Steve Son, associate professor of mechanical engineering, arrived at Purdue University in the fall of 2006. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Upon graduating he accepted the J. Robert Oppenheimer Fellowship at Los Alamos. Prior to Purdue University he was a Project Leader and Technical Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico leading a world-recognized research effort.

His research is primarily in the field of combustion with an emphasis on energetic materials, nanoenergetics, microenergetics, heterogeneous combustion, reactive materials, combustion synthesis, advanced propellants, explosive blast loading, and explosives safety. His work includes experimental and theoretical studies. He is currently an associate editor of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Journal of Propulsion and Power.

Son’s research activities are primarily focused on multiphase combustion phenomenon, however using unique facilities available at Purdue’s Zucrow Laboratories Son’s research group has also begun small scale explosive blast loading studies to understand and mitigate blast injury.

Most importantly, I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with great mentors, collaborators, and students.