Cryogenic Fluid Management Technologies at Creare

Date: October 3, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Creare LLC is a small business of 190 employees in Hanover, New Hampshire.  The company has been in operation since 1961 focusing on research and development of highly engineered technologies and products.  Creare has a broad technology portfolio but a consistent business area since inception has been thermal and fluid management systems.  During the last 4 decades, we have worked on space-borne cryocoolers and cryogenic fluid/thermal management to support NASA’s space science and exploration initiatives.  More recently, we have worked on cryogenic cooling systems for detectors in proliferated space architectures for earth science and missile defense.  In today’s presentation, Dr. Zagarola will provide an overview of Creare’s work on cryocoolers and cryogenic fluid management devices, and the associated technical challenges with making these devices for space.

Biographical Sketch: Dr. Zagarola is a Principal Engineer and Partner at Creare LLC.  Since joining Creare in 1995, he has focused his efforts on the development of cryocoolers, advanced space-flight thermal management hardware, and cryocooler control electronics. He currently leads Creare’s cryocooler business area. During his tenure, he has provided programmatic and technical leadership to many cryocooler development activities including turbo-Brayton and J-T cryocoolers, the development of turbo-Brayton technologies such as advanced recuperators and gas bearing turbomachines, and development of cryocooler drive electronics.  He was chairman of the 20th International Cryocooler Conference (ICC), served on the boards of the ICC and Cryogenic Society of America, and was a technical editor for several volumes of Advances in Cryogenic Engineering. In 2024, he received the ICC Exceptional Service Award for his long-time contributions to the ICC and the cryogenic community.  Mark has authored or coauthored over 80 papers documenting his work in the field of cryogenics.

Dr. Zagarola received his B.S.M.E degree from Rutgers University and his M.S.M.E and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University.  While at Princeton University, Dr. Zagarola designed, planned, and implemented a unique, 28 ton, pipe flow facility that provided accurate data at Reynolds number over one order of magnitude larger than previous experiments. Data that he acquired and theories that he proposed provided new insights into the scaling of wall-bounded shear flows.

Time series based robust damage and fault diagnosis for engineering structures and systems under uncertainty

Date: September 26, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: The problem of damage and fault diagnosis for structures and engineering systems operating under uncertainty is addressed via statistical time series based methods. A critical overview of the main principles, underlying assumptions, and available approaches is presented. The issue of robustness, arising from the need for counteracting the effects of uncertainty, including that due to varying Environmental and Operational Conditions (EOCs) and populations of similar structures and systems, is demonstrated. The main approaches for achieving robustness are presented, with emphasis on conceptual and practical simplicity, ease of use, operation with a low number of sensors and limited numbers of training signals, physical interpretability, and the achievement of high-performance even for early faults. The novel holistic Functional Model (FM) based method, within which the subproblems of damage/fault detection, precise localization, and level estimation may be seamlessly integrated, is then introduced and its various forms are discussed. Application case studies, pertaining to damage diagnosis for engineering structures and systems under uncertainty are presented, with diagnostic performance systematically assessed. The presentation concludes with remarks on the status of the technology and future perspectives.

Biographical Sketch: Spilios Fassois is Professor and Founding Director of the Stochastic Mechanical Systems and Automation (SMSA) Laboratory at the University of Patras, Greece. He previously served on the faculty of the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. His research interests include stochastic mechanical and aeronautical systems, statistical time series methods, data-based modeling, diagnostics, Structural Health Monitoring, and Machine Learning with applications on structural, vehicular, aeronautical, and other engineering systems. He is the recipient of the 2023 `Evangelos Papanoutsos Excellence in Teaching Award’ at the University of Patras, the 1990 `Excellence in Teaching Award of the College of Engineering’ at the University of Michigan, and various other awards and distinctions. He is Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (MSSP), Board Member for additional international journals, and Scientific Committee member for numerous international conferences. He has given numerous Keynote and other invited presentations, has organized 5 Thematic Issues for esteemed international journals, and published over 320 articles in technical journals, conference proceedings, and encyclopedias, with his work being supported by industry and national/international funding agencies.

