Our lab studies fundamental fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, vortex mechanics, and biological and biomimetic flight. In our aerodynamics work, we use high-speed imaging of live animals, robotic analogs, and engineering abstractions of locomotion, and use non-invasive flow diagnostics such as particle image velocimetry and particle tracking velocimetry to better understand swimming and flying in modern biology, paleontology and engineering.
Team
Mahsa hajati
Ph.D. student
Mahsa is currently studying the flight of the Mountain Pine Beetle. Using a precision force measurement technique she developed, she hopes to relate wingbeat-scale force production to flight-scale endurance and range.
mazhar iqbal
Ph.D. student
Mazhar is currently designing and building a custom flow-loop for studying enhanced heat-transfer technology in solar-thermal applications.
clara giner-morency
M.Sc. student
Inspired by the attached leading-edge vortices on insect wings, Clara’s thesis is on modeling the transport of vorticity and circulation these leading-edge vortes, using a low-cost species transport technique.
ali pourfarzan
M.Sc. student
Ali’s thesis research is on the thrust production of asymmetric tandem airfoils, as an analogy to extinct plesiosaurs. Plesiosaurs have different levels of development between their shoulders and hips, implying different levels of force production in the fore and hind limbs.
alex cui
M.Eng. student
Alex project is to produce imaging-processing software to assist in the extraction of animal limb kinematics from high-speed video.
Varun Mulagundla
M.Eng. student
Varun’s project is to commission a small-scale wind tunnel, involving the final assembly, calibration of the main fan, and an assessment of the resulting flow quality and uniformity.
Recent Articles
This article investigates the performance of a plesiosaur-inspired tandem foil pair. In this study, the amplitude was varied between fore- and hind-limbs to investigate the varied should and hip development between different species.
Often paleontologists must deal with incomplete data to draw conclusions. Here, we attempt to predict the reduced frequency of a flipper based on physical attributes alone, such as those available from fossil specimens.
In order to better understand the dispersion of the Mountain Pine Beetle, we attempt to predict the thrust production of a beetle based on only its wing kinematics.
STLs
We have produced a number of small 3D printed parts for various projects, which are shared here in case anyone finds them useful.
Jaime Wong 