Captain Jason G. Seik is the Project Manager of the Hypersonic Plasma Re-entry Effects Program within the Air Force Research Laboratory located at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM. He is responsible for managing a $5 million portfolio aimed at research and development of modeling and simulating the plasma and plasma effects seen in atmospheric re-entry environments. The developed software is then used to analyze next-generation re-entry vehicle designs. This work involves discussions with the national labs (Sandia, Lawrence-Livermore, Los Alamos) and foreign partners (Atomic Weapons Establishment in the UK) to determine what knowledge gaps currently exist, partnering with academia and industry to improve current software capabilities or create new algorithms where gaps exist, and working with end-users, such as STRATCOM, the Missile Defense Agency, or Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, to determine their specific needs and how those needs can be incorporated into their suite of tools.

Captain Seik spent a number of years doing nothing related to his current profession before deciding to go back to college to get his bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of New Mexico. Upon graduation, he began the Air Force Officer Training School and received his commission in September of 2016. His first assignment was at the Air Force Technical Applications Center where he supported the nuclear treaty monitoring and nuclear detonation response missions. He was then accepted into the Air Force Institute of Technology where he received his master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2021. From there he received his current assignment at the Air Force Research Laboratory.