FDRC Seminar Series
Each semester, FDRC invites speakers from across the United States and abroad to present their research on fluid dynamics to members of the Penn State community. Topics include fundamental research on turbulence, numerical methods for CFD, the development of experimental techniques, and engineering applications related to medicine, propulsion, combustion, and more.
Seminars are accompanied by complimentary coffee and donuts!
Most seminars are broadcast via Zoom. Links to the Zoom room are distributed bi-weekly via our mailing list. To subscribe, simply send an e-mail to l-fdrc-subscribe-request@lists.psu.edu. You can unsubscribe by sending an email to l-fdrc-unsubscribe-request@lists.psu.edu. No subject or body is required in either case.
Spring 2026 Series
Seminars in this series are hosted every Thursday at 9:30 am in 125 Reber Building.
Schedule
| Date | Speaker | Affiliation | Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 15 | Trung Le | North Dakota State University | Fotis Sotiropoulos |
| Jan. 22 | Kelly Huang | University of Houston | Robert Kunz |
| Jan. 29 | Cong Wang | University of Iowa | Tamy Guimarães |
| Feb. 5 | Fotis Sotiropoulos | Pennsylvania State University | Internal |
| Feb. 12 | John Brigham | University of Pittsburgh | Gregory Banyay |
| Feb. 19 | Parvin Bayati | Pennsylvania State University | Internal |
| Feb. 26 | Robert Martinuzzi | University of Calgary | Robert Kunz |
| Mar. 5 | Hui Hu | Iowa State University | S. Grauer, T. Guimarães |
| Mar. 12 | Spring Break | ||
| Mar. 19 | Rana Zakerzadeh | Duquenese University | Michael Krane |
| Mar. 26 | Young "Paul" Yi | Princeton University | Margaret Byron |
| Apr. 2 | Ellen Longmire | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | Mark Miller |
| Apr. 9 | Noelia Grande Gutiérrez | Carnegie Melon University | Keefe Manning |
| Apr. 16 | Michael Plesniak | George Washington University | Melissa Brindise |
| Apr. 23 | Juan Mendoza Arenas | University of Pittsburgh | Xiang Yang |
| Apr. 30 | Alison Ferris | Princeton University | Samuel Grauer |
Abstracts and Biosketches
Trung Le
Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
North Dakota State University
The impact of ice on momentum transfer in rivers of cold regions
January 15, 2026
River ice is a common phenomenon in cold regions during winter. Its presence alters hydrodynamics of rivers from the ice boundary to the river bed. In this project, we developed new methodologies to study ice-covered flows in small and medium-sized rivers using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), pointwise measurements, and Large Eddy Simulation. First, we developed a theoretical model for the lateral momentum transfer and depth-averaged velocity profiles in ice-covered rivers using the depth-integrated Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations. Second, a series of field measurement campaigns (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler- ADCP and Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry) were conducted to validate our theoretical model in the Red River of the North in Fargo, North Dakota and Buffalo River, Minnesota in United States under fully ice-coverage from 2020 to 2025. Our results show that secondary flows and Reynolds stresses both contribute to the lateral momentum load. Also, the ice cover suppresses the development of coherent secondary cells. A term-by-term analysis of streamwise momentum budget demonstrates that lateral gradients of momentum load are closely tied to variations in bed shear stress, highlighting the coupling between momentum load and near-bed dynamics. Finally, a Large-Eddy Simulation is carried out with inputs from field measurements for the Red River reach. Our results show a significant impact of ice cover in changing the spatial arrangement of the turbulent statistics and the secondary flow structures. Specifically, the Turbulent Kinetic Energy is altered significantly near the bend apex as the result of the interaction between the turbulent jet and the ice cover in regions near both banks. Our results suggest that ice coverage promote the redistribution of momentum and sustain turbulence near banks. Our work reveals a hidden role of ice coverage in moderating the bed shear stresses near river banks in winter. This work proposes a fundamental framework to study river ice dynamics and also provide practical tools for monitoring and predicting flow profiles under ice conditions in rivers of cold regions, which are under pressure of a changing cryosphere globally. This study is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award No. 2239799.
Biosketch
Dr. Trung Le is an Associate Professor at the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at North Dakota State University, United States. His research interest focuses on computational methods and data analytics for complex flows in bioengineering and environmental problems. He received a number of national and international awards including the Gallery of Fluid Motion (American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics) and National Science Foundation CAREER Award.
Kelly Huang
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Houston
Measuring, modeling, and mimicking atmospheric turbulent processes
January 22, 2026
Atmospheric turbulence is at the core of many weather phenomena such as rain, fog, storms, and tornadoes, but despite its ubiquity, the role of turbulence in these atmospheric surface layer (ASL) processes remains unclear, largely due to the complexity of the ASL and the wide range of temporal and spatial scales present. Resolving all these scales continues to be a daunting challenge to field and laboratory settings and to numerical simulations. To address this issue, I present measurement platforms and experimental facilities that are tailored for capturing, replicating, and modeling atmospheric turbulent processes. First, I detail a unique and economically scalable measurement system leveraging nano-scale sensors that was deployed over the salt flats of Utah, and show that the resulting data allowed for an examination of high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer processes. Then, I show that relevant fog–turbulence interaction mechanisms are uncovered by the "super combo probe,"" where simultaneous velocity, temperature, and droplet size measurements were made down to the microscales.
Biosketch
Dr. Kelly Huang is the Kalsi Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Houston. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. Prior to arriving at UH, she completed a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Notre Dame in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her research focuses on the turbulent processes that drive the atmospheric surface layer and the development of novel and high-resolution sensing techniques.
Cong Wang
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Iowa
Physics and control of surface-piercing turbulent wake flow
January 29, 2026
Turbulent free-surface wakes generated by surface-piercing bodies during transient maneuvers represent a technically complex and operationally critical domain in naval hydrodynamics. The unsteady transport of mass, momentum, and energy across the dynamic air–water interface gives rise to highly anisotropic, vortical flows characterized by inherent instabilities that significantly impact the performance and safety of naval platforms. In this study, we characterize the high unsteady and 3D turbulent wake flows of representative surface-piercing bluff bodies using a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, including fluorescent dye visualization, synchronized multi-plane Particle Image velocimetry (PIV), and volumetric 3D defocusing PIV. It was found that free-surface wake flows are stabilized at high Froude numbers, with the canonical vortex shedding process suppressed. Consequently, the near-surface wake exhibits reduced mixing and momentum transfer process. In addition, the shedding vortices exhibit a strong spatio-temporal misalignment, causing depth-varying dynamic loadings on the surface-piercing structure. Based on the discoveries, we apply surface-distributed fluid actuators to stabilize the coupled fluid–structure system. The finding results lay the foundation for high-fidelity modeling of anisotropic turbulent shear flows and future intelligent naval systems.
Biosketch
Dr. Cong Wang is currently assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Iowa. Before joining the University of Iowa, he was postdoc associate and research scientist at Caltech. Dr. Wang received his B.Eng. degree in Engineering Science from the National University of Singapore in 2013, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautics from Caltech in 2014 and 2019. His current research interests lie in the general areas of physics and control of turbulent multi-phase flow, as well as developing advanced flow diagnosis techniques. He is a recipient of the Ernest E. Sechler Memorial Award in Aeronautics in 2018 and the Donald Coles Prize in Aeronautics in 2019 from Caltech.