Werner Dahm

Professor, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy

Werner J.A. Dahm is Professor Emeritus of Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he served on the faculty for 25 years, and since 2010 is the ASU Foundation Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Arizona State University, where he leads the Laboratory for Turbulence, Combustion and Propulsion.  He specializes in the fields of fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, combustion, heat transfer, thermal sciences, and related areas relevant to a broad range of automotive, aeronautical, astronautical, and other applications, including engines and vehicle powertrains.

Dr. Dahm is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in the Division of Fluid Dynamics, a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), recipient of the William F. Ballhaus Aeronautics Prize from Caltech, the 1938E Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Michigan, and the George J. Huebner Research Excellence Award from the University of Michigan.

He is an author of over 200 refereed technical articles, conference papers, and technical publications, a holder of six U.S. and international patents, and has given over 260 technical presentations, including over 190 invited, plenary, and keynote lectures worldwide, on topics dealing with mechanical and aerospace engineering and defense science. 

Previously he was the Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force in Headquarters Air Force, a three-star equivalent civilian position in the Pentagon as the direct science and technology advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff.  As the Chief Scientist he led development of “Technology Horizons”, a major Headquarters-level document that identifies the key science and technology focus areas for the U.S. Air Force during 2010-2030.

He has served in numerous key technical advisory roles, including on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) since 2005 and as Chair of the Board from 2014-2017 and on the SAB Executive Committee since 2018, and on numerous task forces of the Defense Science Board. He has also served in other senior technical advisory roles, including for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and NASA, and in many technology reviews and assessments.

The Air Force awarded him the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service – the highest honor it can bestow on a civilian Air Force employee – for his service as the Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force, and also awarded him the Secretary of the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award – the highest honor it can bestow on a non-employee civilian – for his service with the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

He has also founded and served on the boards of two technology-oriented entrepreneurial companies, on technical advisory and organizational committees for numerous technical conferences, and as a consultant for industry.