precursors. He has published 220 technical papers, edited 9 books, and granted 35 patents. He was Chairman the National Materials Advisory Board from 1986-89 and is Co-editor of journal Nanostructured Materials 1992-present.

CLARENCE W. “WES” KITCHENS, JR., manager of Wes Kitchens and Associates, LLC, provides advice to government and commercial clients in the areas of research and development management and the application of science and technology to national security problems. He retired from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in 2010 after serving as a Technical Fellow, Senior Advisor to the SAIC Program Manager’s Office for the Future Combat Systems, Networked Lethality Manager, and Vice President for Weapon Systems Engineering (at SAIC subsidiary Hicks and Associates). Prior to this he was the Director and Chief Scientist of the DoD Weapon Systems Technology Information Analysis Center, operated by the IIT Research Institute. He retired from the federal government in 2000 after serving in a number of Senior Executive Service positions as DoD Director for Weapons Technologies at the Pentagon, Principal Deputy for Technology at the Army Materiel Command in Alexandria, VA, Director of the Army Benet Laboratories at Watervliet Arsenal, New York, Director of the Army Research Laboratory Transition Office at ARL Headquarters in Adelphi, Maryland, and Chief of the Terminal Ballistics Division of the Ballistic Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. He has served on a number of high-level panels and committees, including the U.S. National Leader of the Conventional Weapons Technology Group of The Technical Cooperation Program (involving England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States), Chair of the Army Research Laboratory Board of Directors, and a member of the National Academies Board on Army Science and Technology, among others. He has received the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, and the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, among other awards. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and a Fellow Emeritus of the Army Research Laboratory.

KENNETH K. KUO is a Distinguished Professor of theMechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department at the Pennsylvania State University. He is also the Director of PSU’s High Pressure Combustion Lab. His research areasof interest arecombustion, rocket propulsion, ballistics, and fluid mechanics: combustion and ignition of solid propellants, combustion in two-phase flows, recession of carbon composite material, synthesis of nano-sized energetic materials, particle production by rapid expansion of a supercritical solution, reacting boundary-layer flows in hybrid rocket motors, gun ballistics simulation and diagnostics, crack propagation in burning solid propellants, flame-spreading processes of energetic materials, erosion of ablative materials, combustion behavior of metal particles and sheets, ballistics of very high burning rate propellants, supersonic combustion of solid fuels for ramjets, liquid jet breakup and atomization, bipropellant for antiballistic missile systems, violent energy release processes caused by combustion of aluminum with liquid oxygen, liquid monopropellant combustion for space thrusters, flame-spreading and combustion of granular solid propellants in mortar and artillery systems, air bag propellants, catalysts for H2O2 decomposition reactions, etc. He worked as a Design Engineer at AiResearch MFG Company of the Garrett Corporation from 1964 to 1968. Dr. Kuo has a Ph.D. from Princeton University, 1971, Aerospace & Mechanical Sciences; a M.S. - University of California, Berkeley, 1964, Mechanical Engineering; and a B.S. - National Taiwan University, 1961, Mechanical Engineering. He holds Fellow rank in AIAA, ASME and IBS (International Ballistic Society).

GREGORY H. MILLER is a professor of applied science in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of California, Davis. His research focus is on shock physics and numerical methods and his research interests involve the solution of physics and engineering problems through: the design of mathematical models and numerical methods; the construction of constitutive equations; the numerical solution of the resulting systems; and the analysis of experimental, theoretical, and computational results. Problems of realistic complexity and scale often involve supercomputing on massively parallel architectures. Prior to becoming a professor at UC, Davis, he served as an associate professor there, a mathematician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, an associate and assistant professor at the University of Chicago, and a research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Miller received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Purdue University and his Ph.D. geochemistry (with a minor in chemistry) from the California Institute of Technology.

TRESA POLLOCK, NAE, is the Alcoa Professor of Materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Pollock was employed at General Electric Aircraft Engines from 1989 to 1991, where she conducted research and development on high temperature alloys for aircraft turbine engines. She was a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University from 1991 to 1999 and the University of Michigan from 2000 - 2010. Her current research focuses on the processing and properties of structural materials and coatings and on the use of ultrafast lasers for microfabrication and materials diagnostics. Dr. Pollock was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2005, is a Fellow of TMS and ASM International, Associate Editor of Metallurgical and Materials Transactions and was the 2005-2006 President of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. She graduated with a B.S. from Purdue University in 1984, and a Ph.D. from MIT in 1989.

GEORGE C. SCHATZ, NAS, is Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry and of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University. Degrees include a B. S. (1971) at Clarkson University and Ph. D. (1976) at Caltech, both in chemistry. He was a postdoc at MIT, and has been at Northwestern since 1976. Schatz has published three books and over 550 papers. Schatz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002), the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (2001) and he is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Physical Chemistry. Awards include Sloan and Dreyfus Fellowships, the Fresenius Award of Phi Lambda Upsilon, the Max Planck Research Award, the Bourke Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Ver Steeg Fellowship of Northwestern University, and the Feynman Prize of the Foresight Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the AAAS. Schatz’s research is concerned with theory and computational modeling in a variety of nanoscience topics as well as in related fields of biophysics and materials. His nanoscience work has specialized in the optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles, nanoholes in films and other nanostructured materials of relevance to chemical and biological sensing, solar energy and plasmonic device applications. In this field he has contributed to the development of computational electrodynamics and electronic structure methods for the study of metal particles and molecules interacting with metal particles. In addition, he has developed theories of DNA melting in nanoparticle and polymer aggregates, and he has studied the thermal behavior of nanoscale lipid structures. Schatz has also been involved in a wide variety of theoretical studies involving self-assembly processes, DNA and protein structures, transport in ion-channels, the deposition and patterning of molecules on surfaces, and the formation of water droplets on nanoscale structures. In addition, he has worked actively in the theory and modeling of the mechanical properties of hard materials, including diamond films, graphene and carbon nanotubes.

STEVEN F. SON is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. His research interests are in experimental and theoretical studies of combustion of energetic materials (propellants, explosives, and pyrotechnics), microscale combustion, nanoscale energetic composites, combustion synthesis, and coal combustion. Dr. Son received his Ph. D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a J. R. Oppenheimer Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He then served as a Technical Staff Member and Project Leader at Los Alamos. He was a visiting professor at The Pennsylvania State Univerisity on a one-year sabbatical, teaching a special topics course on the combustion of energetic materials, and performing combustion research. He has given numerous invited lectures at several research institutions, as well as at meetings of the Material Research Society, American Physical Society, International Pyrotechnics Seminar, and Gordon Research Conferences. He is currently an Associate Editor of the AIAA's Journal of Propulsion and Power.

LEONARD C. UITENHAM is Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering at North Carolina A&T State University. Dr. Uitenham’s research interests focus on material processing, processing property, and structures of polymer materials. Colonel Uitenham received the Meritorious Service Medal for performing outstanding service while serving as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Innovation and Technology, II Marine Expeditionary Force in 2004-2005. He was instrumental in the development of the Innovation and Technology Review Model for evaluating the suitability of technology to meet warfighter requirements. He oversaw the concept development and deployment of the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Technology to the Multi National Force-West’s area of operations.