The Grainger College of Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Sean Kearney

Sean Kearney
Sean Kearney

Education

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1999
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1995
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Clarkson University, 1992

Academic Positions

  • Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 2024-Present

Professional Highlights

  • Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, 2018 - 2024
  • Technical Director, Spectral Energies, LLC, 2017 - 2018
  • Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, 1999 - 2017

Research Interests

  • Laser-based diagnostics, spectroscopy, and quantitative imaging
  • Incompressible flows and convective heat transfer
  • Hypersonics and compressible fluid mechanics
  • Reacting flows

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Danehy, P.M., R.A. Burns, D.T. Reese, J.E. Retter, and S.P. Kearney, “FLEET velocimetry for aerodynamics,” Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 54, 525-553, 2022.
  • Jans, E.R. D.J. Armstrong, A.V. Smith, and S.P. Kearney, "Noncolinear optical parametric oscillator for broadband nanosecond pulse-burst CARS diagnostics in gases," Optics Letters 47, 1839-1842, 2022.
  • Retter, J.E., M. Koll, D.R. Richardson, and S.P. Kearney, “Time-domain self-broadened and air-broadened nitrogen S-branch Raman linewidths at 80–200 K in an underexpanded jet,” Journal of Chemical Physics 156, 194201, 2022.
  • Retter, J.E., M. Koll, C.E. Dedic, P.M. Danehy, D.R. Richardson, and S.P. Kearney, “Hybrid time-frequency domain dual-probe coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering for simultaneous temperature and pressure measurements in compressible flows via spectral fitting,” Applied Optics 62, 50-62, 2022.
  • Lynch, K.P., T.W. Grasser, R.W. Spillers, C.R. Downing, K.A. Daniel, E.R. Jans, S.P. Kearney, B.J. Morreale, R. Wagnild, and J.L. Wagner, “Design and characterization of the Sandia free-piston reflected shock tunnel,” Shock Waves, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-023-01127-4, 2023.
  • Marsh, A.W., A.X. Zheng, G.T. Wang, M.L. Hobbs, S.P. Kearney, and Y. Chen-Mazumdar, “Evolution of titanium particle combustion in potassium perchlorate and air,” Combustion and Flame 253, 112787, 2023.
  • Fries, D., S.T. Stark, J.S. Murray, R. Bhakta, E.R. Jans, N.T. Clemens, P.L. Varghese, and S.P. Kearney, “Nitrogen thermometry in an inductively coupled plasma torch using broadband nanosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering,” Applied Optics 62, 7560-7570, 2023.
  • Kearney, S.P., D.K. Lauriola, H.U. Stauffer, P. Hsu, N. Jiang, V. Athmanathan, T.R. Meyer, and S. Roy, “Analysis of picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectra for gas-phase diagnostics,” Journal of the Optical Society of America B 40, 1611-1624, 2023. (featured as Editor’s Pick)
  • Webb, A.M., C.Q. Crabtree, V. Athmanathan, T.R. Meyer, S.P. Kearney, and M.N. Slipchenko, “High-efficiency narrow-bandwidth KTP optical parametric oscillator for kHz-MHz planar laser induced fluorescence, Optics Letters 49, 1473-1476, 2023.
  • Kearney, S.P., K.A. Daniel, C.R. Downing, D.K. Lauriola, J. Leicht, M. Slipchenko, K.P. Lynch, and J.L. Wagner, “100-kHz coherent Raman thermometry in a free-piston shock tube,” Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer 38, 452-458, 2024. doi.org/10.2514/1.T6947
  • Wang, R.B., A.M. Webb, V. Athmanathan, M.N. Slipchenko, S.P. Kearney, H.D. Perkins, S. Roy, C.A. Fugger, T.R. Meyer, “500-kHz OH PLIF and OH* chemiluminescence imaging of deflagration and rotating detonation in CH4-O2 and H2-air mixtures,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 40, 105770 (2024). doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2024.105770