Dennis Vigil, Reginald R. Baxter Endowed Department Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering and CoMFRE faculty researcher, alongside Zengyi Shao, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering and Hershel B. Whitney Professor, Global Initiatives, are leading the development of a continuous bioreactor that integrates product extraction and separation into the design, so less equipment is …Continue reading “CoMFRE’s Dennis Vigil leads project to develop continuous bioreactor”
Olivia Tyrrell (mech engr ‘21) recently landed research on the moon in an area she has worked on since she was an undergrad researcher in the Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education. As a junior, she joined the Multiphase Reacting Flow Lab, working under the mentorship of James Michael, associate professor of mechanical engineering and CoMFRE faculty research. “Dr. Michael introduced …Continue reading “Thanks to CoMFRE undergrad research experience, Olivia Tyrrell shot for the moon… and made it”
John Jonghyun Lee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, led research that demonstrated the world’s first neutron scattering on levitated salt solution droplets up to extreme supersaturation. The team used a novel instrument they designed called a Soft Matter Electrostatic Levitator (SEL), integrated into the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor’s WAND2 facility.
Nicole Hashemi and her students will advance a “placenta-on-a-chip” – which models how medicines, nutrients and other substances are passed from mother to fetus – with a new, three-year, $350,000 National Science Foundation Mid-Career Advancement grant.
Jaime Juarez, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Michael Olsen, professor of mechanical engineering, have secured an NSF award to study an innovative approach to maintaining colloidal filtration systems. Juarez and Olsen are exploring using acoustic waves to break apart colloid buildup and or prevent buildup from developing.
Theodore (Ted) J. Heindel, the Bergles Professor of Thermal Science, University Professor of mechanical engineering, and director of Iowa State’s Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education (CoMFRE), has been selected to receive the 2023 Freeman Scholar Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Fynn Reinbacher, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering and a graduate assistant in CoMFRE affiliate James Michael’s research group, was a Gas Turbine Industrial Fellow at Southwest Research Institute. Reinbacher focused on three projects in oxy-fuel combustion, contributing unique multi-phase flow research expertise he developed at Iowa State.
“When the TSA recently confiscated a jar of Jif under the rule that only liquid under 3.4 ounces can be carried on a plane, peanut butter lovers were up in arms. Just like Americans’ favorite legume-based sandwich ingredient, the story – and the outrage it inspired – began to spread. However, I’m a mechanical engineer who studies fluid flows, and the TSA action made sense to me. By the scientific definition, peanut butter is indeed a liquid.”
Chris Rehmann, a CoMFRE affiliate faculty member, leads a new stormwater management project that received Iowa State University Strategic Plan Presidential jump start seed funding. The project will work to improve planning and decision-making processes for more equitable and effective public stormwater infrastructure.
Department of Aerospace Engineering assistant professor Ping He has been named a Michael and Denise Mack 2050 Challenge Scholar. The program was established to support the Iowa State University College of Engineering’s 2050 vision. It supports one junior faculty member with fellowship funding.
The Department of Defense has recently awarded Cyclone Engineers Reza Montazami and Nicole Hashemi a project exploring a novel approach to investigate cells’ bioelectric activities.
Jacob Knuerr is building his one-of-a-kind multiphase flow research skills and connecting with multiphase scholars from across the world as an undergraduate research assistant working with faculty mentor Ted Heindel, CoMFRE director, University Professor, and the Bergles Professor of Thermal Science in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
CoMFRE held a student poster competition at 2022 Symposium and Member Meeting in October, and four graduate and undergraduate students won top poster honors.
A paper published by CoMFRE affiliate Hui Hu, Martin C. Jischke Professor in Aerospace Engineering, and three of his former Ph.D. students has been selected for the 2022 AIAA Gas Turbine Engine Best Paper Award by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ (AIAA) Gas Turbine Engines Technical Committee.
For the past four years, Kumar Saurabh, a grad student in mechanical engineering, has focused on developing new jet atomization algorithms to accurately capture the formation of droplets and necessary physics.
