Dr. Carl Knowlen

Biography

Carl Knowlen received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Washington in 1983 and 1985, respectively. He completed his Ph.D. program in 1991 and accepted a Postdoctoral Research Associate position at the University of Washington’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His research extended into shockwave chemical reactors during this time. In 1996, he was invited by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to spend months collaborating with faculty from Tohoku University and Hiroshima University on ram accelerators and related technologies. Upon returning to UW, Dr. Knowlen advanced through the professional staff ranks to become a Research Scientist and Senior Research Scientist by 2003. He has regularly taught courses in the AA Department since 2002 and was appointed to his current position as Research Associate Professor in 2015. His research interests are concentrated on energy conversion, combustion physics, and hypervelocity propulsion. He investigates phenomena associated with high-speed objects interacting with combustible mixtures, emphasizes modeling reactive systems for detailed flow characteristics, and conducts joint modeling and experimental research. His current projects include ram accelerator developments, shockwave reactors for hydrocarbon upgrading, control techniques for continuous rotating detonation engines, and developing green propellant technologies for microthrusters and cryogenic energy storage systems.

Research Interests