Our group specializes in particle simulation methods such as direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and molecular dynamics (MD). Research is split between algorithm development and physical model development for these numerical methods. Research is also focused on coupling these methods with each other and with continuum computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods; in order to efficiently simulate practical flows of engineering interest from a molecular perspective.

Such particle methods have the potential to incorporate increasingly realistic and accurate physical models, however require significant computational resources. Our research and algorithm development therefore stresses high-performance computing and we utilize the world-class computational facilities located here at the University of Minnesota and within the department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) itself.

Current research includes hypersonic nonequilibrium reacting flows, high-temperature gas-surface interactions, hybrid particle-continuum methods, and micro-scale flows.