Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME GRADUATE STUDENT RECEIVES RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AWARD

 

Madhusudan Gurpura Pai, a PhD student advised by Prof. Shankar Subramaniam, recently received the Research Excellence Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize graduate students at the time of their graduation for outstanding research accomplishments as documented in their theses and dissertations. These students are also expected to be academically superior and able to not only do research, but develop a well-written product. The intent of this program is to recognize up to 10% of graduating students who have submitted theses and dissertations.

Madhu, as he is known to all, joined Iowa State University in 2002 and has been conducting research in theory, mathematical modeling and computer simulations of multiphase flows. The primary objective of his research is to establish a consistent framework for the single-point statistical description of multiphase flows. His research aims at better understanding this complex and challenging area of fluid dynamics, and also serves as a guide for researchers who use computations and experiments to investigate such flows. As a part of his research, Madhu has proposed new multiscale models to capture the complex time and length-scale interactions encountered in dispersed multiphase flows. He has also employed a variety of computational techniques in his investigations which have helped unravel interesting characteristics of multiphase flows, including a new transport mechanism in clustering particle systems. His research findings have important ramifications in the description and understanding of multiphase flow systems, ranging from the macroscale down to the nanoscale.  After graduation, Madhu plans to continue his research in the area of dilute to dense multiphase flows as a post-doctoral fellow at the NASA/Stanford University Center for Turbulence Research.

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