Phil Putman has been aware of the possibility of a quick end to civilization since reading A Choice of Catastrophes while he was in the fourth grade. After earning Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, he considered the application of his educational background to averting the various disasters described in the book. He concluded that lowering the cost of access to space would mitigate most of the dangers, and, furthermore, would be neat. This led him to perform research on the incorporation of superconductors into electromagnetic launchers. Dr. Putman completed a Ph.D. on this topic at the University of Houston, and continues there as a Research Assistant Professor employed by the Mechanical Engineering Department and the Texas Center for Superconductivity.

 

In addition to performing traditional research and development, Dr. Putman has competed in events such as the Ford Hybrid Electric Vehicle Challenge and the robot combat tournaments Robot Wars and BattleBots. A car that he and a team of other Cornell students built won the inaugural Ford HEV challenge. The first robot that he built won the Lightweight Melee event at the first Robot Wars. His second robot was the first to successfully walk during a Robot Wars competition.

 

Dr. Putman has co-authored approximately 20 research papers on materials processing, characterization, and electromechanical applications, and has a pending patent application in the field of electromagnetic launch. He enjoys serving as an advisor to interested students, ranging from high school students working on science fair projects to graduate student researchers.