Marc Baumgardner
- Department Chair, Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Baumgardner is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where he joined the faculty in the fall of 2015. He received dual B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of West Georgia and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively in 2005. After his undergraduate studies he worked for UOP, a Honeywell Company (a petrochemical technology firm) as a Process Specialist and Technical Expert in Gasoline Refining Technology. In 2014 he received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University specializing in the thermal sciences with a focus on renewable fuels and advanced internal combustion engines. He teaches courses in Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, and Heat Transfer. Current research interests include fundamental combustion studies, internal combustion engines, advanced engine strategies, chemical kinetics, fuel reactivity metrics, alternative/renewable fuels, biofuels, CFD and modeling of combustion systems, and biomass cookstoves.
His fesearch interests vary, including on-going work in: fundamental combustion experiments (e.g. simple flames), internal combustion engines, advanced engine strategies, exhaust catalysts, chemical kinetics, fuel reactivity metrics, alternative fuels (i.e. alcohols, algal biofuels, etc.), CFD/modeling of combustion systems, and biomass cookstoves.
Most of Dr. Baumgardner's current work focuses on the combustion of biofuels and/or renewable fuels.
Topics currently under active investigation are:
- LED-Spectroscopy of combusting systems
- Micro-combustion
- Exhaust Gas Catalyst poisoning and degradation on large-bore engines**
- Dual-fuel combustion**
- Biomass combustion
**collaboration with Colorado State University