Defense, security leaders gather at Purdue to discuss energetics challenges and identify solutions

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Leaders in the defense, security, intelligence and academic communities gathered at Purdue University last week to discuss key challenges and potential technical solutions involving energetics materials.

The second Purdue Energetics Materials Summit was held May 21-24 on campus to convene thought leaders and decision makers to discuss the challenges of explosives, pyrotechnic compositions, propellants and other energetic materials often used in defense and security. In contrast to some other gatherings, the summit at Purdue brings together a mix of people from the defense industry, government and academia.

“We bring together people working on all sides of the energetics material challenge,” said Jeffrey Rhoads, a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and associate director of the Purdue Energetics Research Center. “Some involved in the defense industry work in such large organizations that they may find it difficult to communicate with one another. We serve as a common meeting ground for people to talk with each other.”

Representatives of industries attending the summit included researchers trying to find better ways to keep people from smuggling a bomb on an airplane, researchers involved in detecting improvised explosives and researchers involved in trying to find a more efficient high-performance rocket propellant.

“What makes this summit unique is that it brings offense and defense together,” said Steven Son, a professor of mechanical engineering. “We bring key people together from different points of view and mix them up, and something interesting usually results.”

The event, held for the first time in 2017, is part of the Purdue Energetics Research Center’s efforts to situate itself as a thought leader in energetic materials.

“Part of our role as academics is to bring people together and help them discuss the problems that they are facing and to help set priorities,” said Stephen Beaudoin, the center’s director and a professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering. “We try to find commonalities in problems, where different people might be working on different problems but have the same issues. It can lead to some interesting outcomes.”

The summit, in bringing a variety of energetics-related companies to campus, also can lead to potential job opportunities for Purdue graduates.

The work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, celebrating the global advancements in sustainability as part of Purdue’s 150th anniversary. It is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebration’s Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.      

Writer: Tom Coyne, 765-588-1044, tjcoyne@prf.org

Sources: Jeffrey Rhoads, jfrhoads@purdue.edu

Steven Son, sson@purdue.edu

Stephen Beaudoin, sbeaudoi@purdue.edu