Dr. James (Chris) Thomas
Research Interests
- Propellants and Energetics
- Explosions, Detonations, and DDT
- Battery Safety
Dr. James ‘Chris’ Thomas is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and has been part of the Turbomachinery Laboratory since 2010. Chris holds three degrees in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University: B.S. (2013), M.S (2015), and Ph.D. (2018). He has also held interim positions at the Aerospace Corporation’s Propulsion Science Department, NASA Johnson Space Center’s Propulsion and Power Division, and Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants’ Blast Effects Section. Chris’s research is focused on propulsion and energetics; explosions, detonations, and DDT; metal particle combustion; battery safety; and nano-scale additive synthesis. He is also a professional member the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Combustion Institute, and Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society.
Phone: (979) 845-3019
Email: James.Chris.Thomas@tamu.edu
Educational Background
- Ph.D, Mechanical Engineering – Texas A&M University – 2018
- M.S., Mechanical Engineering – Texas A&M University – 2015
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering – Texas A&M University – 2013
Awards & Honors
- 2017 48th JANNAF Combustion Meeting Best Student Paper Award
- 2017 Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellowship
- 2017 Texas A&M University Graduate Teaching Fellowship
- 2016 AIAA Spirit of Apollo Scholarship
- 2009 Texas A&M Wesley and Anna Mae Neumann Scholarship
Selected Publications
- Thomas, J. C., Rodriguez, F. A., and Petersen, E. L., “Metallic Additives for Solid-Fuel Propulsion Applications,” Combustion, Science, and Technology, 2021, Accepted.
- Thomas, J. C., Stahl, J. M., Tykol, A. J., Rodriguez, F. A., Petersen, E. L., Paravan, C., and Galfetti, L., “Experimental Evaluation of HTPB/Paraffin Fuel Blends for Hybrid Rocket Applications,” Combustion and Flame, Vol. 229, No. 1, 2021, pp. 1-14.
- Thomas, J. C., Morrow, G. R., and Petersen, E. L., “Comprehensive Study of the Effects of AP Particle Size and Loading on the Burning Rate of Composite AP/HTPB Propellants,” Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2020, pp. 95-100.
- Finegan, D. P., Darst, J., Walker, W., Li, Q., Yang, C., Jervis, R., Heenan, T. M. M., Hack, J., Thomas, J. C., Rack, A., Brett, D. J. L., Shearing, P. R., Keyser, M., and Darcy, E., “Modelling and Experiments to Identify High-Risk Failure Scenarios for Testing the Safety of Lithium-Ion Cells,” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 417, 2019, pp. 29-41.
- Thomas, J. C., Homan-Cruz, G. D., Stahl, J. M., and Petersen, E. L., “The Effects of SiO2 and TiO2 on the Two-Phase Burning Behavior of Aqueous HAN Propellant,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 37:3, 2019, pp. 3159-3166.