Rate My Professor Paul Desjardin

Paul DesJardin is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo, where he joined the faculty in 2002. A University at Buffalo alumnus, he earned his BS in Aerospace Engineering from the university in 1993, followed by an MS in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1998 from Purdue University. As Director of the Combustion and Energy Transport Laboratory (CET), DesJardin leads research focused on multiphase reacting flows, propulsion systems, fire and combustion phenomena, computational fluid dynamics, and fluid-structure simulations. His work addresses applications in hybrid rocket motors, wood-fired heating systems, and high-speed combustion environments. He directs the Center for Hybrid Rocket Exascale Simulation Technology (CHREST), established with an $8.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, employing exascale computing and machine learning to model turbulent mixing and fuel entrainment in combustion processes. Over his career, DesJardin has secured more than $16.2 million in research funding and produced over 100 journal articles and conference presentations.

DesJardin's scholarly impact is evidenced by key publications such as 'Radiation Heat Transfer in Ablating Boundary Layer Combustion Theory used for Hybrid Rocket Motor Analysis' (Combustion and Flame, 2020), 'Development of a non-intrusive radiative heat flux measurement for upward flame spread using DSLR camera based two-color pyrometry' (Combustion and Flame, 2019), 'Numerical Modeling of Homogeneous Gas and Heterogeneous Char Combustion for a Wood-Fired Hydronic Heater' (Renewable Energy, 2019), 'On the development and application of a droplet flamelet-generated manifold for use in two-phase turbulent combustion simulations' (Combustion and Flame, 2017), and 'Formulation and Assessment of Flamelet-Generated Manifolds for Reacting Interfaces' (Combustion and Flame, 2016). His contributions to the field include service on the ASME K-11 Fire and Combustion Technical Committee and organization of technical sessions for the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) and National Heat Transfer conferences. DesJardin has been honored with the ASME Fellowship (2021), UB Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement (2019), UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Senior Researcher of the Year (2018), AIAA Associate Fellowship (2016), NSF CAREER Award (2004), and SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2009).