People
Principal Investigator - Dr. Dan Fries
Dan Fries is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, leading the CoRe Flow Lab (Complex Reacting Flow Lab). His research utilizes optical and laser spectroscopic measurement techniques for the experimental characterization of fluid mechanical, chemical, and interface processes in high-enthalpy and high-speed flows. To perform this research, the CoRe Flow Lab utilizes microwave and inductive plasma sources for the generation of high-enthalpy (nonequilibrium) plasma flows and works on the inversion of comprehensive measurement models for parameter inference and uncertainty quantification. The lab collaborates closely with researchers working on material science, advanced spectroscopy, and numerical simulations. Applications of the research include hypersonic flight, atmospheric reentry, chemical and electrical propulsion systems, and the reduction of the environmental footprint of these technologies.
Before coming to the University of Kentucky, Dr. Fries was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and he received his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Aerospace Engineering (2020). He is an alumni of the University of Stuttgart (Germany), a former Fulbright scholar, and on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Interstellar Studies.
