Fluid Mechanics and Fire Behaviour

Cecile Devaud is a professor in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. She is also a member of Waterloo Engineering’s Fire Research Group and the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy. 
Her research group focuses on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for turbulent reacting flows. They are interested in developing and implementing new mathematical models for problems related to turbulent mixing, flame stabilization and emissions. Applications are diverse; ranging from aero and automotive engines to fire scenario analysis. More recently, some research activities have been devoted to numerical simulations of two-phase flows and compartment fires related to the nuclear industry. 

Professor Devaud has special interest in using simulation to understand the relationship between turbulence and fire, specifically how turbulence can reduce or intensify fire, how fire can increase turbulence, and how these processes contribute to the growth or extinction of fires. She also studies the more subtle dangers of fire, such as toxic gases like carbon monoxide and particulates like soot. The implications of her research are practical and result in greater safety for firefighters and those they rescue. 

Professor Devaud, along with Waterloo professors Amir Khajepour, A. Fazeli, and A. Nasser, holds a US patent for “an Air hybrid engine with a plurality of air tanks." 

David Johnson is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. 

His research interests are in the development and application of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to flows, the measurement techniques for internal flows, the turbulent recirculation flows, jet and nozzle flows, wind energy and wind turbines, large scale PIV and measurement techniques, as well as the incompressible flow turbomachinery. 

Professor Johnson currently leads, and is also the founder of, the Wind Energy Research Group (WEG) at the university. The WEG works with wind turbine aerodynamics and aeroacoustics (noise). Professor Johnson and his team have several publications on incompressible flow turbomachinery, pump internal velocity measurements, fan design and performance measurement, and experimental and numerical studies of turbulent recirculating flows. Ever since working at the Ontario Hydro Research Division in the late 1980s, Professor Johnson has been involved in renewable energy research in Canada and Denmark. 

Throughout his career, Professor Hamdullahpur has been an active researcher in thermo-fluids and energy engineering, a passionate teacher and an academic administrator. He has authored hundreds of scientific and academic publications and supervised over 50 graduate students. He was named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2014. He has served in various academic and administrative roles, including as a vice-president academic and provost at the University of Waterloo. 

Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in January 2013.

A professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, he also is also the head of Waterloo Computational Fluid Dynamics Engineering Consulting.  

Outside of the university, Professor Lien was a member of the scientific committee in the 4th International Symposium on Wind Engineering in 2006. He was also a member of the International and National Scientific Committee in the 5th International Conference on Computational Heat and Mass Transfer. He also has expertise in simulations and is currently a member of IMMERSE, The Research Network for Video Game Immersion by using computational fluid dynamics in virtual worlds to train first responders in response to chemical biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive catastrophic events. 

Dr. Sushanta Mitra’s expertise spans multiple different disciplines as a full Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering as well as a cross-appointed Professor of Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineer, Physics and Astronomy, and Chemistry here at the University of Waterloo.  

Plus, he is also Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN).  

Because of his contributions to science and engineering, he has also been elected a fellow of several professional organizations, including the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a foreign fellow of both the Indian National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences India.  

Additionally, he has an entrepreneurial mind, being the Founder & CEO of a quantum computing startup, named Aquabits and a Dutch startup, SLE Enterprises B.V., which focuses on ultra-fast encapsulation technology.

Zhao Pan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo and the Principal Investigator of the Interdisciplinary Fluid Physics Lab - Pan Lab. Prior to joining Waterloo, he worked at Utah State University and Florida Center for Advanced Aero-propulsion (FCAAP, FSU) as a postdoctoral fellow. 

His research interests span from fundamental fluid physics (e.g., jets, bubbles, droplets, and cavitation), micro/bio-fluids, to advanced fluid flow diagnostics. Most of his studies are driven by curiosity and serve both academia and the community with creative ideas and broader social impact. 

Working with scientists and engineers from different fields, his multi-disciplinary fluid dynamics studies have been published in journals such as PNAS, Nature Plants, J. Fluid Mech, Phys. Rev. Fluids, Phys. Fluids, and Soft Matter, etc. 

As a professor in the Fluid Flow Physics group here in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, he puts a focus on understand the fundamental and applied fluid mechanics problems using a blend of analytical modelling, numerical simulation, and experimental observation. Topics he is currently focused on include understanding the influence of implanted stents on flow structures in curved arteries, robotic fish propulsion using smart materials, and energy harvesting from coherent fluid structures.  

One of professor Peterson’s research projects is Energy Harvesting from Small-Scale Fluid Structures, which addresses the challenge of extracting usable energy from small-scale aquatic environments. More specifically, this program seeks to exploit coherent fluid flow structures for energy harvesting. 

Professor Peterson’s group is also heavily involved in studying the Laminar Flow in a Curved Tube with an Implanted Stent Model. This research examines the role of stent struts, that is, implanted mechanical devices for reopening an occluded vessel, on the axial and secondary fluid flow development. This problem is tackled from an analytical perspective, modelling the stent as a small perturbation to a nominally circular cross-sectional geometry, as well as experimentally and numerically when the flow parameters and geometry are such that the analytical problem is intractable. This fundamental flow study has implications beyond the vasculature, such as heat transfer and mixing. 

• Microfluidics 

• Droplet Microfluidics 

• Soft Robots 

• Microwave Sensing 

• Protein Fractionation 

• Computational Fluid Dynamics 

• Soft lithography 

• Bacterial Detection 

• Advanced Manfacturing 

• Connectivity and Internet of Things 

• Water 

Elizabeth Weckman is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, as well as a member of the Fire Research Group at the University of Waterloo. She is also a Professional Engineer of Ontario. 

Professor Weckman’s research expertise lies in the development of improved diagnostic techniques for use in reacting and non-reacting flows, reacting turbulent flows, and stability considerations in turbulent flows. The Fire Research Group’s projects entail the application of basic principles of fire science in order to understand the behaviour of full-scale fires, the flammability and performance of materials and products, fire initiation and spread, methods for fire detection and suppression, and also several ancillary issues. 

Research and educational activities of the Fire Research Group are supported by The UWaterloo Fire Research Facility, with its world-class fire research infrastructure. The Facility is associated with The Waterloo Region Emergency Services Training and Research Complex (WRESTRC). With the UWaterloo Fire Research Facility, Professor Weckman studies fire dynamics, pools fires, hot surface ignition, and diagnostics. 

Serhiy Yarusevych is a Professor in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and is the principal investigator in the Fluid Mechanics Research Lab 
His research interests lie in the general area of fluid dynamics and aerodynamics. Specific areas of interest include but not limited to experimental fluid mechanics, flows over lifting surfaces at low Reynolds numbers, flows over buff bodies, flow induced vibrations, flow control, energy harvesting from fluids, industrial aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, wind turbines, and unmanned air vehicles. 

Professor Yarusevych’s research combines experimental, numerical, and analytical approaches to gain insight into key flow phenomena and estimate main performance parameters. The laboratory has a wide range of experimental facilities used to study boundary layer development, laminar-to-turbulent transition, separated flows, wakes, and other external and internal flows of interest in fundamental fluid mechanics and engineering applications. 
An important aspect of the research conducted by his research team is improving existing experimental methods and developing new techniques for experimental research in fluid mechanics. Both flow visualization and quantitative flow diagnostic are of interest. 

Professor Yarusevych’s research has been sponsored by national and international funding agencies, including NSERC, Ontario Centres of Excellence, DFG, as well as numerous industrial partners, including Bombardier Aerospace, Babcock & Wilcox Canada, GTAA, RWDI, Suncor, and Stratotynamics.