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thomas.underwood@utexas.edu
512-471-1730
Office Location: ASE 4.208
Thomas Underwood
Assistant Professor
Department Research Areas:
Aerothermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
Education:
Ph.D., Stanford University
Research Interests:
- Space Propulsion
- Non-Equilibrium Reacting Flows
- Reactive Transport
- Plasma-Wave Interactions
- Plasma Chemistry
- Optical Diagnostics
Dr. Underwood’s research is focused on understanding how reactive transport in fluids can be coupled with interfacial chemistry in the context of hypersonics, space propulsion, catalysis, photonics and chemical separation/recovery. His primary focus in on experimentally investigating how partially ionized and non-equilibrium flows can be applied to enable new technologies.
Dr. Underwood joined the department as an assistant professor in the spring of 2021. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. As a graduate student, Underwood engineered new methods to visualize and stabilize hydromagnetic plasma jets. During his postdoctoral research in Professor George Whitesides’ lab at Harvard University, Underwood explored unconventional techniques to store and compute using chemistry along with applications of reactive chemistry. Underwood’s research has been recognized with several awards, including the 2021 AFOSR YIP Award.
