John Hopkins APL Forms Hypersonic Research Partnership With Purdue University

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and Purdue University’s Institute for Global Security and Defense have formalized an agreement that allows both institutions to harness their respective hypersonic expertise and capabilities.

The partnership centers around hypersonic research and related technologies, with emphasis on microelectronics, quantum information, integrated data science, artificial intelligence and robotics.

As part of the agreement, Purdue University faculty and students can gain access to APL facilities, including its additive manufacturing hub in Laurel, Maryland, and seek advice from subject matter experts in the laboratory’s Force Projection and Air and Missile Defense Sectors and Research and Exploratory Development Department, Johns Hopkins APL said.

The partnership is also hoped to foster collaboration, including internships and mentoring, between APL and graduate and doctoral students from Purdue.

Kirk Shawhan, APL’s precision strike mission area executive, will oversee the strategic partnership alongside APL’s strategic deterrence MAE Stephen Lewia, air and missile defense MAE Vishal Giare, and research and exploratory development MAE Andrew Merkle.

The hypersonics agreement expands on Purdue and APL’s previous collaboration with Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the Boundary Layer Transition Experiments. In the said experiment, APL worked with Purdue professors, researchers and graduate students and leveraged Purdue’s facilities and wind tunnels. With the partnership in tow, APL staff members are expected to gain better access to Purdue's wind-tunnel facilities for further projects.

Joseph Jewell, assistant professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, believes that the partnership with APL will facilitate smoother and easier collaborations in the future.