Vasu Labs

Vasu Research Labs | CNF Testing Campaign

Undergraduate Research Assistant · August 2026–present · Literature review

Overview

UCF combustion research lab focused on soot-fireball interactions. Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Detonation Tube Facility under Lab Manager Bryan Surez and Dr. Ramees Rahman.

Background

Vasu Labs, a member of The Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research (CATER) group, is one of UCF’s largest labs. The lab focuses primarily on combustion research under Dr. Subith Vasu. The lab spans multiple facilities both on and off UCF campus running multiple simultaneous projects. One of such projects is the research of fireball-material interactions in the Detonation Tube Facility for the National Consortium on Nuclear Forensics (CNF).

CNF Test Campaign

The research campaign is in-development, currently in the literature review stage as a thesis is developed. Overall, the campaign aims to collect data and characterize the interaction between a simulated nuclear detonation wave and carbon-soot particles. To do this we will utilize a streak camera to capture high-speed images of the interaction between detonation waves and soot particles as well as utilize pyrometry to measure the temperature of the gas in the detonation environment and the soot particles themselves. The measurement approach is still being developed. The final diagnostic configuration and interpretation will depend on the research question established through the literature review.