Waruna Kulatilaka, Ph. D., Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests:
Combustion and Energy Conversion, Optical Diagnostics and Imaging, Laser Spectroscopy, Ultrafast Lasers, Chemical Kinetics, Fluid Flow and Plasma Diagnostics, Supersonic and Hypersonic Propulsion, Gas Turbine Combustion and IC Engines.
Education:
- Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 2006
- M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2002
- B.Sc. (Hons), Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2000
Previous Employment:
- Senior Research Scientist / Onsite Contractor: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RQTC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, 2009–2014.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate: Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, 2007–2008.
Awards & Honors:
- Fellow-American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- Associate Fellow-American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
- Senior Member-Optical Society of America (OSA)
- Board Member, Central States Section-The Combustion Institute (CI)
- Topical Editor (Member of the Editorial Board) – Applied Optics,
- Forty Under 40 Award, Dayton Business Journal 2013
- Invited presenter at the Gordon Research Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Combustion (2013-Full Invited Talk, 2011-Hot Topics Talk
- Member (Elected) – Aerodynamic Measurements Technologies Technical Committee (AMT-TC) and Propellents and Combustion Technical Committee (P&C-TC) of AIAA
- 2012 Outstanding Technical Contribution Award, Dayton Section of ASME
CV:
Graduate Students
Current:
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Yejun Wang, (PhD)
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Ayush Jain, (PhD)
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Nicholas Niemiec, (MS)
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Ayobami Shoyinka (MS/PhD)
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Tyler Paschal, (MS)
Past:
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Morgan O’Neil (MS 2016, Current Position: SpaceX)
Undergraduate Students
Current:
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Kevin Campbell
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Griffin Judge
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Tom Nan
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Will Swain
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Julia Derdena, (Visiting REU Student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Past:
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John Stallings
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Cade Capps
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Patrick Behne (Current Position: Ph. D. Student, Nuclear Engineering, TAMU)
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Brian Brubaker
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Joshua Dudash (Visiting REU Student, Penn State University)
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Bryan Mendoza (University of Texas, El Paso)
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Mario Orrantia (University of Texas, El Paso)