Sandia National Labs Academic Alliance Collaboration Report 2020-2021

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLGHT

Daniel Guildenbecher

Purdue and the U of Illinois are both partnering with Sandia on the Light Speed Grand Challenge. Purdue’s Energetics Research Center (PERC), an interdisciplinary team focused on research that addresses existing and emerging explosives-based threats to civilian and military infrastructure, commerce, and aviation, will support multiple students at Zucrow Labs, who are also assisting on the work. Professor Nick Glumac at U of Illinois said, “This research funding allows us to continue work in explosive signatures that we’ve been doing for DOE and DOD for a long time now. This work has led to a continuous stream of progress in identifying and cataloging optical signatures of explosives throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. In addition, this GC provides the students with access to interactions with Sandia and Purdue, which is relevant for future job prospects. I currently have five former graduate students from my group working at Sandia, and this collaboration allows my current students to make similar connections and be exposed to DOE laboratory environments for potential future careers.” If the collaborative teams are successful, the Light Speed GC will result in faster and higher fidelity explosive signature predictions that advance the nation’s ability to provide actionable information on accelerated timelines and respond to rapidly evolving and unpredictable nuclear threats. Light Speed actually had roots in a collaborative LDRD project between Sandia and Purdue, “Revolutionizing Spatial and Temporal Blast Characterization.” The insight and data gained during the effort, led by Sandia PI Dan Guildenbecher and Purdue’s Tim Pourpoint and Steve Son, contributed to Light Speed’s genesis.

Sandia’s Daniel Guildenbecher emphasizes experimental diagnostics of multiphase flows, particularly those involving particle transport, liquid fragmentation, combustion, and energy conversions. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue in 2009 and was a visiting professor there after he graduated. Guildenbecher helped to facilitate the partnership between Purdue and Sandia on the Light Speed GC.

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2020-2021 Collaboration Report

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