Ceremony recognizes top UWindsor researchers in turbulence & energy

A reception Sept. 16 at the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation honoured high-achieving researchers in the University of Windsor’s Turbulence and Energy Laboratory.

Several graduate students were recognized for their innovative research in addition to faculty and staff who assist with the operation of the Turbulence and Energy (T&E) Lab.

“Our lab’s innovation is driven through collaboration,” said Dr. David Ting, co-director and co-founder of the T&E Lab. “Through practical and curiosity-driven engineering challenges, our students have turned into knowledgeable and responsible leaders. This ceremony allows us to recognize those achievements.”

Top student researchers included Zhiwen Wang, who was named T&E Innovative Researcher of the Year in addition to Author of the Year for his analysis of a multi-level underwater compressed air energy storage system and floating offshore wind farms. Not only did he generate the most publications, Wang produced an advanced exergy analysis — a first for T&E researchers.

Kyle Bassett, the winner of the Ontario Centres of Excellence’s 2015 David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge and founder of RMRD Technologies Inc. — a company that creates 3D printed micro wind turbines to assist developing countries — received the research ambassador award for bringing T&E research to the international stage.

Fama Fouladi was recognized for leading the lab in turbulent flow research while Dr. Mojtaba Ahmadi-Baloutaki was honoured for his substantial progress in wind energy research.

Dr. Ahmadreza Vasel-Be-Hagh, a “curiosity-driven fundamental scholar of the T&E Lab” received the theorist award for his innovative research on an underwater energy storage accumulator. Sara Alhasan, a 2015 recipient of an American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Grant, was awarded for her excellence in stewardship.

The T&E Lab focuses on flow turbulence and energy dynamics in engineering systems such as wind turbines, underwater accumulators, burners, furnaces, engines and solar panels. The lab is also home to smart and secure commercial (greenhouse) and residential water technology research.

View photos from the event on the UWindsor Engineering Facebook page. For more information about the Turbulence and Energy Lab, please visit www.cfewa.com.