Bio: Greg Young is a Professor in Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State, and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He leads a research group that is focused on combustion, high-speed propulsion, and energetic materials and was recently named the Mary Virginia Jones Research Professor in Rocketry. Prior to joining Virginia Tech in 2019, he held the position of Senior Technical Leader for Combustion and Propulsion in the Research Department at the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Indian Head Division (NSWC). During his time at NSWC, Dr. Young was involved with the design and analysis of solid rocket motors while also conducting research on combustion, propulsion systems, and energetic materials. He was named the Dr. Delores Etter Scientist and Engineer of the Year award winner for the Navy for his work in developing high energy density fuels for hybrid rocket applications.

Abstract: Solid rockets possess a number of desirable qualities such as high energy density and shelf life making them a popular solution for many propulsion applications. However, in the roughly 80 years since the first rubbery composite propellants emerged, relatively little has changed. Solid propellants in use today are still plagued by their two main weaknesses, that is the inability to be throttled or to be extinguished. This results in propulsion systems with very little operational flexibility. Furthermore, performance is still limited today by C, H, and O chemistry. These limitations beg the question, what is the most impactful development we can hope for with solid rockets? This seminar will explore how this single question has shaped the research activities of the Propulsion and Energetics Laboratory at Virginia Tech. This will include a detailed discussion about how we can use commonly available (and inexpensive) materials to target specific mechanisms to develop new solid propellants whose combustion can be actively controlled. In other words, propellants which can be ignited, quenched, reignited, and throttled.