Volunteers with U.S. House Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY). Pictured, left to right, are Himanshu Goyal, Tom Reed, Perrine Pepiot, John Palmore, and Laura Backer.
Twenty-two volunteers of the three U.S. Sections of The Combustion Institute organized congressional visits on 27 April 2017 in Washington, D.C., United States. The delegation met with the staff of 40 members of Congress from 13 U.S. states to discuss the importance of sustained funding of combustion research and education. The volunteers also enjoyed their brief conversations with U.S. Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and U.S. House Representative Tom Reed of New York.
The main theme the delegation of volunteers communicated was the essential role of federal funding for combustion research and education. The delegation shared their scientific expertise about the benefits of combustion research. Some of those benefits include the impact on topics of national interest such as energy independence, climate, and the economy. Fact sheets were also shared on the value of combustion research and members of the delegation offered to serve as a resource should future questions arise. Students discussed specific fellowship programs. Volunteers were trained and accompanied by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
The delegation of volunteers that participated in the meetings (including 12 students) are from all three U.S. Sections of The Combustion Institute (Central, Eastern, and Western). The volunteers were: Lara Backer, Himanshu Goyal, John Palmore, Perrine Pepiot (Cornell); Emily Beagle (Univ. Wyoming); Abbasali Davani (USC); Thomas Decker (Colorado State); Alison Ferris (Stanford); Brain Fisher, Alfredo Tuesta (Naval Research Lab); Felipe Gomez del Campo (Argonne National Lab); Jose Graña-Otero (Univ. Kentucky); Philip Guerieri, James Quintiere, Peter Sunderland (Univ. Maryland); Timothy Jacobs, Tingting Li (Texas A&M); Jonathan Martin (Univ. Michigan); Michael Mueller (Princeton); Andrew Norris (NASA); Brandon Rotavera (Univ. Georgia); and Chenran Wen (Case Western Reserve).