Award
2020 NSF CAREER Award Winner
Department
Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
Awarded Project
The swimming motion of rays in the ocean involves the flapping of two flexible fins. As a result of the fins’ changing shape, the surrounding flow field is altered. Another example of this type of fluid-structure interaction is that of seagrass. In a current, the seagrass will flex and become streamlined with the flow. These flexible structures cause a net reduction in drag. Gilbert’s project takes inspiration from these two examples, the goal being to identify how the flow field changes as a result of the shape reconfiguration of a highly flexible plate near an air-water interface. Drag reduction will also be demonstrated by actively controlling the plate stiffness.
Gilbert aims to advance understanding of flow around a highly flexible plate due to the influence of the free-surface; vertical oscillatory motion, i.e., flow around the body that periodically changes directions; the combination of vertical oscillatory motions and forward speed; and active control of the plate stiffness to attain pre-defined flow conditions. She believes the results of this work have the potential to improve propulsion methods and mixing processes.
What path did you take to get to this point in your career and research?
I have degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland. At the start of my sophomore year, I knew I wanted to be a professor at a Tier 1 research institution. I wanted to work on challenging and interesting projects that help impact society. From then on, I did everything that I could to make that dream a reality by participating in undergraduate research, interning at government research labs, and taking the most challenging technical electives.
What impact do you hope your research will have?
I hope that my NSF project will be able to pave the way for new methods in propulsion for vehicles in water. I also plan to develop new methods for estimating pressure based on experimental measurements and theory. Finally, we are planning to use composites and smart materials to tune the stiffness of our structure to obtain certain flow characteristics in the surrounding water.
What do you find most interesting about your field of engineering?
Aerospace and ocean engineering is all about designing vehicles that are surrounded by a fluid or vacuum. It's a great field to be in right now because of all the innovative new concepts researchers, industry, and the government are coming up with.