Ablation Community Gathers at NMSU for Successful 15th Workshop
Ablation Community Gathers at NMSU for Successful 15th Workshop
The 15th Ablation Workshop at New Mexico State University was a big success, drawing a strong mix of researchers, engineers, and students from around the world to focus on aerothermodynamics and ablation. The workshop brought together researchers from government, industry, and universities to share work on how materials hold up under extreme heat, like during hypersonic flight or spacecraft reentry.
Prof. Torres Herrador with his students during the workshop.A total of 112 people attended this year’s meeting. Most participants came from the United States (100), with additional attendees traveling from France (6), the United Kingdom (3), Belgium (1), Italy (1), and Japan (1). The group also reflected a wide range of roles in the field: 41 attendees were students, 29 were government employees, 25 came from academia, and 17 attendees from industry.
The workshop began with a cocktail mixer and registration at the NMSU golf course on Monday, November 27. The official workshop took place Tuesday, November 28, led by Dr. Jay Misra, Associate Dean for Research at the NMSU College of Engineering. The day featured 12 presentations spread across four technical sessions, with speakers sharing current research results, new modeling approaches, experimental progress, and the challenges that come with applying existing techniques to emerging aerospace needs. Also on Tuesday, attendees traveled to Spaceport America for a tour to see the facilities, an learn about ongoing activities at the spaceport.
Presentation of the commemorative plaque to Dr. Nagi Mansour during the Gala Dinner.The program continued Wednesday, November 29, with 16 more presentations organized into four additional technical sessions. A poster session followed, allowing attendees to present their work and get direct feedback from the community. Wednesday ended with a gala dinner at the Farm and Ranch Museum, featuring performances by the NMSU Mariachi and Folklorico Dancers. Dr. David Jauregui, Dean of the NMSU College of Engineering, thanked participants for their contributions and emphasized the importance of the workshop to the field. A commemorative plaque recognizing major contributions to hypersonics and ablation research was presented to Dr. Nagi Mansour, recently retired Chief Division Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, by Drs. Martin, Jauregui, and Torres-Herrador.
The workshop concluded on Thursday, November 30, with an International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) session held at the Physical Science Laboratory (PSL). Seven presentations addressed ITAR-related topics, providing a dedicated space for researchers working in sensitive areas to share their progress.
Overview of the Poster Session, with participants discussing their ongoing research projects.Over four days of presentations, posters, site visits, and networking, the workshop delivered on its goals of building international connections, strengthening national collaboration, sharing cross-disciplinary ideas, highlighting new experiments, and tackling challenges in emerging applications. The 15th Ablation Workshop at NMSU was a big success and marked a productive step forward for the global aerothermodynamic ablation community.
The 16th edition of the Ablation Workshop will also take place at New Mexico State University, underscoring the strong commitment of NMSU and the State of New Mexico to advancing hypersonics and high-temperature materials research.
The New Mexico Consortium is proud to have been a cosponsor of the 15th Ablation Workshop.