Dr. Greg Scaven of Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company

"My Life with Pyrotechnics"

Following a week long course at Washington College in the late 1980’s with Dr. John Conkling, I was exposed to a new world of chemistry - and eventually physics as well - that I never knew existed. The secrets behind dazzling fireworks were revealed and it opened up opportunities to learn more not just about pyrotechnics, but about pyrophorics, explosives, and propellants. All of these processes are not unlike normal chemical combustion - with fuels, oxidizers, and energy all coming together - but there are some vast differences in the underlying kinetics. The exothermic release of these processes - ranging from subsonic to supersonic - is extremely predictable and as such, can be engineered to reliably perform work in extreme environments and within the ‘blink of an eye’ to keep people safe and accomplish work and missions previously thought impossible. Pyrotechnics are all around us, and we will explore some of their less known uses in further detail during this talk.