News

3. Tonghun Lee receives the 'Withrow Junior Distinguished Faculty Award' from Michigan State University (3/2012).

2. Tonghun Lee presents progress on high speed (kHz) PLIF imaging at the 2012 Augmentor Design Conference in Jacksonville, FL (3/2012).

1. Steve Hammack will present new results on high speed imaging of plasma enhanced combustion systems at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting (1/2012).

2011

1. Tonghun Lee receives the 'Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)' from President Obama for contributions in application of multi-spectral high speed laser diagnostics in next generation hypersonic propulsion systems. The PECASE award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers and provides a five year $1M grant for further research and development (9/2011).

2. Tonghun Lee and group of MSU researchers have been awarded $5M through the Defense Logistics Agency to investigate next-generation alternative jet fuel for the Air Force,  'Biofuels as a JP-8 Supplement and Replacement Fuel for Aviation and Ground Applications' (9/2011).

3. Tonghun Lee receives the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grant for a multi-spectral high speed PLIF/PIV/RST laser system (6/2011).

4. Tonghun Lee receives the Denso University Research Grant for 'Energetically Enhance Ignition System for Internal Combustion Engines' (6/2011).

5. Tonghun Lee, Andrew Christlieb (Math), and John Verboncoeur (ECE) are awarded a Strategic Partnership Grant ($400K) from the  MSU Foundation to study dynamic optimization of plasma assisted combustion (6/2011).

6. Tonghun Lee will spend eights week at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base as a Faculty Fellow for the 2011 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP) conducting high speed laser imaging research (5/2011).

7. Stephen Hammack receives the prestigious 'National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship' (4/2011).

8. Dr. Xing Rao leaves our research group to join the Facility for Rare Isotope Beam (FRIB) on Campus at Michigan State University (4/2011).

9. Tonghun Lee receives the ONR Young Investigator Program Award from the Office of Naval Research for proposal titled 'Ignition and Oxidation of Bio-Derived Future Navy Fuels' (3/2011).

10. Tonghun Lee receives the Teacher-Scholar Award from Michigan State University at the Awards Convocation (3/2011).

11. 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit (Orlando, Florida, 4-7th January 2011):

• Stephen Hammack presents work on 'plasma assisted combustion in a microwave waveguide system'

• Casey Allen presents work on 'combustion of bio-derived jet fuels'

2010

1. Tonghun Lee  receives research funding ($340K) for the AFOSR 2010 Capstone Research Project, 'Optimization of a small-scale engine using plasma enhanced ignition' by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (9/2010).

2. Daekeun Chun joins our research group to complete is MS/PhD degree. Daekeun has recently completed his B.S. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MSU (8/2010).

3. 33rd Combustion Symposium (Beijing, China, 7/2010):

• Xing Rao presents work on 'laser diagnostics for plasma enhanced system using direct plasma coupling'

• Casey Allen presents work on 'energetic nanoparticle enhanced combustion in a aerosol rapid compression machine'

4. Stephen Hammack is awarded the 'Colucci Fellowship' and the 'Derbitaki Fellowship' for his work in plasma enhanced combustion for hypersonic propulsion (1/2009).

5. Tonghun Lee will spend eights week at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base as a Faculty Fellow for the 2010 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP) conducting laser imaging research on a direct coupled plasma-combustion system (5/2009).

6. Tonghun Lee is the recipient of the SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from SAE International. Award is presented at the SAE World Congress (Detroit) in April. (2/2010).

7. 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit (Orlando, Florida, 4-8th January 2010):

• Xing Rao presents work on 'A re-entrant cavity microwave plasma applicator'

1. Tonghun Lee and group of MSU researchers have been awarded $2.5M through the Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOE ARPA-E) to develop 'wave disk engine' technology for hybrid propulsion systems. 37 proposals were funded from a pool of more than 3700 (10/2009).

2. Stephen Hammack and Zach Williamson join our research group. Stephen will be conducting laser diagnostics research on plasma enhanced flames, and Zach will be optimizing miniature air breathing fuel cells using optical diagnostics. (8/2009).

3. Casey Allen presents new work on nanoparticle enhanced jet fuels (JP-8) at the Joint Combustion Meeting in Ann Arbor, MI (5/2009).

4. Tonghun Lee receives the 2008-2009 Withrow Teaching Excellence Award from the John D. and Dortha J. Withrow Endowment. The award will be presented at the 19th Engineering Awards Luncheon on the 26th of March (3/2009).

5. Tonghun Lee will spend eights week at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base as a Faculty Fellow for the 2010 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP) conducting laser imaging research on development of a direct coupled plasma combustion system (5/2009).

6. Casey Allen is awarded the 'Colucci Fellowship' for his work in combustion of next generation biofuels (1/2009).

7. Dr. Elisa Toulson joins our research group as a postdoctoral scholar after completing her degree at the University of Melbourne (1/2009).

8. 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit (Orlando, Florida, 5-8th January 2009):

• Xing Rao presents work on 'nitric oxide detection for plasma assisted combustion systems'

• Casey Allen presents work on 'combustion of nanoparticle enhanced liquid fuels

1. Tonghun Lee receives the AFOSR Young Investigators Program Award for proposal 'Laser Diagnostics for Plasma-Assisted Combustion in Scramjets (10/2008).

2. Tonghun Lee is awarded grant ($235K) from Sogang University, Korea through the International Collaboration Program to study oxidizer units for ultralight portable fuel cells using laser diagnostics (11/2008).

3. Toyota Engineering Research Center donates 5.7L 381hp V8 test engine for research and education. The engine will be used for design day activities for K-12 outreach and education in 2009.

4. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan visits the 'Energy and Automotive Research Laboratory'. Senator Levin expressed encouragement and support for alternative fuel and thermoelectric research at Michigan State University.

2007

1. Tonghun Lee and group of MSU faculty awarded a $2.4M grant from the Department of Energy to study novel biofuels for advanced combustion and propulsion systems for the future.

2. Tonghun Lee is awarded the IRGP New Faculty Award from Michigan State University. The award will also include a $40K grant to study plasma assisted combustion of alternative fuels.