Aerospace Engineering

Lee H. Sentman

Professor Emeritus

sentman@uiuc.edu

Return to: Faculty

Office address	Mailing Address	Research Group
312 Talbot Lab 217-333-1834	306 Talbot Lab 104 S. Wright St. Urbana, IL 61801	Chemical Laser Laboratory
Research Areas
Current Research Interests: chemical lasers, mode-medium interactions, commercialization of high energy chemical lasers, molecular dynamics, supersonic mixing reacting flows, fluid mechanics, kinetic theory and statistical mechanics, passive satellite attitude control. Director of the Chemical Laser Laboratory The Chemical Laser Laboratory is involved in developing the fundamental understanding of the fluid dynamic, chemical kinetic and radiative interactions that determine the performance of continuous wave chemical lasers. This understanding and the resulting data base provide the basis on which technology decisions may be made in the development of these devices.

Office address

Mailing Address

Research Group

312 Talbot Lab
217-333-1834

306 Talbot Lab
104 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

Chemical Laser Laboratory

Research Areas

Current Research Interests: chemical lasers, mode-medium interactions, commercialization of high energy chemical lasers, molecular dynamics, supersonic mixing reacting flows, fluid mechanics, kinetic theory and statistical mechanics, passive satellite attitude control.

Director of the Chemical Laser Laboratory
The Chemical Laser Laboratory is involved in developing the fundamental understanding of the fluid dynamic, chemical kinetic and radiative interactions that determine the performance of continuous wave chemical lasers. This understanding and the resulting data base provide the basis on which technology decisions may be made in the development of these devices.

Education:

Ph.D. Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, 1965
B.S. Aeronautical Engineering, University of Illinois, 1958

Academic Positions:

Assistant Professor, University of Illinois 1965-1969
Associate Professor, University of Illinois 1969-1979
Visiting Professor, University of Arizona 1971-1972
Associate Department Head 1987-1999
Professor, University of Illinois 1979-2002
Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, 2002-present
Engineer, Douglas Aircraft Corp., Santa Monica, CA - Summer 1957, 1958
Guggenheim Fellow, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ - 1958-1959
Dynamics Engineer Senior, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Sunnyvale, CA - 1959-1965
Research Specialist, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Sunnyvale, CA - Summer 1968
Research Specialist, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Sunnyvale, CA - Summer 1969
Aerospace Engineer, Rocket Propulsion Lab., Edwards AFB, CA - Summer 1971
National Research Council Senior Postdoctoral Resident Research Associate, Rocket Propulsion Lab., Edwards AFB, CA - Summer 1972
Principal Scientist, Bell Aerospace Company, Buffalo, NY - Summers 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977

Major Honors and Awards:

Fellow AIAA
AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Award, 2002
W. L. Everitt Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, 1969
Outstanding Educators of America, 1970
National Research Council Senior Postdoctoral Resident Research Associate, 1972
University of Illinois Loyalty Award, 1977
Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Student Chapter AIAA, 1975-1976, 1995-1996
Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students; Fall 1973, Spring 1989, Spring 1996

Selected Publications:

P. T. Theodoropoulos, L. H. Sentman, D. L. Carroll, R. E. Waldo, S. J. Gordon and J. W. Otto, " Study of the Residual Fundamental Gain of a CW HF Chemical Laser," in Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers: Tenth International Symposium, Willy L. Bohn, Helmut Hugel, Editors, Proc. SPIE 2502, pp 402-410, 1995.
P. T. Theodoropoulos, L. H. Sentman, D. L. Carroll, R. E. Waldo, S. J. Gordon and J. W. Otto, "Continuous Wave Hydrogen Fluoride Overtone Lasing Saturation Effects on Fundamental Gain Suppression," AIAA Journal, Vol. 34, No. 6, June 1996, pp 1216-1223.
P. T. Theodoropoulos and L. H. Sentman, "Fundamental Gain Suppression Mechanisms in a Continuous Wave Hydrogen Fluoride Overtone Laser," AIAA Journal, Vol. 34, No. 8, August 1996, pp 1589-1594.
S. J. Gordon, L. H. Sentman and D. S. Jenkins, "Line Selected Performance of a CW HF Laser," in Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers and High Power Lasers: Eleventh International Symposium, D. L. Hall and H. J. Baker, Editors, SPIE, Vol 3092, pp 502-503, Bellingham, WA, 1997.
D. L. Carroll, D. M. King, L. Fockler, D. Stromberg, W. C. Solomon, L. H. Sentman and C. H. Fisher, "High-Performance Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser Using Nitrogen Diluent for Commercial Applications," IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 36, No. 1, January 2000, pp 40-51.