Academic Degrees
S.B, 1971, Massachusetts Institute of Technology S.M., 1972, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D., 1975, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Honors and Awards
Seven best paper awards; the American Institute of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Gas Turbine Award; the ASME Gas Turbine Scholar Award; the ASME R. Tom Sawyer Award; the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Dryden Lectureship in Research; the International Gas Turbine Institute Gas Turbine Technology Award; the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute Turnbull Lectureship; the Engineer’s Council Honorary Engineer of the Year Award; the General James H. Doolittle Award.
Society Memberships
U.S. National Academy of Engineering; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Honorary Fellow; American Institute of Mechanical Engineers Fellow; UK Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow.
Positions Held at MIT
Assistant, associate, full professor 1980-1997; R.C. MacLaurin Professor, 1997-2009; Director Gas Turbine Laboratory, 1996-2008.
Positions Held outside MIT
Pratt & Whitney VP Research and Environment; National Research Council (NRC) Board on Army Science and Technology Chair; NRC Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Chair; NASA Advisory Council.
Specialization and Research Interests
Aerospace propulsion, aerospace and the environmental, energy conversion, micro devices and MEMS, gas turbines, engine controls, turbomachinery fluid mechanics and noise, turbine heat transfer, instrumentation and measurement.
People Category: AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum 2021
Ashlie Flegel
Ms. Ashlie B. Flegel is the Deputy Project Manager of the Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project in the Advanced Air Vehicle Program at NASA. Ashlie has fourteen years of experience in the Turbomachinery field at NASA Glenn Research Center. She has held the roles of a Mechanical Test Engineer, Aerospace Research Engineer, and Project Manager. Her broad experience has led her from managing the operations of compressor, turbine, and nozzle research facilities to specializing in turbine aerodynamic and heat transfer experimental research and leading NASA’s Engine Icing research. Currently Ashlie is managing a project with the goal of developing small core engine technologies for the next generation of turbofan engines with improvements in efficiency, durability, performance, and hybridization.
Chris Tindal
Chris joined CAAFI as Assistant Director after a 40-year career in the Navy. Previously, Chris was the Director for Operational Energy underneath the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Navy for Energy, where he was in charge of setting energy policy and direction for the Department of the Navy and promoting the adoption of alternative fuels and renewable energy resources. He was the Navy leader of the pioneering USDA/DOE/Navy Alternative Fuels Initiative which developed programs to launch the advanced biofuels industry. In his role, Chris successfully led the Great Green Fleet effort, in which the U.S. Navy acquired and used 77 million gallons of F-76 alternative fuel blend for their ships in the Great Green Fleet deployment in 2016. Chris is also an Adjunct Professor on the faculty of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Queensland. In that role, Professor Tindal assists in exploring research and development opportunities for QUT, as well as investigating potential opportunities to establish biorefineries in the State of Queensland. Chris graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1980 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Richard Kamin
Mr. Kamin currently serves as the lead for the Naval Aviation Operational Energy Program and as the NAVAIR Aviation Fuels and Lubricants Technical Warrant Holder. His responsibilities include Technical Authority for Navy and Marine Corps aviation fuels and lubricants and direction of the Navy’s Aircraft Operation Energy and Tactical Fuels programs.
From 2010-2016, Mr. Kamin led both the Navy’s Task Force Energy Aviation Operation Energy and Tactical Fuels Working Groups. Under his guidance the Tactical Fuels Working Group developed systematic synthetic fuel qualification protocols and successfully tested and qualified multiple synthetic fuel processes for both Naval Aircraft and Ship applications. In addition, the WG successfully led the first operational fleet demonstration of a synthetic fuel in 2012. The Aviation Operational Energy Working Group successfully developed and demonstrated multiple air vehicle and engine efficiency technologies and implemented operational best practices to enhance mission capability through more energy efficient operations.
From 2006-2009, Mr. Kamin served as the Tactical Energy Plans, Policies and Technologies Lead for the Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Readiness Division. Responsibilities included management of the Operational Energy portfolio, the development of the Navy’s Alternative Fuels Program and the framework that led to the implementation of the Navy’s Task Force Energy.
From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Kamin served as Navy Fuels Team Lead. Responsibilities included the technical direction of the Navy’s In-service Engineering and RDT&E programs. Under his direction the team provided technical support to the Fleet, Program Offices and IPTs. In addition, the team developed and demonstrated the performance and durability impacts of fuel properties/chemistry on Naval aircraft and ships, as well as technical advancements in areas of fuels prognostics and diagnostics, fuel handling/filtration and aircraft ground refueling.
In 2000, Mr. Kamin served as Mobility Fuels Manager for the Chief of Naval Operations Energy Plans and Policies Office. Responsibilities included the development and chartering of the Navy-wide Naval Fuels and Lubricants Cross Functional Team.