Hybrid-Electric Propulsion System For Commercial And Military Aircrafts

Date: September 19, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Decarbonizing long-haul air travel is essential to climate change mitigation but remains difficult because present alternatives to fossil fuels are constrained by energy density, mass, packaging, infrastructure, manufacturing readiness, and entrenched operating practices. Hybrid-electric propulsion offers a pragmatic near term pathway by pairing high-specific-energy liquid fuels with electric machines and power electronics to cut fuel burn and emissions while enabling novel engine airframe integration. Our discussions examines how the aerospace and defense start-up Marc-Antoni is developing a hybrid-electric propulsion system for single-aisle aircraft and evaluate its commercial viability across performance, weight, safety, certification, maintainability, and cost. The analysis focuses on core technologies, high efficiency generators and motors, propulsion system configurations, energy storage, and outlines a maturation roadmap. Our discussions also assesses defense applications. Confronted by growing threats from unmanned aerial systems and advanced missiles, the U.S. military is increasing its demand for non-kinetic, high-speed effects such as directed-energy weapons. These systems are limited by onboard power generation, power quality, and heat rejection. We will explore hybrid-electric architectures which could be adapted to combat aircrafts to provide higher continuous and pulsed electrical power with improved thermal margins, thereby enabling advanced electronic warfare and directed-energy capabilities.

Biographical Sketch: Ric Duncanson, a serial tech entrepreneur, is the founder of Marc-Antoni, an aerospace & defense start-up developing hybrid electric propulsion systems for civil and military aviation applications. Ric is an expert in technology transfer and the evaluation of intellectual property for commercialization, as evidenced by his acquisition of over 10 patents, ranging from lithium-ion cell components to a novel turbofan design. From 2017 to 2020, Ric was a member of the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC) program where he developed a robotic steering system for high-performance autonomous vehicles, as well as a four-motor full-torque vectoring all-wheel-drive system for high-performance electric race cars. Currently, Marc-Antoni is a member of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Technology Incubator Program (TIP), where the company is developing several research & development projects, including Titanium Niobium Oxide (TNO) lithium-ion cell, partially superconducting machines, and a superconducting turbofan. Although not a formally trained engineer or scientist, Ric considers himself an autodidact, having cultivated profound expertise in the engineering and scientific principles of the various subject matters associated with his innovations.

Topological Elastic Metamaterials: An introduction and application to the analog Quantum Spin Hall Effect

Date: April 25, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Inspired by recent discoveries of topological phases of matter in quantum physics, there has been a rapidly growing research effort to uncover analog mechanisms in classical wave physics, including acoustics and elastodynamics. By properly acting on time reversal, chiral, and particle-hole symmetries, material systems obeying the laws of classical mechanics can deliver dispersion properties reminiscent of selected quantum mechanical systems. Among the many remarkable characteristics of these materials, their ability to support unidirectional propagating waves is particularly significant and it could serve as a foundational property to achieve waveguides that are robust even in presence of disorder and defects. This talk will discuss the general concept of a topological elastic metamaterial, the foundational role played by the geometric phase, and finally present a selected example of a topological elastic metamaterial from recent works conducted in Prof. Semperlotti’s group. More specifically, a topological elastic waveguide inspired by a mechanism analog to the quantum Spin Hall effect will be discussed. A combination of theoretical, numerical, and experimental results will be presented to illustrate how unidirectional propagating guided modes can be achieved at the interface between elastic material phases having different topological order. These so-called edge states are topologically protected against backscattering, hence allowing efficient elastic energy transmission even in presence of defects and disorder. Such unique propagation properties could have a profound impact on the development of many real-world applications and on the performance of practical devices whose operating mechanism is rooted in the physics of acoustic and elastic waves.

