Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for November
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AME Department Seminar
Wed, Nov 02, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Rich Axelbaum, Jens Professor of Environmental Engineering Science. Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering. Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO.
Talk Title: The Global Dependence on Coal and How Oxy-Combustion Can Help
Abstract: The global demand for energy is rapidly rising, while at the same time there is growing concern that the continued use of fossil fuels, specifically coal, is irreversibly damaging our environment. Coal accounts for 50% of electricity production in the U.S., 80% in China and 75% in India. Why has coal become such an integral part of our energy mix? Does it need to be? Are there ways to utilize coal while having minimal impact on the environment? The first part of this talk will address these questions and give the audience an appreciation of the global challenges and possible solutions to our demand for clean, affordable energy. In the second part of the talk, one of the more promising solutions, Oxyfuel combustion with carbon capture and storage (CCS), will be described. Then the characteristics of oxy-fuel combustion will be addressed from a fundamental sense, and will be shown to have the potential to produce soot-free, stable flames provided the stoichiometric mixture fraction is sufficiently high. The reason for the suppression of soot chemistry under conditions of high stoichiometric-mixture-fraction will be discussed.
Host: Prof. P. Ronney
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcomingLocation: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
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AME Department Seminar
Thu, Nov 03, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: G. Paul Neitzel , Professor and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies. George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0405.
Talk Title: Permanent Noncoalescence and Nonwetting: Science and Applications
Abstract: Under the proper conditions it is possible to press together two drops of the same liquid without experiencing coalescence or to press a liquid droplet against a surface normally wetted by the liquid without wetting occurring. By permanent noncoalescence and nonwetting we distinguish cases in which the phenomena may be observed for unlimited time from transient examples such as two drops of liquid bouncing off one another or a liquid droplet bouncing off a solid wall. To achieve permanent noncoalescence or nonwetting, a mechanism is needed for establishing a lubricating film of surrounding fluid (usually air) and sustaining this film as the liquid/liquid or solid/liquid surfaces are moved toward each other.
This talk will address means for the establishment of such lubricating films and discuss measurements and theory conducted to understand the behavior of such systems. Finally, possible applications of permanent noncoalescence and nonwetting will be described, including a demonstration of droplet levitation above a solid surface using non-contact, optical methods and a technique for the generation of nanoliter-scale encapsulated droplets of varying volume ratio.
Biography: G. Paul Neitzel has been a Professor in The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology since 1990; he presently also serves as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies. Prior to arriving at Georgia Tech, he served for eleven years on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Arizona State University and worked ten years at the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, during which time he received his Ph.D. in fluid mechanics from The Johns Hopkins University. He has conducted research on the hydrodynamic stability of unsteady swirling flows and flows associated with materials processing, vortex breakdown, suppression of coalescence/wetting and bioreactor fluid dynamics. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the recipient of a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship. He has served as a visiting professor at the Universität Karlsruhe (Germany), Imperial College of Science and Technology (London) and the Université d'Aix-Marseille II and a visiting scientist at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Germany).
Host: Prof. Spedding
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcomingLocation: Robert Glen Rapp Engineering Research Building (RRB) - 208
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
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AME Department Seminar
Wed, Nov 09, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Matthew West. Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Urbana-Champaign, Illinois., Assistant Professor
Talk Title: Variance Reduction for Efficient Stochastic Particle Simulation and Estimation
Abstract: Stochastic particle methods are efficient numerical algorithms for the simulation and estimation of high-dimensional systems, such as population balance models for aerosol suspensions and particle filters for nonlinear filtering. While particle methods avoid the curse of dimensionality that limits grid-based numerical schemes in high dimensions, they can still be very expensive as the number of particles becomes large.
In this talk we present two new variance reduction schemes for particle methods for Markov jump systems. The first variance reduction scheme uses particle weighting functions for a single simulation to enable variable and adaptive resolution in particle space, thereby focusing computational resources on the system components contributing the greatest variance. The second variance reduction scheme couples multiple simulations in an anti-correlated ensemble by extending the classical antithetic and stratified sampling techniques to time-evolution Markov systems. Both of these variance reduction techniques are able to accelerate particle methods for stochastic jump systems by several orders of magnitude.
We apply these new reduced-variance particles methods to simulation and estimation problems in atmospheric aerosol dynamics and chemistry. By using variance reduction, we are able to simulate the largest particle-resolved models to date of ship-plume emissions and polluted urban scenarios, thus giving new insight into aerosol mixing states and their climate and health impacts.
Biography: Matthew West is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining Illinois he was on the faculty of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, Davis. Prof. West holds a Ph.D. in Control and Dynamical Systems from the California Institute of Technology and a B.Sc. in Pure and Applied Mathematics from the University of Western Australia.
Host: Prof. E. Kanso
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcomingLocation: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
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AME Department Seminar
Tue, Nov 15, 2011 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Tony Maxworthy, Smith International Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Professor. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. University of Southern California.
Talk Title: A Fascination with Fluids: Vortices and Vortex Breakdown
Abstract: The problem of the dynamics of long slender vortices, e.g., tornadoes, dust devils,
waterspouts, fire whirls, internal flow in rotating machinery, leading edge and trailing
vortices on lifting surfaces, etc, has been a fascination for me for close to 50 years. A
sequence of experimental studies will be presented, together with reasoned physical
explanations and related theoretical arguments, that attempt to bring some order to the
sometimes-controversial discussion that has swirled about the subject during that time.
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcomingLocation: Robert Glen Rapp Engineering Research Building (RRB) - 208
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
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AME Department Seminar
Wed, Nov 16, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Hagop Barsamian, Section Manager. Contamination Control Engineering. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. Space Systems Division. Redondo Beach, CA 90278.
Talk Title: Keeping the House CleanâThe Control of Spacecraft Contamination
Abstract: Contamination can degrade the performance of spacecraft systems. Accumulation of particulate and molecular contamination will cause undesired changes in optical, thermal control and guidance systems of spacecraft. These changes include increase in solar absorptance of thermal control surfaces, and the reduction in transmittance or scatter of light in optical systems. Identification of contamination sensitivities and quantification of the allowable contamination levels on these systems is a logical first step. Once identified, plans are implemented to mitigate the effects of contamination and maintain an acceptable level of hardware cleanliness. The controls that are put in place throughout the manufacture, assembly and testing of these spacecraft systems include selection of materials for the hardware design, use of cleanrooms to control the environment, and monitoring of contamination levels. These efforts will help minimize system performance degradation due to contamination and lead to mission success.
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcomingLocation: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
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AME Department Seminar
Wed, Nov 30, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Barnaby Wainfan, Technical Fellow, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. Redondo Beach, CA 90278.
Talk Title: The Very Light Car
Abstract: The Edison2 Very Light Car is the most efficient highway-capable 4-seat car in history. In 2010, the Very Light Car won the Mainstream Class of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize. The 4-seat VLC achieved over 100 MPG combined, while demonstrating highway-capable performance. Mr .Wainfan will discuss the design and development of the car, and the future of the VLC project and efficient road transport.
Host: Dr. Geoff Spedding
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcomingLocation: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming