Dr. Nathaniel Helminiak Assistant Professor Associate Director, Center for Applied Engineering Civil and Mechanical Engineering Center for Applied Engineering nathaniel.helminiak [at] westpoint.edu About Education Research & Publications A Wisconsin born, Marquette University engineer, from a science and engineering family! During his acquisition of a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering Nathaniel worked in a variety of undergraduate research positions, with a culminating 3-story treehouse design and build project. Nathaniel's Master of Science Degree included the construction of a pneumatic accelerator, shooting materials of ~1kg up to velocities of ~1km/s. Later work within his PhD., utilized this same scientific instrument to characterize the equation of state and strength properties of porous quartz. At West Point work progresses on investigating high strain rate phenomenon at the West Point Ballistics Laboratory with a brand-new pneumatic accelerator: WHAT A BLAST! Topics of study include Interior, Exterior, and Terminal Ballistics. Ongoing studies explore improving modern army systems with DEVCOM Armaments Center and assisting in the AMBITION (Additive Manufacturing and Ballistics Innovation for Technological Impact, Optimization, and Novelty) project with DEVCOM ARL. In his free time, Nathaniel enjoys coding, collecting Hawaiian shirts, and spending time with family. Ph.D. in Engineering - Marquette UniversityM.S. in Engineering - Marquette UniversityB.S. in Engineering - Marquette University Research Interests Shock Physics, Pneumatic Accelerators, Ballistics, Experiment Design, Machining, Scientific Visualization, Numerical Computation, Interdisciplinary Projects Current Research Light Gas Pneumatic Accelerator Testing, Ballistics Design, Variable Strain Rate Material Properties of Heterogenous Materials, Ballistics (Interior, Exterior, and Terminal Effects) Optimization Selected Publications Collard, Jack T., Trevor D. Hunt, Jake T. Lanham, Roy A. Hopgood, Shawn P. Spickert-Fulton, Brad G. Davis, and Nathaniel S. Helminiak. "Evaluation of Copper Stainless Steel Material Properties at Variable Strain Rates." In AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 3066, no. 1. AIP Publishing, 2024.Chen, Henry, Devin J. Crowley, Daniel J. Peede, Christopher S. Meredith, Brad G. Davis, and Nathaniel S. Helminiak. "Variable Strain Rate Properties of Rammed Earth." In AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 3066, no. 1. AIP Publishing, 2024.Johnson, Christopher R., John P. Borg, Charles S. Alexander, Jeffrey Wilson LaJeunesse, Nathaniel S. Helminiak, and Paul Elliott Specht. "Flow Strength Measurements of Wrought and AM SS304L via Pressure Shear Plate Impact Experiments." Journal of Dynamic Behavior of Materials 10, no. 1 (2024): 2-19.Barrow, Luke, and Nathaniel S. Helminiak. "Failure Analysis and Redesign of a 14th to 15th Century Replica Cannon Mount." In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, vol. 87684, p. V011T12A023. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2023.Helminiak, Nathaniel S., and John P. Borg. "Uniaxial Wave Propagation through Copper Mountain Sandstone." In AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 2272, no. 1. AIP Publishing, 2020.Helminiak, N. S., P. Sable, E. Harstad, A. Gullerud, J. Hollenshead, and E. S. Hertel. "Characterizing In-Flight Temperature of Explosively Formed Projectiles in CTH." Procedia engineering 204 (2017): 178-185.Helminiak, Nathaniel S., David S. Helminiak, Vikram Cariapa, and John P. Borg. "Resolving the Angular Velocity of Two-dimensional Particle Interactions Induced within a Rotary Tumbler." Journal of Visualization 21 (2018): 779-793.