Dr. Rodney A. Bryant is a mechanical engineer and a member of the research staff for the National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Bryant's research interests include the fluid dynamics of fire, heat and mass transfer, and measurement uncertainty. Dr. Bryant presently directs research projects focused on improving measurement methods for large-scale fire testing and improving the accuracy of the emissions measurements from stationary sources.
Dr. Bryant joined NIST in 1998 as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow. During that appointment he conducted research to characterize the turbulent mixing of gaseous jets using Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Since then, Dr. Bryant has directed and contributed to a variety of projects within the Fire Research Division. Major accomplishments include conducting the first ever characterization of a full-scale fire-induced doorway flow using PIV, developing procedures to estimate the uncertainty of heat release rate and heat flux measurements in large-scale fire tests, and measuring the effectiveness of fire extinguishing agents.
Dr. Bryant has authored or co-authored over 40 scientific publications which include journal articles, conference papers, and NIST reports. He is an active reviewer for major journals in fire, combustion, heat transfer, and fluids research. He is a member of The International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS), The Combustion Institute, and The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).