Sutton Receives Air Force’s Young Investigator Research Award
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) awarded 39 scientists and engineers approximately $12.1 million in grants through the Air Force's Young Investigator Research Program.
Jeffrey Sutton, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was one of those selected from 210 proposals submitted to receive funds totaling $310,000* *that will support his research investigating spatio-temporal characteristics of scalar mixing and dissipation processes in turbulent jets and flames.
Sutton's research will investigate the time-varying dynamics in turbulent flows and combustion environments using state-of-the-art high-speed imaging diagnostics. The aim of the research is to gain a better fundamental understanding of the physics governing the unsteady mixing processes found in highly turbulent combustors. In addition to providing new physical insight, the research is expected to support the development of a new generation of robust and predictive numerical models by providing structural and dynamic information and previously unavailable temporally-based statistical metrics that may be used for assessing the turbulence and combustion models.
The Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) fosters creative basic research in science and engineering, enhances early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increases opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering.
According to AFOSR officials, competition for the YIP award is intense. This year, the AFOSR broad agency announcement solicitation in major areas of interest to the Air Force resulted in 210 proposals. The areas of interest include: aerospace, chemical and material sciences; physics and electronics; and mathematics, information and life sciences. AFOSR officials select proposals based on the evaluation criteria listed in the broad agency announcement.
