Center Director's Message

 

Why CeFPaC?

The mission of CeFPaC is to conduct research in flow physics, prediction, modeling and control.  The center's research activities involve both fundamental and application-driven projects.  The basic research is aimed at verifying or developing theories for fluid dynamic behavior, and the application research is to implement these theories towards controlling realistic flows.  The research involves a large variety of macro and micro flow fields, including laminar and turbulent boundary layers, jets, shear layers, wakes, airfoils, finite wings/blades, inlets, and UAVs.  The center's main two thrusts are:  (i) Aerodynamics (aerial, ground, and underwater vehicles), and (ii) wind energy (smart wind turbine blades, building integrated wind, and smart buildings).

CeFPaC is an interdisciplinary research center where researchers are seeking answers to fundamental questions and creating new application-driven solutions for improving the performance of fluid systems. From designing smarter blades for wind turbines to developing new techniques for reducing aircraft drag, CeFPaC is poised to make an important impact in the rapidly emerging field of both aerospace engineering and energy systems.  The ability to manipulate a flow field to affect a desired change is of immense practical importance.  As a scientific discipline and as a technological curiosity, flow control is a hot topic in both science and engineering.  CeFPaC faculty hail from across campus including the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering; Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Materials Science and Engineering;  Department of Mathematical Sciences; and the School of Architecture.