Northern Arizona University

Dr. Thomas Acker, Associate Professor; (Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, 1995); Dr. Acker's primary field of research is high temperature gas dynamics and shock-wave phenomena. This includes work in combustion-driven acoustic instabilities in liquid propellant rocket engines, as well analysis of an electrothermal ramjet. In addition, he is also involved in research developing small-scale renewable energy systems. He recently came from the National Center for Atmospheric Research where he was a member of the Climate Modeling Section.

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, December 1995
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, May 1990
• .S., Engineering Science, Colorado State University, May 1987

• Northern Arizona University - Department of Mechanical Engineering, 8/96-present. Assistant Professor: Hired as a professor in the area of thermal sciences. Responsible for teaching courses in Fluid Mechanics, Aerodynamics, Gas Dynamics, Combustion, Thermodynamics, and Energy Systems. Areas of research include renewable energy systems, aerodynamics, combustion instabilities, and high temperature gas dynamics.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, Summer 1997. Faculty Fellowship: Performed research pertaining to the analysis of dynamic stall on wind-turbine blades. Studied current analytical models of dynamic stall and experimental data from an actual turbine rotor that demonstrate dynamic stall.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, 7/95 - 8/96. Software Engineer: Responsible for implementing modifications to the component models of an atmospheric general circulation model, to incorporate new capabilities, numerical approximations, and physical parameterizations.
• Combustion Systems Analysts of Colorado, Livermore, Colorado, 1991, 1995. Consulting Engineer: Hired as a consultant to assist in modifying and enhancing computer codes for predicting liquid rocket engine acoustic combustion stability. Contract work funded by Aerojet-GenCorp and NASA.

• Fluid Mechanics
• Aerodynamics
• Gas Dynamics
• Combustion
• Thermodynamics
• Energy Systems

• Awarded the Colorado Graduate Fellowship, 1991
• Awarded the Rockwell International Graduate Fellowship, 1989
• Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student, Awarded by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1992
• Outstanding Student Achievement Award, Awarded by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1987
• Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Senior member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

• Thermal-Fluid System Analysis
• Aerodynamics System Analysis
• Viscous Fluid Mechanics
• Combustion-Driven Acoustic Instabilities
• Renewable Energy Systems
• Statistical Thermodynamics
• Compressible Gas Dynamics
• Wind Turbine Aerodynamics

• "Aerodynamic Performance of the NREL Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment (Phase IV) Twisted Rotor," to be published in the Proceedings of the 1999 ASME/AIAA Wind Energy Symposium, AIAA 99-0045, January 1999.
• Acoustic Oscillations In a Cylindrical Chamber with a Hub Baffle," Submitted to the 5th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference, to be held in Bellevue Washington, May 1999.
• "User's Guide for the NCAR CCM3," NCAR TN-421+IA, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, 1996. 225 pages.
• "Analysis of Hub Baffles in Liquid Rocket Combustion Instability," Ph.D. Dissertation, Colorado State University, Fall 1995. 175 pages.
• "Combustion Zone - Acoustic Absorber Interactions in Rocket Combustors," Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 235-243, March-April 1994.
• "Prediction of Acoustic Absorber Performance in Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines," M.S. Thesis, Colorado State University, Spring 1990. 124 pages.
• "Two Dimensional and Temperature Effects on Acoustic Cavity Tuning and Performance in Rocket Combustors," appears in Combustion Instabilities Driven by Thermo-Chemical Acoustic Sources, ASME HTD-Vol 128, 1989. 12 pages. (with C.E. Mitchell, F.E. Dodd, and D.J. Howell)
• "Two Dimensional and Temperature Effects on Acoustic Cavity Performance in Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines," Proceedings of the 25th JANNAF Combustion Meeting, Huntsville, AL, October 1988. 13 pages. (with C.E. Mitchell, F.E. Dodd, and D.J. Howell)
• "Preliminary Tests of the Electrostatic Plasma Accelerator," AIAA-90-2596, July 1990. 10 pages. (with G. Aston)
• "Hydrogen Arcjet Sealing Techniques and Thermal Analysis," AIAA-90-2617, July 1990. 10 pages. (with G. Aston, M.B. Aston, and J.B. Kolts)
• "User's Manual for the Multidimensional Baffle Model Computer Programs," Colorado State University, Mechanical Engineering Report No. 87-5, 1987. 112 pages. (with C.E. Mitchell)