Zhao Pan

Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering

Research interests: fluid physics; micro/bio-fluids; biomechanics; granular matter; advanced fluid flow diagnostics; perception systems for ice-breakers

Biography

Zhao Pan is an assistant professor at the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics, University of Waterloo, Canada. Before joining Waterloo in late 2019, Zhao worked at the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP). Zhao obtained his PhD from Brigham Young University in 2016 and has developed a broad research interest. His creative research and design projects have been highlighted in hundreds of major media outlets in more than ten languages. His flow visualization works won the Gallery of Fluid Motion Award 3 times by the American Physics Society and were highlighted on journal covers or back covers by Nature Plants, Soft Matter, and Physics of Fluids.

Education

  • PhD, Fluid Dynamics, Brigham Young University

  • MASc, Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

  • MASc, Automotive Engineering, Jilin University

Zhao Pan

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Research

He uses an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to explore data science, granular matter, and fluid mechanics. His recent research interests span fundamental fluid physics (jets, bubbles, and droplets), micro/bio-fluids, and biomechanics to advanced fluid flow diagnostics enabled by data assimilation. Curiosity drives his research and serves academia and industrial sectors with creative ideas, unique physical insights, and rigorous mathematics. Example research includes the bio-mechanics and granular locomotion of Shai-hulud in microgravity (on parabolic flights and International Space Station), and perception systems for Canadian ice-breakers.

Publications

Recent publications include:

  • Pan, Zhao and Zhang, Yang and Gustavsson, Jonas and Hickey, Jean-Pierre and Cattafesta, Louis, Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) based nonlinear parameter estimation for a turbulent boundary layer: a data assimilation framework, Measurement Science and Technology, , 2020
  • Speirs, Nathan B and Belden, Jesse and Pan, Zhao and Holekamp, Sean and Badlissi, George and Jones, Matthew and Truscott, Tadd T, The water entry of a sphere in a jet, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 956, 2019
  • Pan, Zhao and Weyer, Floriane and Pitt, Williams G and Vandewalle, Nicolas and Truscott, Tadd T, Drop on a Bent Fibre, Soft Matter, , 2018
  • Speirs, Nathan B and Pan, Zhao and Belden, Jesse and Truscott, Tadd T, The water entry of multi-droplet streams and jets, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1084, 2018
  • Hurd, RC and Speirs, NB and Belden, J and Pan, Z and Lovett, B and Robinson, W and Zamora, MA and Sharker, SI and Mansoor, MM and Merritt, A and others, Shear joy of watching paint dry, Phys. Rev. Fluids, , 2017
  • Pan, Zhao and Kiyama, Akihito and Tagawa, Yoshiyuki and Daily, David J and Thomson, Scott L and Hurd, Randy and Truscott, Tadd T, Cavitation onset caused by acceleration, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 8470, 2017
  • Pan, Zhao and Pitt, William G and Zhang, Yuanming and Wu, Nan and Tao, Ye and Truscott, Tadd T, The upside-down water collection system of Syntrichia caninervis, Nature plants, 16076, 2016
  • Pan, Zhao and Whitehead, Jared and Thomson, Scott and Truscott, Tadd, Error propagation dynamics of PIV-based pressure field calculations: How well does the pressure Poisson solver perform inherently?, Measurement Science and Technology, , 2016
  • Hurd, R and Fanning, T and Pan, Z and Mabey, C and Bodily, K and Hacking, K and Speirs, N and Truscott, T, Matryoshka cavity, Physics of Fluids, 091104, 2015

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