Stefan Cich

Group Leader - Machinery Section
Southwest Research Institute
Biography: 
Stefan Cich is a Group Leader in the Machinery Section at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, TX. He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His professional experience over the last 9 years has been focused around the design, analysis, and development of high pressure equipment and turbomachinery. His first job for two years focused on high pressure hydraulic fracturing equipment. While at SwRI, his main focus has been on various advanced turbines and compressors for a variety of applications. Much of it has been on the development and testing of equipment for use in super critical CO2 power cycles. This includes multiple 16 MWe turbines, 2.5 MW compressors, 5.5 MW to 55 MW recuperators, and a 2 MW heater along with all the necessary equipment to fully operate a power loop. Through all of this, he has gained experience in various ASME and API codes, design and manufacturing of advanced equipment through advanced manufacturing processes, complex stress and thermal analysis of high temperature and high pressure equipment, and testing and operating procedures of new age power cycles.