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Welcome! My name is Michael Wadas. I'm a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology, where I'm advised by Professors Tim Colonius and Joe Shepherd. My research interests lie in the field of fluid mechanics and span many different flow regimes and spatial scales, from vortices generated by airplane wings to shock waves in supernovae. I’m primarily concerned with inertial flows, where the effect of inertia typically outweighs that of viscosity due to the combined speed and size of the fluid system, and interfacial flows, where two or more dissimilar fluids interact and potentially mix. The goals of my work are to advance existing engineering applications that leverage the dynamics of fluids, like aircraft and energy generation, and contribute to a deeper understanding of flow physics that may ultimately enable new scientific discoveries and technologies that improve lives. Before Caltech, I studied at Purdue University, where I received a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a minor in mathematics, and the University of Michigan, where I received an M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. A complete record of my educational and professional history is available in my CV (link), and my research works are accessible from my Google Scholar page (link).
Why study fluid mechanics?
The systematic study of fluids dates to at least Ancient Greece, when Archimedes published the principles of buoyancy still synonymous with his name. Since then, fluid mechanists have driven innovation that set the trajectory of entire civilizations, including the Roman aqueducts that irrigated an empire, the steam engines that settled the American West, and the drug delivery techniques that continue to save countless lives. Throughout history, there have been numerous occasions when well-established fluid theory stimulated the rapid development of new technology. For example, consider the staggering fact that the first human flight and the moon landing are separated by only sixty-five years. This giant leap for humankind was made possible only by the mathematical theory for the behavior of compressible fluids developed in the preceding centuries, previously considered “useless in regard to flying,” as stated in an annual report from the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in 1879. Today, engineers continue to utilize this and the learnings of other scientific research conducted over the subsequent century and a half to advance fluid-based technologies that power cities, cool the infrastructure underpinning our digital world, and transport goods and people across the globe and beyond.
I am motivated by my belief that society stands on another scientific and technological precipice today, one in which foundational fluid mechanics will again find novel application in achieving near-limitless energy via nuclear fusion and a revolutionary understanding of the dynamics that shape the universe. Recent improvements in experimental diagnostics enable us to visualize reacting fusion flows that occur in several trillionths of a second in systems smaller than grain of rice. At the same time, groundbreaking telescopes are unveiling flows in outer space which have developed over millennia and span light years. Despite their incredibly different temporal and spatial scales, these flows are united by fluid mechanics of which scientists and engineers have developed a detailed understanding over thousands of years, knowledge poised to usher in an energy revolution and a newfound understanding of our place in the universe. Even as these ambitious frontiers come into view, fluid-mechanics research continues to enhance and optimize technologies we rely on every day. This dual promise of ongoing refinement and transformative potential is the reason I study fluid mechanics.
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