Walter Bruce – NESC Academy Biography

After receiving a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1985, Walt worked for 12 years at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tennessee.  While at the AEDC he specialized in the design and development of arc jet facilities to improve the technology and understanding of arc heater operation for the specific purpose of developing larger, more capable arc jet facilities.  He led the design and development effort of the H3 arc jet facility at AEDC, which is the largest, high-pressure, segmented arc heater in the world.  Since coming to NASA Langley 15-years ago, he has primarily worked on the design, development, and testing of spacecraft thermal protection systems which requires testing TPS samples in arc jet facilities.