Current Projects

As the Associate Program Leader for Explosives Detection and Transportation Security within Global Security E Program, my focus is on developing and maintaining programs that mitigate threats to aviation security, critical infrastructure, and other assets of national security interest. As the Group Leader for the Energetic Materials Formulation and Testing Group within the Materials Sciences Division, I am responsible for supervising a group of experimentalists to support functions at the High Explosives Application Facility (HEAF) and S300 Chemistry Area including formulations, pilot scale synthesis, small-scale safety testing, and materials characterization and testing. Other programmatic responsibilities include leading explosives development efforts in support of modernization programs. I also lead explosives activities including formulation and characterization of homemade explosives for the Livermore Explosives Detection Program (LEDP).

Research Interests

Since joining the laboratory, most of my career has been centered around formulation and characterization of explosives. Over the years, I have split my time between SD and GS projects. With my SD projects, my focus has been on explosives manufacturing and understanding how process variables in synthesis and formulation of explosives lead to their material properties and performance. With my GS projects, my focus has been on formulation and characterization of homemade explosives, including safety aspects, thermal stability, detonability, and equivalence.

Career Path

Prior to joining LLNL, I spent five years in consumer products R&D at The Clorox Company and two years in the pharmaceutical industry doing product and process development. I started at LLNL in 2006 working primarily in HEAF doing formulation of explosives. As I gained experience, I have taken on more responsibilities over the years, while keeping my focus on explosives formulation and characterization. I became a deputy group leader in 2013, an associate program leader in 2020 and a group leader in 2022.

B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

DePiero, S. C., T. Lorenz, D. M. Hoffman, F. Gagliardi, P. Mirkarimi, C. Souers, Characterization of Wet-Aminated TATB and LX-17 Like Material Made on the Production Scale, Proceedings from the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) in Portland, OR, December 2018.

DePiero, S. C., T. Lorenz, N. Anderson (presenter), Reinstituting the Manufacturing Process for Producing LX-17, JOWOG 9 Plenary Meeting, United Kingdom, August 2018.

DePiero, S. C., J. S. Kallman, L. McMichael, H. E. Martz, LLNL Simulants for X-Ray Explosive Detection Systems, CTTSO US Personnel Homemade Explosives Working Group, Lorton, VA, October 2017.

DePiero, S. C., N. F. Anderson, T. Lorenz, D. M. Hoffman, F. Gagliardi, C. Souers, Characterization of Pilot Scale Wet-Aminated TATB and Its Formulations, Proceedings from the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) in Kansas City, MO, May 2017.

DePiero, S. C., J. S. Kallman, H. E. Martz, Hydrogen Peroxide/Fuel Explosives, CTTSO US Personnel Homemade Explosives Working Group, Washington, D.C., October 2016.

DePiero, S. C., L. G. Glascoe, Effects of Additives on Potassium Chlorate/Fuel Mixtures: Safety and Detonation Properties, Proceedings from the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) in Nashville, TN, June 2015.

DePiero, S. C., L. G. Glascoe, T. White, I. W. Kuo, N. Grimsley, J. L. Maienschein, What Mixtures Detonate? The Science of Homemade Explosives, 2015 International HME & EOD Working Group, New York City, NY, January 2015.

DePiero, S. C., W. T. White, K. P. Lennox, L. G. Glascoe, and J. L. Maienschein, Hydrogen Peroxide/Foodstuffs Sensitivity and Aging: Safety, Physical Changes, and Radiography, Proceedings from the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) in Albuquerque, NM, December 2014.

Kallman, J. S., S. C. DePiero, S. Azevedo, H. E. Martz, Effects of Powder Morphology and Particle Size on CT Number Estimates, Proceedings from Electronic Imaging 2014, San Francisco, CA, January 2014.

Willey, T.M., S. C. DePiero, D.M. Hoffman, A Comparison of New TATBs, FK-800 binder and LX-17-like PBXs to Legacy Materials, Proceedings from the 1st Korean International Symposium on High Energy Materials, Incheon, South Korea, October 2009.

Hoffman, D.M., T. M. Willey, A. R. Mitchell, S. C. DePiero, Comparison of New and Legacy TATBs, Journal of Energetic Materials, 2008, 26, 139.