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Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program (2001)

Chapter: Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10254.
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Appendix B
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

TOM MAHEFKEY, Chair, retired from the Air Force Wright Laboratory in 1995 after 33 years as an engineer, scientist and research manager. Before retiring, he was deputy division chief for technology in the Propulsion Laboratory’s Aerospace Power Division. Dr. Mahefkey was instrumental in establishing the Thermal Energy/Heat Pipe and the Thermionics laboratories within the Air Force Wright Laboratory. Dr. Mahefkey is also an experienced educator, having held the rank of adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Dayton, Wright State University, University of Kentucky, Ohio State University, and the Air Force Institute of Technology. Since retiring in 1995, Dr. Mahefkey is serving as a consultant to several firms in the areas of heat transfer and energy conversion. Dr. Mahefkey’s areas of expertise include thermionics, energy conversion, and heat transfer, and he has published extensively in these areas.

DOUGLAS M.ALLEN is currently the site manager for Schafer’s Dayton, Ohio, office responsible for managing technical support contracts and developing new business with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center. From 1992 to 1998 Mr. Allen was program manager for Schafer’ s Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance contract supporting the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BDMO) Innovative Science and Technology program, leading independent technical review teams and assessing technology, progress, schedules, costs, and alternatives for BMDO on a wide variety of advanced technology and space experiment programs. Mr. Allen’s areas of expertise include system integration, thermal management, power conditioning and control electronics, advanced materials and coatings, and space flight qualification testing.

JUDITH H.AMBRUS retired from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters in 1996 with 30 years of government service. She served the first 15 years at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (formerly Naval Ordnance Laboratory), where she was engaged in battery research and technology, the last 5 years heading up the Electrochemistry Branch. After transferring to NASA Headquarters, she served as program manager for chemical and thermal energy conversion, including thermionic technology, in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology. In this capacity, she managed all NASA-sponsored research and technology activities in this technology area, including the initiation and management of the space nuclear reactor program (SP-100). In the Engineering Division of the Space Station Office, she managed the power, propulsion and life support elements during Phase B of that program. As assistant director for space technology, she managed planning for the utilization of the International Space Station for technology development and later for commercial research and development. Since her retirement, she has been serving occasionally as consultant in the general area of space technology management.

LEONARD H.CAVENY has been an aerospace consultant since retiring in 1997 from the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), Science and Technology Office, where he had served as director since August 1995. While in BMDO from 1985 to 1997,

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10254.
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Dr. Caveny led the directorate that initiates and manages fundamental research and development of high-risk technology. Between 1984 and 1985, Dr. Caveny was a staff specialist in the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary for Research and Advanced Technology at the Pentagon. Between 1980 and 1984, he was program manager for energy conversion in the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Aerospace Sciences Directorate in Washington, D.C. Between 1969 and 1980, Dr. Caveny was a senior member of the professional staff in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences at Princeton University. Dr. Caveny’s areas of expertise include propellants, propulsion, power, high temperature materials, sensors, and space systems. Dr. Caveny serves on the National Research Council panel to evaluate proposals in the area of advanced propulsion research and development for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

HAROLD B.FINGER served as a member of the National Research Council Committee on the TOPAZ International Program, which issued its report in 1996. He has been working as a consultant since his retirement in May 1991 from the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness, where he had served as president and CEO since January 1983. Between 1972 and 1983, Mr. Finger was with the General Electric Company (GE) serving as general manager of the Center for Energy Systems in Washington, D.C., manager of the Electric Utility Engineering Operation in Schenectady, New York, and then staff executive of GE’s Power Systems Strategic Planning and Development at corporate headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut. From 1967 to 1969, he served as associate administrator for organization and management at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and, from 1969 to 1972, as assistant secretary for research and technology at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Between 1958 and 1969, Mr. Finger held several senior management positions in the fields of space power and nuclear energy programs and space nuclear propulsion in both NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). From 1960 to 1967, Mr. Finger managed the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (joint NASA/AEC), which was responsible for nuclear rocket propulsion development, while also serving as director of space power and nuclear systems (NASA), and in 1965 he was appointed director of the Space Nuclear Systems Division (AEC), all positions that he held concurrently. Mr. Finger’s management skills and technical expertise were instrumental in the timely and successful development of the SNAP 27 Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator system that powered the scientific instruments on the surface of the Moon in the Apollo lunar exploration program. Mr. Finger’s special areas of expertise relevant to this study include management of the development of conventional space electrical power systems, space nuclear power supplies, nuclear propulsion systems, and terrestrial energy systems analysis and planning. He is on the board of the National Housing Conference and is a member of the American Nuclear Society and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Mr. Finger is also president of the NASA Alumni League.

