TUESDAY: November 3, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Virginia Air and Space Center in downtown Hampton, Virginia. FREE (no reservations).
Jellyfish are the oldest, simplest, and arguably most successful species of swimming animal in the world. Yet they are primarily considered a nuisance on beaches or, at best, an attraction for aquarium-goers. Dabiri will describe how a biology-inspired approach to engineering has placed jellyfish at the center of efforts to build next-generation underwater vehicles, design more versatile onshore wind power, and even to diagnose heart failure. In the process, he takes engineering measurement techniques underwater, using SCUBA diving methods to study jellyfish and other fish species in their natural environment.
John Dabiri is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories and the Option of Bioengineering at Caltech. He graduated from Princeton University with a B.S.E. degree summa cum laude in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in June 2001. In September 2001, he came to Caltech as a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, Betty and Gordon Moore Fellow, and Y.C. Fung Fellow in Bioengineering. Under the supervision of Professor Morteza Gharib, he earned an M.S. degree in Aeronautics in June 2003, followed by a Ph.D. in Bioengineering with a minor in Aeronautics in April 2005. He joined the Caltech faculty in May 2005. In 2008, he was selected as an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator for research in bio-inspired propulsion, and Popular Science magazine named him one of its "Brilliant 10" scientists. He was selected for a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2009.
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Last Updated: July 23, 2009 10:00 AM EDT.
http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/Lectures/sigma/s-091103.htm