Mr. Kamin holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University.
Mr. Kamin was inducted into the NAVAIR Technical Fellows Program in 2001, was selected as a full Fellow in 2004 and as an Esteemed Fellow in 2011. He holds one U.S. Patent and has authored over 60 technical papers. He is a member of the ASTM D2 Petroleum Products and Lubricants Committee, Coordinating Research Council Aviation Fuel Steering Committee, International Association for the Stability, Handling and Use of Liquid Fuels Steering Committee, NATO Fuels and Lubricants WG, Five Eyes Air Forces Interoperability Council Aviation Fuels and Lubricants WG, Tri-Service POL Users Group Steering Committee, and Chairs the Naval Fuels and Lubricants Cross Functional Team.
Eric Allison
Eric serves as Joby Aviation’s Head of Product. He most recently led the Elevate team at Uber, developing software tools that built on more than a decade of experience enabling on-demand mobility. His experience in aerospace research, electric propulsion, energy storage, vehicle autonomy, and composite structures led him to the CEO position at Zee Aero, where he spearheaded the development of Cora, an autonomous air taxi vehicle. Eric holds a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford, an MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford, and a BS from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Gary Mills
Gary Mills is a Staff Consultant at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., with 35 years of experience in the design, analysis, fabrication, and test of thermal, cryogenic and optical systems. Mr. Mills was the system engineer on the Ball program that designed, fabricated and tested the liquid hydrogen fuel tanks for the Boeing Phantom Eye aircraft. He was the system engineer for the combined liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen demonstration dewar delivered to the Long-Endurance Undersea Vehicle Propulsion (LEUVP) Demonstration Program. Mr. Mills is the inventor of Integrated Multilayer Insulation (IMLI concept) and co-inventor of Load Responsive Multilayer Insulation (LRMLI).
John Kelly
John is the Engineering Director for the Propulsion and Powerplant Systems team at Boom Supersonic. He is responsible for building a world class engineering team that will design, test, certify and support the propulsion and powerplant related systems for the new supersonic aircraft Overture. John is a veteran of the aerospace industry with 30 years of experience divided between new product development and in-service production build & support.
Prior to joining Boom, John was an Engineering Director at The Nordam Group where he was responsible for design and certification activities across the company’s various corporate divisions. John also spent 19 years at Gulfstream Aerospace where he held various positions with increasing responsibilities up to engineering director. He directed teams responsible for powerplant systems, environmental controls, fuel and oxygen, as well as acoustics and thermodynamics.
John’s experience also includes being a senior engineer for External Systems & Integration at Pratt & Whitney Canada working on new turboshaft engines for helicopter platforms. He also worked at Bell Helicopter as a powerplant systems design engineer where he was directly involved in the development of 4 new helicopter programs and production support.
John earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Concordia University in
Montreal, Quebec and a certificate in Aircraft Technology from Ecole Nationale D’Aerotechnique in St Hubert, Quebec.
Troy Warshel
Mr. Troy Warshel is the Principal Director, Operational Energy Policy and Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Operational Energy, Washington, D.C. where he leads the development of the Air Force Operational Energy strategy, Operational Energy policy, and guidance for integration and implementation
across the Air Force.
Mr. Warshel received his commission in the United States Marine Corps 1991. After completing The Basic School in Quantico Virginia he was assigned to NAS Pensacola where he began his Naval Aviator flight training. Subsequently selected for the Jet Pipeline, Mr Warshel reported to NAS Meridian MS for intermediate and advanced Jet
training and was selected as an F/A-18 Pilot. During 20 years of service, Mr. Warshel served as an FA/18 instructor pilot, a Joint Tactical Air Controller, Commanded an Infantry Company, and held several staff positions at Headquarters Marine Corps.
Following his military retirement, Mr. Warshel transitioned to the civilian sector and worked for the Marine Corps as a Readiness Analyst. Mr. Warshel’s service continued as he transitioned to the Army where he oversaw the $1.8B budget for the Army Counter IED/EOD Solutions office. During that time he was able to oversee the transition of high tech counter IED technologies through rapid fielding and in close coordination with JIEDO to support ground units in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2013 Mr. Warshel was selected as the Deputy Director of Current Operations for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy and was subsequently promoted to Director. In that position Mr. Warshel directed energy resilience studies of bases in Iraq and Afghanistan that identified energy saving measures that reduced fuel convoys. He coordinated with OSD Policy to begin energy assessments of Plans to
ensure energy supportability. When the office transitioned to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Mr. Warshel oversaw the shore based nuclear power program for the Department. He also led initiatives to understand the resilience gaps in the Bulk Fuel supply chain and drove efforts to adapt to support distributed
operations.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Warshel was Director of Operational Energy Resilience, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.