Zachary C. Owens, Ph.D.

Dr. Owens responsibilities include the investigation of fires, explosions, and product failures. He has a background in both numerical and experimental analysis of chemically reacting flows, with particular emphasis on shock and detonation wave phenomenon. His background includes a strong foundation in gas dynamics, combustion, computational fluid dynamics, numerical methods, propulsion systems, heat transfer, and parallel computing.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Owens was a Research Assistant in the High Temperature Gas Dynamics Laboratory at Stanford University. His doctoral work focused on the development of a state-of-the-art, reacting, computational fluid dynamic model capable of assessing the dynamics of confined detonation waves. To validate the model, Dr. Owens conducted experiments employing laser-based velocimetry, high-speed schlieren imaging, and pressure sensing. This work was applied towards the development of a novel propulsion system utilizing detonative, rather than deflagrative, combustion in an effort to achieve improved performance. As a graduate student, Dr. Owens also served as a lecturer and laboratory instructor for a weeklong section covering schlieren imaging in a graduate optical diagnostics course. Prior to his work at Stanford, he held positions at the University of Virginia Aerospace Research Laboratory, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and NASA Glenn Research Center. In these positions, he conducted research to improve particle-seeding diagnostics for supersonic combustion ramjets, as well as analysis on aerospike rocket nozzles and supersonic aircraft inlets.

Owens ZC. Flowfield characterization and model development in detonation tubes. Ph.D. Thesis, Stanford University, February 2008.

Li H., Owens ZC, Davidson DF, Hanson RK. A simple reactive gas dynamic model for the computation of gas temperature and species concentrations behind reflected shock waves. International Journal of Chemical Kinetics 2008; 40(4).

Owens ZC, Hanson RK. Single-cycle unsteady nozzle phenomena in pulse detonation engines. Journal of Propulsion and Power 2007; 23(2).

Owens ZC, Mattison DW, Barbour EA, Morris CI, Hanson RK. PDE flowfield characterization and simulation validation using cesium-based velocimetry. Proceedings, Combustion Institute, Vol. 30, pp. 2791–2798, 2005.

Mattison DW, Oehlschlaeger MA, Morris CI, Owens ZC, Barbour EA, Jeffries JB, Hanson RK. Evaluation of pulse detonation engine modeling using laser-based temperature and OH measurements. Proceedings, Combustion Institute, Vol. 30, pp. 2799–2807, 2005.

Presentations

Owens ZC, Hanson RK. Preliminary investigation into the influence of transverse waves in PDE simulations. Poster presentation, 21st International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems (ICDERS), Poitiers, France, 2007.

Owens ZC, Hanson RK. Unsteady nozzle design for pulse detonation engines. Oral presentation, 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Tucson, AZ, July 2005.

Owens ZC, Goyne CP, Krauss R, McDaniel JC. Assessment of particle seeder performance via direct flowfield sampling. Oral Presentation, 41st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 2003.

• The Combustion Institute (member)
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (member)
• Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society (member)