SwRI’s Sidney Chocron named Ballistics Science Fellow

(Press-News.org) SAN ANTONIO — July 21, 2025 —Southwest Research Institute’s (SwRI) Dr. Sidney Chocron has been named a Ballistic Science Fellow by the International Ballistics Society. The honor is awarded to members who have made numerous contributions to ballistics science.

Chocron specializes in the nonlinear response of materials under high strain rates. His work primarily focuses on unconventional tests and computer modeling of materials, such as his research studying the impact of foam and ice on the Space Shuttle thermal protection system, which protected shuttles during atmospheric reentry. In bestowing the fellowship, the International Ballistics Society cited Chocron’s outstanding work characterizing and studying terminal ballistics of various materials, as well as his work with insulating foam and thermal protection system materials for NASA’s Space Shuttle Return-to-Flight program and hypersonic systems.

“Sidney is the rare engineer in that he is both a great analyst and a great experimentalist. He shows great creativity in approaching problems in impact and penetration,” said Dr. James Walker, director of SwRI’s Engineering Dynamics Department. “He's developed many novel experimental techniques. He is internationally known for material modeling.”

Following the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, Chocron contributed significantly to SwRI’s work for NASA’s Return-to-Flight program. He performed thousands of computations to determine what kind of damage the space shuttle could sustain and still successfully continue to fly. The results of the models developed at SwRI were key to NASA’s risk analyses and its ultimate determination that the space shuttle program was ready to resume flight operations following the accident.

“I am honored and humbled to be welcomed by such a distinguished group of scientists and engineers. I am especially thankful to SwRI’s Engineering Dynamics team for their unwavering technical and administrative support all these years — this recognition would not have been possible without them,” Chocron said. “The Institute has established an exceptional environment to develop a meaningful and impactful research career. I encourage both the early career and experienced engineers’ active involvement in professional societies. It is very rewarding to contribute to these communities, grow your network and, over time, see how your efforts can lead to recognition from peers around the world.”

Chocron has a master’s degree and a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He also has a second master’s degree in astrophysics from Complutense University in Madrid.  He first came to SwRI in 1997 as a postdoctoral researcher. After a brief return to Spain, where he was an associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, he rejoined SwRI in 2002 as a research engineer. He now leads the Computational Mechanics Section in SwRI’s Mechanical Engineering Division and he was promoted to Institute Engineer in 2024.

Chocron has published approximately 60 peer-reviewed papers and presented 100 full papers at national and international symposia. He was named an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2021. He is a co-founder and Fellow of the International Ballistics Society and served as its president from 2017 to 2022, where he still is a board member. He was recently elected as a board member of the Hypervelocity Impact Society.

For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/markets/defense-security/blast-impact/ballistics-explosives/computational-mechanics.

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