Address: University of Southern California Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Los Angeles, California 90089-1453 Office: OHE 430J Tel. (213) 740-0490 Fax. (213) 740-8071 email: ronney@usc.edu website: http://ronney.usc.edu

Academic rank: Professor

Education:

1983 Sc.D., Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1979 M.S., Aeronautics, California Institute of Technology
1978 B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

USC Academic Positions:

2000-: Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
1994-2000: Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
1993-94: Research Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Other Professional Positions:

1996-97: NASA, Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate)
1986-93: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

Research Interests:

Combustion, micro-scale power generation and propulsion, biophysics and biofilms, turbulence, internal combustion engines and control systems, low-gravity phenomena, radiative transfer

Selected Publications:

C. H. Chen and P. D. Ronney, "Three-dimensional Effects in Counterflow Heat-Recirculating Combustors," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 33, pp. 3285-3291, 2011. (DOI: 10.1016/j.proci.2010.06.081)

J. Ahn, Z. Shao, P. D. Ronney, S. Haile, "A Thermally Self-Sustaining Miniature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell," Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology, Nov. 2009. (DOI: 10.1115/1.3081425)

Y. Son, G. Zouein, P. D. Ronney, S. Gokoglu "Comparison of Carbon Dioxide and Helium as Fire Extinguishing Agents for Spacecraft," Journal of ASTM International, 3 No. 3, 2006. (DOI: 10.1520/JAI13564)

M. S. Cha and P. D. Ronney, "Propagation rates of non-premixed edge-flames," Combustion and Flame 146, pp. 312-328, 2006. (DOI: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2006.02.010)

Z. Shao,S. Haile, J. Ahn, P. D. Ronney, Z. Zhan, and S. A. Barnett, "A Thermally Self-Sustained Micro Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell with High Power Density," Nature 435, pp. 795-798, 2005. (DOI: 10.1038/nature03673)

F. Wang, J. B. Liu, J. Sinibaldi, C. Brophy, A. Kuthi, C. Jiang, P. D. Ronney, and M. A. Gundersen, "Transient Plasma Ignition of Quiescent and Flowing Fuel Mixtures," IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 33, pp. 844-849, 2005. (DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2005.845251)

J. Ahn, C. Eastwood, L. Sitzki, and P. D. Ronney, "Gas-phase and catalytic combustion in heat-recirculating burners," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 30, pp. 2463-2472, 2005. (DOI: 10.1016/j.proci.2004.08.265)

P. D. Ronney, "Analysis of non-adiabatic heat-recirculating combustors," Combustion and Flame 135, pp. 421-439, 2003. (DOI: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2003.07.003) This is the second most cited research paper (out of >3200 total) in any combustion journal published on or after its publication date.

Professional Societies:

American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Combustion Institute
Institute of Physics, Fellow

Honors and Awards:

2005: First-ever recipient of the Bernard Lewis Visiting Lecturer Fellowship of the Combustion Institute, 2005.
2003: Best poster award (out of 90), Dynamics Days Europe 2003, Palma de Majorca, Spain, Sept. 24-27, 2003.
1994: Institution of Mechanical Engineers (U.K.) Starley Premium Award
1990: Princeton Engineer's Council Excellence in Teaching Award
1987: National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator

Courses Taught:

AME 101, Introduction to Mechanical Engineering and Graphics
AME 331, Heat Transfer
AME 406, Automotive Engines
AME 436, Energy and Propulsion
AME 514, Applications of Combustion
AME 599, Special Topics in Combustion and Reacting Flows
AME 517, Radiation heat transfer

Recent Professional Development Activities:

Member of editorial boards, Combustion and Flame, Combustion Theory and Modelling, Microgravity Science and Technology, and Progress in Energy and Combustion Science

Co-chair, colloquium on "New Concepts in Combustion Technology," 29th and 30th International Symposium on Combustion, 2002 and 2004

Back to top