Don Plumlee

Bio

I have had the opportunity to become involved in many aspects of engineering through my career. I take pride in being able to provide something back to the profession in the way of engineering education, operating a research laboratory and assisting with the presentation of the IMAPS conferences.

I have been involved in the administration of the PE Review classes offered through the University of Idaho and FE Review classes offered through Boise State University. I have taught the Thermal/Fluids Systems classes for the PE Review classes from 2006 to the present and I have taught the thermodynamics session for the FE Review classes from 2007 to the present. Each of these exams is important to the Idaho engineering profession and these review sessions contribute to the success of our students.

I have managed the Ceramic MEMS research laboratory at BSU from 2001 until the present. This work includes managing student researchers including approximately twenty engineering graduate students and undergraduate students from 2001. These students have consistently excelled in the classroom and research activities. The laboratory has been able to provide presentation opportunities for students at the International Micro-Electronics and Packaging Society (IMAPS) conference in Denver and an international opportunity in Munich Germany in 2008.

I am the faculty advisor for several student groups at BSU. I am the faculty advisor for the Aerodesign group that competes nationally with a self-designed/fabricated airplane. I am the technical advisor for a senior design project developing a controlled burn apparatus. I am also the faculty advisor for the CAN-SAT device being developed as a future project.

I am a currently a member of several engineering societies including the International Micro-electronics and Packaging Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Society of Engineering Education.

Prior to arriving at Boise State University, I worked for Lockheed Martin Astronautics as a Product Engineer/Project Manager/Mechanical Designer on structural airframe components for several aerospace vehicles. I developed and improved manufacturing processes for the Atlas/Centaur rocket program, managed the production implementation of the J-2 rocket program, and created designs for structural/propulsion/electrical systems in both the Atlas/Centaur and J-2 programs. I also worked at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as a co-op engineer in the Propulsion Laboratory. My assignments included structural designer in the Ground Support Equipment Branch designing Space Station Node Transportation Cradles and Astronaut Orbital Tools and analysis engineer on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) in the MSFC Liquid Propulsion Branch.

Courses Taught

• ME 302 Thermodynamics I
• ME 320 Heat Transfer
• ME 401 Engineering Systems and Applications
• ME 424 Thermal and Fluid Systems Design

Education

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering – University of Idaho 2007
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Boise State University 2003
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Texas A&M University 1993

RESEARCH FOCUS:

The BSU Ceramic MEMS (C-MEMS) laboratory is currently focused on developing micro-fluidic applications in Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics (LTCC). We have created a process to develop ceramic devices with embedded multi-layer fluidic channels, conductor electrodes, resistors and capacitors. Current devices under development include sensors and micro-thrusters that use the 3D micro-fluidic and embedded electrical component capability as an alternative to silicon MEMS devices.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES:

As an applications development group, we are interested in new and existing concepts (sensors, micro-fluidics, and micro-propulsion) that can be successfully implemented or improved in LTCC materials. The ability to construct complex multilayer internal channels and embedded electrodes in a robust ceramic substrate provides a versatile platform for sensor development and potential micro-propulsion applications for micro-satellites. In addition, future research projects of interest to NASA can be developed for a much lower research investment cost as compared to silicon by using the Ceramic-MEMS platform. A typical development application can be funded for the cost of supporting a graduate student(s) and/or undergraduate researchers with a relatively low materials budget due to our relationships with LTCC vendors.

CURRENT/PREVIOUS RESEARCH PROJECTS:

Sensors

Ceramic Ion Mobility Spectrometer (IMS) device – A miniature time-of-flight sensor to detect trace chemical species in a sample. (EPA and NIH funding)

Ceramic Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) device – A miniature DNA amplification device to increase a biological sample size prior to entering an HPLC sensor. (EPA funding)

Ceramic Field Flow Fractionation (FFF) Device – An internal micro-channel operating within an electrical field to separate species prior to entering a downstream chemical sensor.

Ceramic Electro-Chemical Cell device – A project to develop an embedded electro-chemical cell using internal channels and electrodes. (NASA Langley)

Micro-Propulsion

Ceramic Monopropellant thruster – A miniature catalytic device using high test hydrogen peroxide as a monopropellant. Internal micro-channels coated with silver produce a hot gas through decomposition that is expelled through a converging-diverging nozzle. (AFOSR and NASA EPSCoR funding)

Ceramic Plasma thruster – A miniature inductively coupled plasma electrical thruster using 3D micro-channels and embedded electrodes. (NASA EPSCoR funding)

Plasma Diagnostics – A Langmuir probe and Ion/Electron Energy Analyzer are being developed to characterize electrical plasma devices inside vacuum chambers.