Posted on June 22, 2023 by Katrina Kehoe
Guillermo Araya uses his prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for groundbreaking work around the issue of turbulence.
Guillermo Araya, an Associate Professor and the Wayne and Julie Fagan Endowed Professor in Mechanical Engineering
Guillermo Araya, an Associate Professor and the Wayne and Julie Fagan Endowed Professor in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA’s Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design (Klesse College), uses his prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for groundbreaking work around the issue of turbulence. His research will provide foundational knowledge on an issue in fluid dynamics in regard to flow separation and its association with heat and contaminant transport.
Araya studies flow separation, an occurrence that happens when fluid flows past an object (ex: the wing of an aircraft) and detaches from the surface. Wakes (or vortices) are swirling motions that are formed when this happens and it results in reduced performance of devices like aircraft or turbines. Araya is studying why this happens and what can be done to prevent it.
The flipped classroom concept will be used to introduce this research to undergraduate and graduate students and will include lessons on high performance computing, computational thinking and modeling. Summer programs for K-12 students and teachers will also benefit from a computing and visualization facility that can be used for research, learning and outreach.
“This award recognizes Dr. Araya’s excellence in research and education. His extensive research in turbulent flow will guide improvements in the design and performance of aircraft, and his educational activities will impact students at UTSA and in our community,” said Dr. Eric Brey, Interim Dean of Klesse College. “The NSF CAREER Award is one of the most prestigious awards for junior faculty. Dr. Araya is the third CAREER awardee in the Mechanical Engineering Department this year and becomes the ninth active NSF CAREER awardee in our college.”
“The creative and state-of-the-art research and educational activities proposed by Dr. Araya in the extension of his CAREER award are highly aligned with the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s and UTSA’s initiatives,” said Dr. Ender Finol, Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Klesse College. “This award will enhance our thermal-fluids knowledge, integrating it into our mechanical engineering curriculum, and enrich our nascent aerospace engineering program. The Department of Mechanical Engineering is strongly committed to fostering Dr. Araya’s research and educational plan, as well as his professional development.”
The NSF CAREER award is one of the most prestigious awards for early-career faculty members in STEM fields. The award recognizes early career faculty members who demonstrate exceptional promise in both research and teaching, and who have the potential to become academic leaders in their respective fields. Faculty members may apply for the award to recognize research activities that set a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their academic discipline.
— Katrina Kehoe
NSF CAREER AWARD: High fidelity numerical simulations of turbulent flow separation at high Reynolds numbers with passive scalar transport. Click here to learn more about this research project.
