Blunck Research Group

The Director

Dr. David L. Blunck

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Program of College of Engineering

Professor in the Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering (MIME) Department

Covell Hall 121 
541-737-7095
David.Blunck@oregonstate.edu

My vision for using my profession to improve the world includes: (1) performing internationally recognized research in the fields of propulsion and wildfire to help address societal needs; (2) helping students to develop skills and credentials needed to become leaders in addressing global challenges; and (3) leading efforts to improve student retention, graduation, and career readiness. 

My team’s research enables or improves the prediction or utilization of energy within natural systems (e.g., wildfires) and propulsion devices (e.g., gas turbine engines).  Our research is impactful because we innovative in my experimental methodologies, and we identify research questions that truly impact end-users. For example, we identified a missing critical input for models of wildfire spread (i.e., source terms of firebrand generation) and our group burned over 150 >3m tall trees (harvested using best practices) and collected firebrands using a pioneering technique that we developed.  Frankly, we don’t know of any other academic institution that conducts research of this scale!  More importantly, because of this work the fire community now actually has source terms that can be used in detailed physics models – a major limitation before my research.  Our firebrand research has garnered significant (i.e., 35 instances) international, national, and regional recognition in articles or videos (e.g., National Geographic, National Public Radio).  

As an example of my propulsion research, we recognized a need to understand how combustion products influence combustion behavior so that afterburners can be more cost effectively designed.  Leveraging funding from a Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research, our team systematically identifies sensitives (or lack thereof) of ignition, flames, and detonations to the presence of combustion products.  
Both my wildfire and propulsion research draw on my experiences as a researcher for Air Force Research Laboratory where I led a team performing fundamental combustion research.  In this role, I honed my skills of recognizing impactful research needs and then developing experiments to interrogate fundamental scientific principles.

Dr. Blunck’s scholarly accomplishments are internationally recognized. He has published 40 peer-reviewed papers, over 60 conference publications, 2 book sections, and has given 40 invited presentations. His research has received international and national media attention (e.g., National Public Ratio in 2021, National Geographic in 2020, Discovery Channel in 2018, etc.). U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said, “…David Blunck has proven himself a key contributor to understanding the fundamentals of wildfire growth … This work could be critically important to understanding and preventing the growth of the catastrophic wildfires plaguing the West.” 

Research Associate

Dr. Deepak Sharma

Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering

Email: sharmade@oregonstate.edu

Dr. Sharma is a dedicated and passionate researcher who believes in solving societal issues with scientific discoveries. As a Faculty Research Associate at Oregon State University, Deepak not only conducts groundbreaking research but also nurtures the next generation of scholars, guiding graduate and undergraduate students toward impactful discoveries.

Deepak’s current endeavors span a wide array of critical areas, from energy recovery solutions to wildfire behavior analysis, all geared toward fostering safety and sustainability. Before his current role, Deepak worked as a postdoctoral researcher and developed a liquid fuel injector for a supersonic linearized rotating detonation engine. Deepak’s doctorate research aimed at developing a novel airblast atomization mechanism with complete suppression of fouling and a low-grade heat-based actuator for a reliable and electricity-free desalination unit. Deepak's research journey began with a master's degree from IIT Patna in 2016, where he laid the foundation for his research career. He worked on phase-change thermal management using flow-boiling microchannel heat sinks. He also worked as a Junior Research Fellow on renewable energy technology called gasifiers to operate absorption-desorption refrigeration systems.

Deepak's illustrious journey in academia is peppered with remarkable achievements. In his short career span, he has published 2 patents and multiple articles in reputed peer-reviewed journals and conferences, received best master’s thesis award, and many more secured by his students under his mentorship. With total funding of $159,000, his initiatives pave the way for 2 graduate and 11 undergraduate students to delve into the electrification of waste heat, advancement in propulsion systems, and the intricacies of ignition in the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

Research Focus: Industrial waste heat recovery in low-temperature ranges, ignition potential (temperature and heat flux) of firebrands generated in WUI fire, propulsion systems, biomass stoves and gasifiers for heat and energy, thermal water desalination and treatment for fresh water and minerals, phase-change cooling systems, vapor venting strategies and surface engineering for wettability alteration.

