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Below, you will find a listing of the people working in the Applied Aerodynamics Research Group at UC Davis.

C.P. "Case" van Dam (Professor)

Research Interests:

  • aerodynamics including design and optimization
  • aircraft design
  • experimental and computational fluid dynamics
  • biofluiddynamics
  • wind energy

Current Research:

  • prediction, measurement and reduction of aerodynamic drag
  • multi-disciplinary design of aircraft high-lift systems
  • in-flight infrared imaging of boundary-layer transition and separation
  • aerodynamics of wind turbines and aircraft forebodies at dynamic conditions
  • micro-electro-mechanical systems for aerodynamic load control

Main Job:

  • Advising students...


Jonothan Baker (Doctoral Student)

Research Interests:

  • blunt trailing edge airfoils
  • wind tunnel experimentation

Current Research:

  • wind tunnel studies for aerodynamic drag reduction


Raymond Chow (Doctoral Student)

Research Interests:

  • applied computational fluid dynamics
  • active aerodynamic load control
  • novel moving overset grid generation methods

Current Research:

  • unsteady aerodynamic behaviour
  • small scale load control devices


Scott Larwood (Doctoral Student)

Research Interests:

  • wind turbine structural dynamics
  • atmospheric turbulence

Current Research:

  • swept wind turbine blades for load control
  • wind energy permitting issues
  • wind turbine rotor fragment risk
  • wind turbine FAA obstruction lighting


Edward Mayda (Doctoral Student)

Research Interests:

  • applied computational fluid dynamics
  • numerical optimization
  • parametric geometry definition

Current Research:

  • development of time-accurate transition predicition methods for use in Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solvers
  • 3D computational investigation of micro-tab based load control systems


Syta Saephan (Post-Doctoral Researcher)

Research Interests:

  • applied computational fluid dynamics

Current Research:

  • CFD-based prediction for wind turbine rotor performance


Henry Shiu (Research Engineer)