RICHARD G. PURCELL

Associate Research Mechanical Engineer
Division of Atmospheric Sciences

EDUCATION:

M.S.M.E., Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno
B.S.M.E., Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS:

A Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Nevada, Mr. Purcell provides mechanical engineering support to all five of DRI's research centers. This includes design, materials selection, heat transfer analysis, stress analysis, testing and programming. He is responsible for the selection of sensors, actuators, controls, optics, and fabrication techniques. Other duties involve maintaining and operating the DRI Computer-Aided Design System, a professional engineering drawing package being included with each design. Field support has included installing airborne instruments on several different research aircraft. Many of the research instruments he has designed, including ground-based and airborne applications, have been involved in field programs in the United States and foreign countries.

Mr. Purcell has successfully acted as Principal Investigator on instrument development efforts, meeting program goals on time and within budget. He designed and fabricated a Snow/Rain Collector Sampler for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to be used for the chemical analysis of precipitation, and recently finished the design and fabrication of a prototype High Altitude Ice Crystal Replicator for use on a NASA ER-2 research aircraft. This instrument recently completed its initial flight tests in Germany. In another project, Mr. Purcell is Co-Principal Investigator on projects to develop a device for measuring the acidity of aerosols, and an acoustic resonance spectrometer comparator.

At Hexcel Sports Division he designed and implemented equipment, processes and material improvements relative to the quality and reduced production costs of sophisticated bonded honeycomb/composite snow skis. At the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, Mr. Purcell was responsible for structural and thermal analysis of high-temperature tactical missile components, including wings, seeker domes, thermal protection systems, and rocket/ramjet nozzles, utilizing SAAS, ASAAS, NASTRAN and SAP IV.

Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Desert Research Institute
2215 Raggio Parkway
Reno, NV 89512
(775) 674-7025
Email: Rick.Purcell@dri.edu