Shawn Wehe
Dr. Wehe began his career in 1990 working at Calspan Corporation in Buffalo NY after earning his M.S. degree from SUNY Buffalo. Here he worked in the area of high-speed aerodynamics and propulsion as a test engineer. That first professional experience dovetailed well with his subsequent doctorial research at Stanford’s High Temperature Gas Dynamics Laboratory where he concentrated on PLIF and TDLAS instrumentation development for just those high-enthalpy flow fields. After completing his Ph.D. in 2000 he continued to develop instrumentation and signal processing techniques at Physical Sciences Inc., Raytheon’s Missile Defense Center and the General Electric Research Center cumulating in a 20+ year career in corporate research. In 2019 he transitioned to an academic role as a visiting professor at Union College’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. Most recently he joined the Ben T. Zinn Combustion Lab as a member of the Department of Aerospace Engineering.
Professor Wehe’s teaching interests encompass core aerospace engineering topics including propulsion, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics at undergraduate and graduate levels. He emphasizes the integration of theoretical fundamentals with practical applications to prepare students for advanced studies and industry challenges. His instruction incorporates analytical and experimental methods, with a focus on fostering problem-solving skills and critical thinking in aerospace systems and design.
Professor Wehe’s research focuses on the application of non-intrusive diagnostics to harsh environments, specifically combustion associated with materials processing, power generation and propulsion. His work involves experimental and analytical investigation of fluid dynamics and thermodynamic phenomena in engines and propulsion devices. This research aims to enhance efficiency, performance, and reliability of applied combustion technologies by studying fundamental combustion mechanisms and flow behavior under various operational conditions.
Ph.D. Stanford University, 2000; M.S. SUNY Buffalo, 1990; B.S. SUNY Buffalo, 1998
- A Bhagat, JH MIller, S Wehe, S Jo, AM Steinberg, Characterization of Premixed Swirl Stabilized Combustion in a Supersonic Underexpanded Jet, AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, 1383, 2025
- R Vishwanath, O Bibik, D Olimid, E Douglas, A Fan, S Wehe, ..., Drop-Size Measurements Using Phase Doppler Particle Anemometry in a Confined High-Pressure Sector Combustor, AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum, 1519, 2025
- T Tkachenko, S Wehe, The Application of Phase Sensitive Detection in High-Resolution Acoustic Measurements, 2024 Regional Student Conferences, 84693, 2024
- RD McGrath, JC Juergensmeyer, R Bond, E Bugay, S Wehe, D Wu, ..., Study of Soot Formation in a Multi-sector RQL Aeroengine Combustor, AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, 2828, 2024
- R McGrath, J Juergensmeyer, R Bond, E Bugay, S Wehe, D Wu, ..., Planar laser-induced incandescence for the study of soot production in a multi-sector RQL Jet A combustor, Applications in energy and combustion science 18, 100269, 2024