Timothy K. Minton

Focus Area

Fluids, Structures and Materials

Education

PhD, Physical Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1986
BS, Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1980

Professional Experience

2020 – Present, Professor, Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder
2017 – Present, Member, Executive Advisory Board, Skeyeon, Inc.
2010 – Present, Associate Editor, The Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
2005 – 2019, Senior Editor, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C
2005 – 2020, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman
2001 – 2005, Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman
1995 – 2001, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman
1989 – 1995, Member of Technical Staff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
1988 – 1989, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Zürich, Switzerland
1986 – 1988, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Additional Appointments

Courtesy Appointment, Department of Chemistry

Awards (Selected)

2021, Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
2017, Visiting Foreign Scholar, Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, University of Perugia, Italy
2016, Selected by the International Advisory Committee of the 30th International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics to present the 12th Lloyd Thomas Keynote Lecture
2015, Elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society
2012, Elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
2010, Elected as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society
2002, Air Force Research Laboratory, In-House Project of the Quarter: “Space-Survivable Polymers Containing Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes (POSS)”
2002, Charles & Nora Wiley Award for Meritorious Research (Montana St. Univ.)
1996, Montana St. Univ. Alumni/Bozeman Chamber of Commerce Excellence Award
1995, NASA Monetary Award for the creative development of a technological contribution, “Semiconductor Etching by Hyperthermal Neutral Beams.”
1976 – 1980, Aurora (Illinois) Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship

Research Interests

Gas-phase and gas-surface reaction dynamics.  Shock layer chemistry and physics in hypersonic flows.  Degradation and ablation of materials in low-Earth-orbital and atmospheric-entry environments.  Gas-surface energy transfer relevant to satellite drag.  Hypervelocity gas sampling in rarefied atmospheres.  Reactions in rocket exhaust plumes.  Structure, reactivity, and transport at gas-liquid interfaces.