Vlastimil Kunc

Bio

Dr. Vlastimil Kunc is the Section Head for Composites Science and Technology Section within the Manufacturing Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Kunc also serves as an adjunct professor at Purdue University. This section consists of four groups with physical and human resources capable of all composite manufacturing steps starting from fiber pre-cursor synthesis to part manufacturing and recycling across multiple scales.  Within this large team, the Advanced Fibers Manufacturing Group focuses on scale up of carbon and silicon carbide fiber manufacturing, and selected intermediate feedstock forms. The Composites Innovation Group focuses on scale-up of additive and high-rate composites processes. The work of the Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies Group centers around bio-derived composite materials and composites recycling. The Extreme Environment Materials Process Group investigates carbon-carbon and ceramic composite structures.

During his career, Dr. Kunc has been responsible for multiple high-profile demonstrations leading to commercial product introduction and articles that were tested in four space launches. Dr. Kunc holds eighteen innovation awards, including five R&D 100 awards and four CAMX Awards for Composites Excellence. He has published over fifty articles and has over twenty issued and pending patents.

Publications