GEORGE N.HATSOPOULOS is chief executive officer of Thermo Electron Corporation, Waltham, Massachusetts, and a pioneer in the development of thermionic technology. After graduating from the National Technical University of Athens, Dr. Hatsopoulos attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received his bachelor’s, master’s, engineer’s, and doctorate degrees, all in mechanical engineering. He served on the MIT faculty from 1956 to 1962 and continued his association with the Institute until 1990, serving as senior lecturer. Dr. Hatsopoulos is a member and former chairman of the American Business Conference and a member of the executive committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Corporation of MIT, and he was also a member of the board of directors of Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., from 1990 to 1996. He is also a board member of several other organizations, including the National Research Council’s Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy; the Concord Coalition; the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute; the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research; and College Year in Athens, and he serves as a trustee to the Maliotis Foundation. From 1982 through 1989, Dr. Hatsopoulos was a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, serving as chairman from 1988 through 1989. He also served as a member of the Governing Council of the National Academy of Engineering from 1988 to 1994. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Among his academic and professional hon-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10254.
×

ors, Dr. Hatsopoulos received the Heinz Award in 1996 for helping enhance technology, the economy, and employment. He also received the Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal Award in 1961 for outstanding achievement in the field of engineering for the years 1950 to 1960, the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1982, Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Lowell in 1991, and Doctor of Science from Adelphi University in 1994. Dr. Hatsopoulos is principal author of Principles of General Thermodynamics (1965), and Thermionic Energy Conversion Volume I (1973) and Volume II (1979). He has published over 60 articles in professional journals.

THOMAS K.HUNT is the chief executive officer and chief scientist of Advanced Modular Power Systems, Inc. (AMPS) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended the California Institute of Technology where he received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in physics. From 1964 to 1989, he was a staff scientist at the Ford Motor Company Scientific Laboratory, conducting basic research first in superconductivity and liquid helium and then in energy conversion. Since 1979, he has performed and directed research on advanced energy conversion systems, first at Ford and then at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, where he served as a department manager for 3 years. Dr. Hunt founded AMPS in 1991 and has conducted and led research in alkali metal thermal to electric converters since that time. Dr. Hunt’s areas of expertise relevant to the committee include direct thermal-to-electrical energy conversion and high temperature materials. He is a member of the Management Advisory Board of the Center for Space Power at Texas A&M University and has served on the board of directors of Automated Analysis Corporation. He has published over 75 technical papers and holds 7 patents in the field of energy conversion.

DEAN JACOBSON is a consultant and a professor (emeritus) of Arizona State University. He has served as a professor and as director of science and engineering of materials in the university’s Ph.D. program. Dr. Jacobson’s principal areas of research have included high temperature materials, alloy design, material corrosion, failure analysis, thermionic emission phenomenon, thermal energy storage, heat pipes, laser-material interaction, and thermophysics. He has authored, or co-authored, 132 publications in these fields.

ELLIOT B.KENNEL is vice president and director of research and development at Applied Sciences, Inc, Cedarville, Ohio, specializing in aerospace materials development and solid state physics. Prior to November 1990, Mr. Kennel was at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he was responsible for research and development activities in support of thermionic energy conversion for space power supplies, and other aerospace power technologies. He holds several patents in the areas of electron emission devices and nano-materials.

ROBERT J.PINKERTON is currently with Spectrum Astro, Inc. where he is the lead power system engineer for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Low Program. He has been with Spectrum Astro since June 2000. Previously, he was with the Motorola Corporation, Chandler, Arizona, where he was the lead power system engineer for the Iridium program. Between March 1988 and May 1998, Mr. Pinkerton was with the Lockheed Martin Company where he held several lead engineer positions in the Space Station Freedom and the International Space Station programs and led several proposal efforts. Between 1984 and 1988 Mr. Pinkerton was with the Martin-Marietta Aerospace Company, Denver, Colorado, where he was an electrical power system design and analysis lead engineer in the Magellan program. Mr. Pinkerton’s areas of expertise include: conventional space electrical power systems, satellite avionics, and space power system integration and operation.

GEORGE W.SUTTON (NAE) is a principal engineer with ANSER Corporation, Alexandria, Virginia, and since 1996 has been a member of the ANSER team supporting the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) for interceptor technology and high-energy lasers. Dr. Sutton’s areas of technical expertise include plasma physics, magnetohydrodynamic electrical power generation, and thermionic and thermoelectric direct energy conversion. Dr. Sutton’s technical publications include Engineering Aspects of Magnetohydrodynamics, Engineering Magnetohydrodynamics, and Direct Conversion. Dr. Sutton was chairman of the AIAA Plasmadynamic Technical Committee and was general chairman of the Aerospace Sciences Meeting. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10254.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10254.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Thermionics Quo Vadis?: An Assessment of the DTRA's Advanced Thermionics Research and Development Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10254.
×
Page 66
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This report evaluates the Defense Threat Reduction Agency prior and present sponsored efforts; assess the present state of the art in thermionic energy conversion systems; assess the technical challenges to the development of viable thermionic energy conversion systems for both space and terrestrial applications; and recommend a prioritized set of objectives for a future research and development program for advanced thermionic systems for space and terrestrial applications.

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