Pazhayannur K. Swaminathan is a member of the Principal Professional Staff at JHU/APL and a Merle Tuve Research Professor at the Whiting School of Engineering (ME Department) of The Johns Hopkins University (JHU). He received a Ph.D. from JHU in 1980 for research in theoretical chemical physics of phase transitions. His current activity involves equation of state and chemical response modeling in shock-physics problems such as hypervelocity impact flash and impact damages of spacecraft materials. He has previously contributed in application areas such as computational chemistry, coupled atmospheric chemistry/transport modeling, theory of phase transitions, and rocket plume radiation modeling. His current assignments span multiple APL projects for the US. Navy, Missile Defense Agency, and NASA as well as fundamental research in collaboration with JHU faculty and students.