Our annual Spring Mixer will be held next week at 4:30 pm on Thursday, March 12th in room 427 of the Engineering Research Center.  Our mixer will begin as a social event with free food and drink.  Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of whether they are an active Sigma Xi member.

Dr. Prashant Khare, our 2020 Young Investigator winner, will provide the keynote lecture "Science and Engineering of Liquid Atomization Process."  You can find out more about his fascinating research at: http://khare.uc.edu. The abstract for the lecture is:

Liquid sprays and droplets play an important role in numerous applications of practical interest including, liquid-fueled combustion devices such as diesel, gas-turbine, and rocket engines, cooling of turbine blades and microchips, and industrial processes such as spray painting and inkjet printing.  However, even after decades of research, because of the lack of appropriate diagnostic and simulation tools, the understanding of the atomization process remains limited.  Fortunately, recent progress in high-performance computational (HPC) capabilities, both hardware, and software have greatly enhanced the tools that can now be brought to investigate the dynamics of liquid atomization.  The first part of this talk will provide a glimpse of the physics exploration of the various atomization processes that are investigated in my research group using high-fidelity direct numerical and large eddy simulation techniques.  The second part of the talk will discuss how can this high-fidelity science be incorporated into engineering design.  

We will also recognize our 2020 UC Chapter Grants in Aide of Research student winners:

• Megan Corcoran, Dept. Geology, Advisor Aaron Diefendorf  "Characterizing the drivers of the hydrogen isotope composition of diatom-derived C20 highly branched isoprenoids for paleoclimate studies"
• Christopher Holmes, Dept. Biology, Advisor Joshua Benoit  "Dehydration as an important factor in bloodmeal retention and a potential driver of disease transmission in mosquitoes"
• Zheng Yuan, Dept Chem. Engineering, Advisor Yoonjee Park "Biodegradable Implants for Subcutaneous On-demand Dose-controlled Drug Delivery"