David L. Blunck

Dr. David Blunck is Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, with appointments in Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering. He directs the Combustion, Ignition, Radiation and Energy (CIRE) Laboratory and co-founded the Propulsion Laboratory. His research spans fundamental combustion processes from smoldering combustion to detonations, with applications in wildfire mitigation and propulsion systems.

Dr. Blunck earned his Ph.D. (2010) and M.S. (2008) in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and B.S. from Brigham Young University (2005). Prior to OSU, he conducted fundamental combustion research at the Air Force Research Laboratory. His wildfire research on firebrand generation has received international recognition from National Geographic, NPR, and Discovery Channel.