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Andre L. Thompson (Fed)
Materials Research Engineer
Dr. Andre L. Thompson is a Materials Research Engineer working in the Flammability Reduction Group of the Fire Research Division (FRD) of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He was previously awarded into the National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Research Associateship Program at NIST in 2018. During his graduate studies at the University of Michigan, Dr. Thompson worked as a Graduate Fellowship for STEM Diversity (GFSD) summer fellow at NIST from 2014 to 2016.
As a GFSD fellow, formerly known as the National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC), Dr. Thompson’s research focused on encapsulating fire retardants into micelle gels used as coatings to reduce the flammability of cotton fabrics. He also tested the flammability properties of silicone fire retardant coatings on velvet cotton fabrics via bench-scale and large-scale fire tests.
As an NRC Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dr. Thompson studied ways to reduce the flammability and heat release rate (i.e., fire size) of resilient lightweight construction materials (e.g., wood, composite materials) and residential upholstered furniture in response to open flame and smoldering ignition sources, without the use of chemical fire retardants.
Currently, Dr. Thompson studies the type, prevalence, and concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on firefighter gear (FFG), the source of PFAS, and the mechanism for PFAS release from the FFG.
Awards
National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Research Associate (2018)
Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity (GFSD) (2014)
Graduate Engineering Minority (GEM) Fellowship (2013)