Chandrashekhar Ganpatrao Sonwane (born May 02, 1972) is an Indian American

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

who works in the fields of space launch, air breathing propulsion and chemical and power industries. Sonwane is known for contributing to several aerospace companies including

Aerojet Rocketdyne Aerojet Rocketdyne is a subsidiary of American Arms industry, defense company L3Harris that manufactures rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet traces ...

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) was an American company that designed and produced rocket engines that use liquid rocket propellants, liquid propellants. It was a division of Pratt & Whitney, a fully owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corpo ...

and supported various

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's deep space programs including

Artemis 1 Artemis I, formerly Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), was an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission that was launched in November 2022. As the first major spaceflight of NASA's Artemis program, Artemis I marked the agency's return to lunar exploration a ...

(Space Launch System). He was Elected as a Fellow of

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

(RAeS) and also an elected member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, ) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 38 Nobel Prize laureates. The European Academy of Sciences and ...

. Sonwane was the principal investigator at

Masten Space Systems Masten Space Systems was an aerospace manufacturer startup company in Mojave, California (formerly in Santa Clara, California) that was developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets, initially for uncrewed research s ...

for

Lunar lander A lunar lander or Moon lander is a Lander (spacecraft), spacecraft designed to Moon landing, land on the surface of the Moon. As of 2024, the Apollo Lunar Module is the only lunar lander to have ever been used in human spaceflight, completing s ...

related technologies.

Early life and education

Sonwane graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in chemical engineering from the

Institute of Chemical Technology An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, Mumbai. In 1996, he received

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in chemical engineering from the

Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT- Bombay or IIT-B) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. IIT Bombay is mainly known for the highly competitive four-year Bachelor of Techno ...

, India. He completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in chemical engineering from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 2000.

Patents and publications

Chandrashkhar has various patents and publications to his credit. Below is the list of few. *''Injector mixer for a compact gasification reactor system'', March 2018,

Gas Technology Institute The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is an American non-profit research and development organization which develops, demonstrates, and licenses new energy technologies for private and public clients, with a particular focus on the natural gas industr ...

, Inventors: Chandrashekhar Sonwane, Kenneth M. Sprouse *''Gas generator and process therefor'', April 2016,

, Inventors: Stephen Yows, Chandrashekhar Sonwane *''Flow splitter for a compact gasification reactor system'', May 2011,

, Inventors: Chandrashekhar Sonwane, Kenneth M. Sprouse *''Recuperative supercritical carbon dioxide cycle'', December 2011,

, Inventors: Chandrashekhar Sonwane, Kenneth M. Sprouse, Ganesan Subbaraman, George M. O'Connor, Gregory A. Johnson *''Pump apparatus including deconsolidator'', July 2012,

, Inventors: Chandrashekhar Sonwane, Timothy Saunders, Mark Andrew Fitzsimmons *''Fundamental Studies in Nanoporpous and Mesoporous Materials'', 2000,

The University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an i ...

Awards and honors

*2020 Stellar Award - Rotary National Award for Space Achievement *Outstanding Section award for very large first place

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonwane, Chandreshekhar Living people People from Nanded Indian scientists Institute of Chemical Technology alumni IIT Bombay alumni American people of Marathi descent 1972 births Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society