VAN POPPEL

COL Bret P. VanPoppel, Ph.D

Professor and Department Head

Bret.VanPoppel@westpoint.edu

Biography

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.

Ongoing Research Projects

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. 

Publications & Presentations

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, USA 

Van 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 2024 

Lakin, 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