Combustion Institute Members Visit Congress

Twenty-two volunteers of the U.S. Sections of the Combustion Institute organized congressional visits on April 27, 2017, in Washington, DC. They met with the staff of 40 members of Congress from 13 states to discuss the importance of sustained funding of combustion research and education. The volunteers enjoyed brief conversations with Senators Barrasso and Duckworth and Representative Reed.

The main theme communicated was the essential role of federal funding for combustion research and education. The benefits of combustion research were shared, including its impact on topics of national interest such as energy independence, climate, and the economy. Student volunteers discussed specific fellowship programs. The volunteers shared fact sheets on the value of combustion research and offered to serve as a resource should future questions arise. The volunteers were trained and accompanied by AIP, the American Institute of Physics.

Volunteers from all three U.S. sections (Central, Eastern, and Western) participated in the meetings and included 12 students. These volunteers were: Lara Backer, Himanshu Goyal, John Palmore, Perrine Pepiot (Cornell); Emily Beagle (Univ. Wyoming); Abbasali Davani (USC); Thomas Decker (Colorado State); Alison Ferris (Stanford); Brain Fisher, Alfredo Tuesta (Naval Research Lab); Felipe Gomez del Campo (Argonne National Lab); Jose Graña-Otero (Univ. Kentucky); Philip Guerieri, James Quintiere, Peter Sunderland (Univ. Maryland); Timothy Jacobs, Tingting Li (Texas A&M); Jonathan Martin (Univ. Michigan); Michael Mueller (Princeton); Andrew Norris (NASA); Brandon Rotavera (Univ. Georgia); and Chenran Wen (Case Western Reserve).