Nick Glumac, MSEE URA Lead for Research Area 3 (Chemistry in Extreme Environments) and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was quoted extensively in a New York Times article titled, “How a Massive Bomb Came Together in Beirut’s Port.” Glumac provides insight into the chemical reaction and effects of the blast.
Glumac’s research is in the area of spectroscopy of reacting flows with an emphasis on flows involving energetic materials, especially explosives. His lab at UIUC is one of the few institutions in the US cleared to test significant quantities of high explosives (up to 5 kg). Glumac has a long history of funded DoD and DOE research, including involvement in four current DTRA grants. He served as chairperson of the Central States Section of the Combustion Institute, as well as chair of the 2016 Gordon Research Conference on Energetic Materials. He has organized several technical meetings and workshops in the energetics field, including the DTRA Temperature Measurement Workshop in 2012.