Bio
Lt Col Dell Olmstead commissioned in 2005 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. He has served for 13 years as a developmental engineer supporting acquisitions in the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) in addition to his graduate school and teaching assignments. Prior to his current position he was the Chief of Special Projects at the Advanced Development Directorate of SMC at Kirtland AFB, NM. He specializes in high-speed propulsion and computational aerodynamics while teaching classes ranging from thermodynamics to aircraft design. He was assigned to the Department of Aeronautics again in 2018 where he now serves as an Assistant Professor and Department Head of Aeronautical Engineering.
Education
PhD, Engineering, University of New Mexico, New Mexico (2015)
M.S, Aeronautical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, WPA.FB, Ohio (2009)
B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona (2005)
Professional Experience
May 2005-Jun 2009, Hypersonic Propulsion Systems Engineer and Deputy Branch Chief, Air Force Research Laboratory, WPAFB, Ohio
August 2015-Jul 2018, Chief of Mission Development and Special Projects, SMC Advanced Systems Directorate, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
Honors & Awards
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal
Research and Scholarly Interests
Hypersonics, propulsion, supersonic mixing and transition to turbulence
Publications
Olmstead, Dell, “Oblique Shock Wave Effects on Impulsively Accelerated Heavy Gas Column,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of New Mexico, 2015
Olmstead, Dell, “Cavity Coupled Aeroramp Injector Combustion Study”, Masters Thesis, 2009
Olmstead, Dell; Wayne, Patrick; Simons, Dylan; Monje, I. Trueba; Yoo, J.H; Kumar, Sanjay; Truman, C. Randall; Vorobieff, Peter, “Shock-driven transition to turbulence; emergence of power-law scaling,” arXiv:1701.00032 [physics.flu-dyn], 2016
Olmstead, Dell; Truman, C. Randall; Wayne, Patrick; Vorobieff, Peter, “Effects of Inclination on a Shock-accelerated Heavy Gas Column,” Computational Methods in Multiphase Flow VIII, Pg. Vol 89171-180, 2015
Olmstead, Dell; Gruber, Mark; Collatz, MacKenzie; Branam, Richard; Lin, Kuo-Cheng, “Cavity Coupled Aeroramp Injector Combustion Study,” AIAA Paper 2009-5227, 2009
Olmstead, Dell; Wilkin, Heidi, “The Advanced Combined-Cycle Integrated Inlet Test Program, A Computational Assessment,” JANNAF APS Paper, 2008
Thorn, Caitlin; Olmstead, Dell; Tucker, K. Colin, “An Improved Nozzle Performance Laboratory Using Schlieren Flow Visualization,” 51st AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA Propoulsion and Energy Forum, AIAA 2015-4118, 2015
Wayne, Patrick; Olmstead, Dell; Vorobieff, Peter; Truman, C. Randall; Kimar, Sanjay, “Oblique Shock Interaction with a Cylinderical Density Interface,” Computational Methods In Multiphase Flow VIII, Vol 89, Pg. 161-169, 2015
Collatz, MacKenzie; Gruber, Mark; Olmstead, Dell; Branam, Richard; Lin, Kuo-Cheng; Tam, Chung-Jen, “Dual Cavity Scramjet Operability and Performance Study,” AIAA Paper 2009-5030, 2009
Lin, Kuo-Cheng; Tam, Chung-Jen; Jackson, Kevin; Kennedy, Paul; Williams, Skip; Olmstead, Dell; Collatz, MacKenzie, “Fueling Study on Operability Enhancement,” AIAA Paper 2009-5116, 2009