Paul DesJardin

Paul DesJardin is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University at Buffalo, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Hybrid Rocket Exascale Simulation Technology (CHREST) and the Combustion and Energy Transport Laboratory (CET). He holds a PhD from Purdue University (1998), an MS from Purdue (1995), and a BS from the University at Buffalo (1993).

His research focuses on multiphase reacting flows, propulsion systems, fire and combustion phenomena, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and fluid-structure interaction. Key areas include radiative heat transfer in combustion systems, turbulent boundary layer dynamics, and advanced numerical methods for exascale computing. His work bridges theoretical models with experimental validation, particularly in hybrid rocket combustion and microgravity environments.

Notable contributions include developing radiative flamelet models for solid fuel flame spread, uncertainty quantification in combustion diagnostics, and physics-informed machine learning approaches for chemistry tabulation. He has pioneered experimental techniques like two-color pyrometry for non-intrusive heat flux measurements in hybrid rocket systems.

Awarded Fellow of ASME (2020) and UB’s Exceptional Scholar Award (2019), his research has been funded through grants focusing on combustion modeling, fire safety, and aerospace engineering challenges. He advises students in fluid dynamics and combustion, leading interdisciplinary teams at CHREST and CET labs.