PLAYING WITH FLAMES AND FIRE FOR THE U.S. NAVY

Speaker: Dr. Steven Tuttle - Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC-IHD)
Date: Dec 1, 2023; Time: 2:30 PM Location: UTEB 175

Abstract: Combustion research forms an integral part of supporting the U.S. Navy’s science and technology development efforts for fire characterization and suppression on vessels and land, developing new propulsion technologies, hazardous spill remediation, and a range of technology needs. Dr. Tuttle will share some of the more interesting work he has done and how research and development efforts develop knowledge that informs safety, defense, and pollution response. He will also discuss the challenges and rewards of

working for one of the Department of Defense’s national laboratories, how research and development is essential in maintaining our nation’s defense and how these advances spread into the rest of our society. In the process, he will answer questions about the topics he will discuss and how you can develop your career as an engineer before and after you graduate in academia, industry, or the government.

Biographical Sketch: Dr. Steven Tuttle is a Mechanical Engineer and Branch Head of the Physics and Engineering Branch at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC-IHD) in Indian Head, Maryland. He leads a group of scientists and engineers conducting research on propulsion and explosives in support of current Navy fleet needs. He recently transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where he spent almost twelve years conducting and leading research on a wide array of combustion and fire-related topics. These have included lithium-ion battery fire characterization and propagation, spray atomization and burning of emulsified crude oil, small UAV-scale gas turbine combustor design and testing, weathered and emulsified crude oil chemistry and pool fire ignition, petroleum wellhead blowout spray burning, thermochemical-dependent turbulent spray combustion of jet fuels, shock-spray interaction in high speed flows, and other topics. As a section head at NRL and a branch head at NSWC-IHD administers personnel, their career development, and financial management. This includes helping employees explore new technical areas, develop their career directions, mentoring skill development, resolving conflicts, and hiring new talent. Dr. Tuttle received his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2010 under the guidance of Drs. Michael Renfro, Baki Cetegen, and Jeffrey Cohen while researching the lean blow off dynamics of premixed, vitiated, and non-uniformly fueled flames anchored by a bluff body flame

holder. For most of his time as a graduate student, he also worked as an aerothermal engineer at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines where he conducted heat transfer design analysis of combustor, augmentor, and nozzle components; developed a basis-function thermoacoustic analysis modeling tool to predict screech and rumble modes in the development engines for the F-22 and F-35; developed a main burner lean blow off prediction tool; and a range of other challenging projects and tasks. He received his BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT after transferring from Clark College in Vancouver, WA.