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

Dr. Ajay Singh

Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering

Email: singhaja@oregonstate.edu

Dr. Singh is a consistent and hardworking researcher with a background and working experience in multidisciplinary areas of engineering. Currently, he is working as a postdoc in CIRE lab under the mentorship of Dr. Blunck. He is working on two research projects; 1) close-loop control of an automated woodstove to reduce PM emission (funded by DOE) and 2) identifying ignition and burning behavior of live fuel during wildfires (funded by SERDP). He earned is doctorate degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (India), an institute of national importance. His Doctoral research focused on understanding cyclic combustion dynamics of advanced low temperature (HCCI & RCCI) and conventional (SI & CI) internal combustion engines using nonlinear and chaotic methods. Out of his PhD work he published 6 research papers in peer-reviewed journals with high impact factor. He has published and presented his research work in both International and National conferences. He did his Masters’ degree in Hydropower Engineering from MANIT, Bhopal, one of the prestigious institutes of national importance in India. He did his bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics.

His work and expertise include but not limited to Combustion in IC Engines and wood stoves, wildfires, statistical and nonlinear time series analysis, developing DAQ systems using LABVIEW and Arduino, Microcontroller (Arduino), Machine Learning, chaotic analysis, electromechanical systems. He has an experience of teaching various undergrad courses for more than 3 years. He has an excellent academic record securing 1st position in both his Master’s and bachelor’s program. Dr. Singh is also a good poet and performer and has won many awards for his poetry and standup.

Research Focus: Cyclic Combustion Dynamics of Low-Temperature (HCCI & RCCI) and conventional (SI &CI) combustion Engines, Non-linear and Chaotic time series analysis, Quantification of determinism in dynamics, Model/Control of burning in Wood Stove, Wildfire Spread

Nate Gardner (Ph.D)

Email: gardnena@oregonstate.edu

Research Group: CIRE LAB

Role in Research Group: Graduate Research Assistant

Major: Mechanical engineering, thermal fluid sciences

Field of Research: I study wildfire combustion with a focus on the burning behavior of live fuels. I do experimental design at a laboratory scale, carry out experiments, and perform data analysis.

Year joined/Intended graduation: 2019-2024

Notable: Bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, ARCS Foundation Scholar, selected for Gas Turbine Industrial Fellowship.

Prabin Shrestha (Ph.D)

Research Group: CIRE LAB

Role in Research Group: Identifying key physics in forced air combustion in heating stoves

Major: Mechanical Engineering (Thermal–Fluid Sciences)

Field of Research: Wood Combustion Diagnostics

Year joined/Intended graduation: 2022 / 2025-26

Notable: Responsible for managing Environmental Health and Safety portal for the Blunck Lab

David Evitt (Ph.D)

CIRE LAB

Research Focus: Identifying Scaling and Design Rules for Air Jets in Biomass Combustion.

Applying fan-driven jets of air to household-scale biomass combustion devices such as wood cooking and heating stoves can reduce particulate emissions on the order of 90% with optimized hardware and operation. This research aims to develop deisng rules based on scaling variables to help device designers implement this pollution reduction approach and accelerate adoption.

Kyle Weber (Ph.D)

Research Group: PROPULSION LAB

Role in Research Group: Propulsion Lab Researcher

Major: Thermal/Fluid Sciences

Field of Research: Detonation, Rotating Detonation Combustors

Year joined/Intended graduation: Joined in 2021/ Graduate 2025

Michelle Gee (M.S.)

Research Group: CIRE Lab 

Role: Graduate Research Assistant 

Year joined/Intended graduation: 2023/2024 

Major: mechanical engineering, thermal-fluid sciences 

Field of Research: My research focus is within combustion, on fuel consumption modeling. I am currently working on a model with detailed chemical kinetics for reacting flows in porous media. It solves transport equations from a chemical composition input of reference species cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, non-structural carbophydrates, and lipids in 1d to predict mass evolution for living vegetative fuels.  

Notable: I did my undergrad at OSU-Cascades in Bend where I did undergraduate research in the Water and Energy Technologies Lab. I graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2022 and began work as a research engineer. In 2023, I moved to Corvallis and started grad school in the CIRE lab. In my free time, I like rock climbing outside with friends and my dog Wayne. 

Marshall Andersen (M.S.)

Research Group: CIRE Lab

Role in Research Group: Graduate Research Assistant

Major: Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Fluid Science

Field of Research: Wildfire fuel pyrolysis and ignition

Year joined/Intended graduation: Spring 2022

Notable: Developed TG-FTIR-GC method to study time dependent production of pyroyzates from solid fuel. Results are expected to improve accuracy of wildfire fuel models representing living fuel.

Mayowa Omisanya

Research Group: CIRE Lab 

Role in Research Group: Graduate Research Assistant 

Major: Mechanical engineering, thermal fluid sciences

Field of Research: Network reactor models, Emissions reduction in wood stove.

Year joined/Intended graduation: 2023/2026-2027

Notable: Recipient of Chinese Government Scholarship. Have experience working on pool and flow boiling experiments. Currently predicting emissions reduction using network reactor models.