Martin Summerfield and His Princeton University Propulsion and Combustion Laboratory

Martin Summerfield (1916-1996) pioneered in rocket propulsion and combustion research. He had key roles in transforming the American Rocket Society into a leading professional organization and a precursor to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In 1940, he began his career as a California Institute of Technology (Caltech) graduate student working for Theodore von Karman on the Army Air Corps Jet Propulsion Project to demonstrate the first US jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) units in 1942. From 1942 to 1949, as a founder of Aerojet Engineering Corporation and as a manager at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he led development of liquid-propellant propulsion and planning for long-range missiles. The JPL liquid propulsion contributions are described in the context of the propulsion accomplishments of Goddard and the German teams led by von Braun and Walter. In 1949, Summerfield came to Princeton University as Editor of the Princeton Series; in 1950, he received his first faculty appointment. He went on to establish a renowned solid-rocket propulsion and combustion laboratory. Following his retirement from Princeton University in 1978, he devoted more time to his company, Princeton Combustion Research Laboratory. This paper focuses on his Princeton University laboratory and his graduate students. Research in his laboratory yielded fifty dissertations and theses; all include aspects of combustion. Anecdotes are included to illustrate how Professor Summerfield’s experiences gave him keen insights into preparing his students for practical problems and hardware.