Biographical Sketch: Dr. Fabio Semperlotti is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Perry Academic Excellence Scholar at Purdue University; he also holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering. He directs the Structural Health Monitoring and Dynamics laboratory (SHMD) where he conducts, together with his group, research on several aspects of structures and materials design including structural dynamics and wave propagation, elastic metamaterials, structural health monitoring, and computational and experimental mechanics. His research has received financial support from a variety of sources including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and industrial sponsors. Dr. Semperlotti was the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award (2015), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program (YIP) (2015), the DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) 2019, and the ASME C.D. Mote Jr. Early Career Award 2019. Dr. Semperlotti received a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering (2000), and a M.S. in Astronautic Engineering (2002) both from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (Italy), and a Ph.D. in Aerospace engineering (2009) from the Pennsylvania State University (USA). In 2010, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Semperlotti served as a structural engineer for a few European aerospace industries, including the French Space Agency (CNES), working on the structural design of space launch systems and satellite platforms.

PM_2.5 in Health and Atmospheric Science

Date: April 11, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Air pollution has been a problem as long as there have been cities.  Major air pollution disasters in the mid-20^th century prompted efforts to understand and control air quality.  Episodes in Europe and the eastern USA were linked to primary emissions from coal combustion and heavy industries, while those in the western USA, especially the infamous Los Angeles smog involved photochemical generation of secondary pollutants, both gases like ozone and the smog that degraded visibility as the day progressed.   A study of the smog aerosol revealed characteristics that, when combined with efforts to understand the health impacts of inhaled particles, formed the foundation for the first regulations regulate airborne particulate matter concentrations, ultimately leading to PM_2.5 as the primary particulate air quality standard.  PM_2.5, the mass concentration of particles smaller than about 2.5 µm, describes the fine particles that can penetrate to the lower airways, including the alveolar region, when inhaled.  This seminar will explore this history and examples of its impact, including the recent southern California fires.  Since PM_2.5 first appeared in the scientific literature, PM_2.5 has been referenced in more than 50,000 papers.  With this prominence, many studies limit their focus to PM_2.5, or to chemical composition, black carbon, and other properties of that size fraction.  Health studies report exacerbations of respiratory and cardiovascular health effects close to roadways, and some suggest that a common suspect, black carbon, is not the culprit, but that ultrafine particles (< 100 nm diameter) may be responsible, but the mass concentration of such particles is usually too small to be detectable within PM_2.5.  The exclusion of these small particles, and of larger ones, also means that the growing PM_2.5 bias in atmospheric particle measurements misses parts particles that govern atmospheric aerosol dynamics, confounding efforts to understand even PM_2.5.  We shall, therefore, also examine some of the limitations of PM_2.5, and highlight research opportunities that this bias creates.

Biographical Sketch: Richard Flagan is the Irma and Ross McCollum/William H Corcoran Professor of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science and Engineering at the California Institute of Technology.  He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and his SM and PhD from MIT, also in Mechanical Engineering.  He joined the Environmental Engineering Science department of Caltech after a couple of years as a postdoc and Lecturer at MIT.  Although his PhD research with John Appleton in Mechanical Engineering, and postdoctoral studies were with Adel Sarofim and John Heywood in Chemical Engineering, Flagan shifted his focus to aerosols upon joining the Caltech Faculty.  Primarily an experimentalist, his contributions include numerous advances in aerosol measurements, particularly in the nanoparticle regime with the first low pressure impactor, the scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), and others.  He pioneered chamber studies that determined aerosol yields of a wide range of anthropogenic and biogenic hydrocarbons, and the SMPS to measure size distributions of nanoparticles in airborne measurements.   Flagan has published over 420 papers, and holds 28 patents.  Though out of print, his textbook has been downloaded over 350,000 times.  Flagan has received numerous awards, including the Fuchs Memorial Award of the International Aerosol Research Assembly, the highest award in the field of aerosol science, and the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award from the California Air Resources Board.  He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and has received two honorary doctorates.  He has served as Chair of the Faculty at Caltech, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the California Council on Science and Technology.