10/1/2012 by Lyanne Alfaro This article was posted on September 28th, 2012
Written by by Lyanne Alfaro This article was posted on September 28th, 2012
In 2001, Kenneth T. Christensen reached the culmination of his research in the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM) department at Illinois by earning his PhD. Today, Christensen is a Professor and Kritzer Faculty Scholar in MechSE and oversees the familiar laboratory where he pursued his PhD research years ago. He feels a personal connection to both the lab and the program.
All are benefits which he hopes more students gain as he anticipates expanding the scope, impact, and visibility of the mechanics programs in the coming years.
"Illinois has a long-standing tradition of excellence in mechanics education and research, and I am very excited that the EM [Engineering Mechanics] and TAM programs are gaining visibility and impact in new, interdisciplinary areas of research like biomechanics and geophysics."
Beginning this semester, Christensen holds the title of Associate Head for Mechanics Programs in MechSE. He will oversee both the undergraduate program in EM and the Masters and PhD programs in TAM. These programs and their accompanying degrees have been part of the department since TAM and Mechanical Engineering merged to form the MechSE Department in 2006.
"We have many extraordinarily talented students, both in the EM and TAM programs," Christensen said. "I am excited to interact with them and witness their progress firsthand."
In addition to his new position, Christensen will continue to direct the Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Flow. The lab’s research activities include experimental studies of turbulence, microfluidics, and geophysical flows, as well as instrumentation development. His group has studied the impact of complex surface topography on flow evolution, with particular attention to surface damage that occurs during the operating lifetime of engineering systems.
"Flows over complex surfaces typically will occur in engineering systems like gas turbine engines, where the blades are damaged over time and that damage reduces the operating efficiency of the turbine," Christensen said. He is hopeful this work will lead to more accurate predictions of engineering system performance and perhaps ways of mitigating such damage.
Most recently, Christensen and his team have leveraged their expertise in flows over complex topography to explore the physics of several geophysical flows, including sand-dune formation and evolution, flows over porous topographies (gravel river beds), and fluid transport within porous rock with application to carbon dioxide sequestration. This latter effort is funded through the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) based at Kyushu University, Japan and in MechSE. Christensen serves as the Associate Director of the I2CNER Satellite Institute at Illinois.
"We are now studying flows that have more of an environmental significance," Christensen said. "I collaborate with a number of faculty members in the Geology and Civil and Environmental Engineering departments to define these sorts of problems, and then we build laboratory-scale experiments to study the physics of these flows. These efforts serve as excellent examples of how fundamental mechanics can play a pivotal role in addressing scientific issues of clear societal importance."
Going forward, Christensen sees these geophysical applications becoming the central focus of his research group’s efforts. As for his work as Associate Head for Mechanics Programs, he said he plans to make expansion his primary focus.
"I am excited about trying to expand the breadth of the programs in terms of the topical areas that they cover," Christensen said. "Mechanics has grown to play a defining role not only in classical areas of fluid and solid mechanics but also in more interdisciplinary areas like biology, chemistry, and geoscience. With this expanded breadth I also hope to expand the student populations in both the EM and TAM programs to maintain Illinois’ preeminence in mechanics education and research."
He said that the intensive training the EM and TAM programs provide in all areas of mechanics continue to be a main draw for recruiting students. The undergraduate program in EM is particularly attractive to students with a strong interest in math and physics as it provides an opportunity to utilize this training to tackle important engineering problems. Meanwhile, the TAM masters and PhD programs offer rigorous training in applied mathematics, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, mechanics of materials, and computational or experimental methods.
"Students routinely leverage this unique training to tackle a wide range of research problems both in their graduate research and in their future career endeavors," Christensen said.