Scientist Thomas Huang; Worked on Navy Projects

Thomas T. Huang, 66, a former senior scientist and chief research scientist for the David W. Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center, died of leukemia May 10 at Capital Hospice in Arlington.

Dr. Huang, a fluid mechanics expert, also taught at Johns Hopkins University's engineering school and became a principal hydrodynamic scientist for Newport News Shipbuilding, now part of Northrop Grumman.

He was born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and graduated from National Taiwan University in Taipei in 1961. He immigrated to the United States to attend graduate school, earning a master's degree in mechanics and hydraulics from the University of Iowa in 1963. He moved to Washington in 1964 to attend Catholic University, where he received a doctorate in applied physics and fluid dynamics in 1969.

Dr. Huang began working at the propeller branch of the Navy's David Taylor Model Basin in 1968. In 1979, he joined the hydrodynamics branch as a researcher focused on the behavior and drag of water along the hulls and propellers of ships and submarines.

He received the 1979 David W. Taylor Award from what is now the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center for work that helped solve difficult naval vehicle problems, resulting in new submarine propeller designs. He also was a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Dr. Huang became head of the hydrodynamics branch in 1980. He published more than 80 papers and reports for journals and conferences and was elected to the International Towing Tank Conference.

Beginning in 1988, he was a research professor at the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, directing doctoral students and teaching graduate courses.

After his retirement in 1998, Dr. Huang joined Newport News Shipbuilding as a principal scientist, based in Washington, where he was working at the time of death.

A lifelong sports enthusiast, Dr. Huang was a volunteer coach for McLean youth soccer and basketball, treasurer for the Langley High School Booster Club, and a supporter of McLean Little League, McLean Babe Ruth and Langley High School baseball.

Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Suiteh Kuo Huang of Reston; two children, Margaret W. Huang-Ho of Chicago and Mitchell T. Huang of Austin; and two grandchildren.