While the pace of research and development in the hypersonics industry remains steady, the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, Boulder is taking steps to ensure the optimization of hypersonic systems thanks to their work with multi-disciplinary high-fidelity models.

Dr. Iain Boyd is the director of the center, and according to Dr. Boyd, high fidelity means putting in a lot of effort to create a super detailed model that gets as close to reality as possible. It's like the difference between using a rough sketch to design a car versus a super detailed blueprint that shows every nut and bolt. In hypersonics this level of detail ensures hypersonic vehicles have optimum performance, which is critical when these vehicles fly at extreme speeds and experience intense heat.

On September 17, Dr. Boyd will present the center’s findings on multi-disciplinary high-fidelity models at the Hypersonic Weapons Summit in Bethesda, Maryland. However, before the event, Dr. Boyd sat down with IDGA to discuss his work at the center and what he is looking forward to at this year’s event.