COL Bret P. VanPoppel, Ph.D Professor of Civil Engineering Department Head Civil and Mechanical Engineering Bret.VanPoppel [at] westpoint.edu About Education Research & Publications U.S. Army Colonel Bret P. Van Poppel serves as Professor, USMA (PUSMA) and Department Head in the Department of Civil & Mechanical Engineering (D/CME) at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. In this role, he acts as one of the Army’s uniformed scholars and helps lead the Military Academy, its Academic Program, and the two ABET accredited and nationally ranked engineering programs in D/CME. During Academic Year 2023-24, he served as Visiting Scholar in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University where he participated in experimental and computational research supporting DOD and US Army advanced research in applied hypersonics, high temperature gas flows, and directed energy at the National Aerothermochemistry and Hypersonic Flight Laboratory. Colonel Van Poppel served as the United States Military Academy Liaison Officer to Headquarters, Department of the Army, from August 2019 to December 2020, responsible for establishing relationships between USMA and the Army Secretariat and Army staff, providing insight into the Army’s priorities and direction, and creating opportunities for the Academy to partner with and support Army organizations and objectives. Professor and Head, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, USMA Professor and Deputy Head, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, USMA Liaison Officer to the USMA About, US Army Pentagon Deputy Director, Chief of Analytics, and Data Quality Officer, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and United States Forces Afghanistan Rifle Company Commander, B company 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, ROK Platoon Leader, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering - University of Colorado at Boulder M.S. Aeronautic and Astronautics - Mass. Institute of Technology B.S. Mechanical Engineering - U.S. Military Academy Research Interests Experimental Fluid Mechanics, Computational Modeling of Energy Sciences, Non-equilibrium High Temperature Gas Dynamics, Engineering Education, Technical Communications for Engineers Current Research Experimental investigation of heat streaks on swept geometry models in hypervelocity flow, Experimental fluid mechanics and high-fidelity, non-intrusive fluid flow diagnostics, Computational modeling of energy sciences with focus on advanced numerical methods development to accurately simulate multiphase electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow, Non-equilibrium high temperature gas dynamics, Technical communications for engineers. Selected Publications Van Poppel, B., Christensen, B., Krisshna, V. and Owkes, M. “Detailed Numerical Study of Atomizing, Electrically Charged Diesel-type Jets.” Proceedings of the ILASS-Americas 34th Annual Conference on Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems, May 19-22, 2024 Ithaca, NY, USAVan Poppel, B. P., Londner, E., Banko, A., Eils, C., Hoyer, B., Katalenich, S., and Zifchock, R. “Framework and Curricular Implementation of Technical Communication in an Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Program.” ASME 2024 International Mechanical Engineering Congress \& Exposition IMECE2024 November 7--11, 2024, Portland, OR, USA.Morreale, Bryan J, Smotzer, Jacob, Lakin, Graham, Van Poppel, Bret P., and Leyva, Ivett, “A Numerical Investigation on the Origin Mechanisms for Heat Streaks on Swept Geometries in Hypersonic Flows.” American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aviation Forum, July 2024Lakin, Graham, Currin, Jacob, Garza, Santiaga, Van Poppel, Bret P., Morreale, Bryan, and Leyva, Ivett, “An Experimental Investigation on the Origin of Heat Streaks for Swept Geometries in Hypersonic Flows.” American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aviation Forum, July 2024