Prof. Carmen Guerra-Garcia

Professor Guerra-Garcia studies gas discharge physics (including lightning) and low-temperature plasma applications in aerospace and energy. On the latter, this specifically means plasma-assisted chemical reactions, like combustion. These are "reactions that would not be present otherwise."

Guerra-Garcia has a project with ONERA (France) on electrical arcing in high-gasflow situations. To conduct wind-tunnel studies she needs what looks like a standard electrical grid transformer.

Her combustion work currently centers on making air-breathing combustion (gas turbines) cleaner. This could apply to aircraft engines or to stationary electrical power turbines. Lockheed Martin and ONR are sponsors. She's also collaborating with Ahmed Ghoniem and startup FCG Plasma on using plasma to suppress dynamic instabilities in combustion. That could apply in rocket engines.

More recently she's started looking at other chemical reactions (not combustion). She's done some work for NASA on conversion of CO2 to useful products.