Dr. Owen Williams

Research Assistant Professor, Aeronautics & Astronautics

Deputy Director, Washington Space Grant Consortium

PMEC Affiliate

ojhw@uw.edu, GUG 318C
(206) 543-6880

Education:
PhD, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
MEng, Aeronautical Engineering, Imperial College, London

PhD Students

Ari Athair

Ari Athair explores the fundamental fluid dynamic mechanisms behind cross-flow turbine performance using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to establish a connection between sinusoidal velocity control, confinement effects, and the near-blade hydrodynamics of cross-flow turbines. He also works to isolate the relationship between physical changes in blade geometry and a theoretical understanding of flow curvature to allow design improvements and future turbine optimization in river and tidal applications. In his spare time, he enjoys rock climbing, getting lost in the North Cascade mountains, and playing Zimbabwe music.

A. Hunt, A. Athair, O. Williams, B. Polagye, “Experimental validation of a linear momentum and bluff-body model for high-blockage cross-flow turbine arrays, Submitted [link]

A. Athair, A. Snortland, I. Scherl, B. Polagye, O. Williams, “Intracycle Control Sensitivity of Cross-Flow
Turbines," EWTEC 2023. [link]

Kevin Manohar

Herbold Fellow

Kevin investigates physics-informed machine learning techniques to reconstruct and model turbulent flows from limited measurement data. These methods aim to overcome experimental constraints that hinder our fundamental understanding and ability to accurately predict complex turbulence interactions, ranging from subsonic to hypersonic turbulent flow separation. Outside of research, he is an avid pianist and enjoys traveling, backpacking, hiking and trail running.

K. Manohar, O. Williams, R. Martinuzzi, C. Morton, “Sensor-based temporal super-resolution for turbulent separated flows,” Experiments in Fluids. [link]

Alessandro Pulimeno

Alessandro investigates the phenomenon of flow separation with particular application toward high-lift wings. He is beginning his PhD work by coordinating the design and integration of a splitter plate and turntable for a 4% scale HL-CRM model in the KWT as well as initial diagnostic integration planning.

Joan Matutes

Joan investigates the response of underwater turbines to turbulent flows using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV). Joan tends to spend her free hours reading and writing fiction, playing video games, and watching Seattle Kraken games.

Haris Mahmood

Haris is studying hypersonic jet interactions and is working on a vacuum chamber for a supersonic wind tunnel. She also plans on implementing flow diagnostics and applying data-driven methods to provide better insights into turbulent experiments for more accurate predictions. In her free time, she enjoys movies, reading, and origami.

Paul Medina

Paul's work is applying focused laser differential interferometry (FLDI) to the study of hypersonic turbulent non-equilibrium flows using the Mach 2 Ludweig tube and facilities at Texas A&M University. This work intends to innovate multi-point FLDI systems and provide new insights into the off-body dynamics of hypersonic jet interactions. Paul hails from the US Air Force and intends to be a pilot. In his free time, Paul enjoys playing lacrosse, skiing, flying, and watching sci-fi television!

Jack Ninos

Juanita Osorio tovar

Juanita is studying the stall dynamics and flow separation phenomenon on high lift wings. She's working on the design and integration of a turntable and splitter plate for a 4% scale HL-CRM model in the Kirsten Wind Tunnel (KWT). 

In her free time, she enjoys reading a good book (more likely than not, fantasy), digital illustration, kayaking and singing anything from arias to rock music.

Cade Homfeldt

Vanessa Franco Lopez (Space Grant SURP)

Dr. Abigale Snortland (Now at PNNL)

Winner of NSF GRFP

Abigale Snortland investigates the influence of the near-blade hydrodynamics of hydrokinetic cross-flow turbines on the phase specific performance. She utilizes PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) techniques to non-invasively capture the in-rotor flow field. Direct linkage of phase-averaged flow-field and force information is necessary for simulation validation, blade design improvements, optimal blade pitch determination, and blade loading predictions. All of these are essential for improving blade and turbine design and control strategy development and are critical steps in the development of field scale devices. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are currently utilizing her results to validate their CFD models.

A. Snortland, A. Hunt, O. Williams, B. Polagye, “Influence of the downstream blade sweep on cross-flow turbine performance,” Submitted [link]

Snortland, I. Scherl, B. Polagye, O. Williams, “Cycle-to-cycle variations in cross-flow turbine performance and flowfields,” Experiments in Fluids, 64(12) 188. [link]

M. Dave, B. Strom, A. Snortland, O. Williams, B. Polagye, J. Franck (2021) “Vortex Dynamics of cross-flow turbines with intracycle angular velocity control,” AIAA Journal [link]

A. Snortland, B. Polagye, and O. Williams (2019), “Influence of near-blade hydrodynamics on cross-flow turbine performance,” EWTEC [link]

Co-advised with Brian Polagye