Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) / en Mason interdisciplinary team receives $1.5 million grant from Department of Defense to research underwater explosions /news/2022-12/mason-interdisciplinary-team-receives-15-million-grant-department-defense-research <span>Mason interdisciplinary team receives $1.5 million grant from Department of Defense to research underwater explosions </span> <span><span lang="" about="/user/1456" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Shayla Brown</span></span> <span>Mon, 12/12/2022 - 13:00</span> <div class="layout layout--gmu layout--twocol-section layout--twocol-section--70-30"> <div class="layout__region region-first"> <div data-block-plugin-id="field_block:node:news_release:body" class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenews-releasebody"> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Body</div> <div class="field__item"><p><span class="intro-text">A ŃÇÖŢAV interdisciplinary team is studying underwater explosions and their effects on civil engineering infrastructure with the support of a $1.5 million grant from Defense Threat Reduction Agency. </span></p> <figure role="group"><div> <div class="field field--name-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img src="/sites/g/files/yyqcgq291/files/2022-12/UNDEXHeader.jpg" width="900" height="600" alt="The interdisciplinary research team, from left to right, Grim Urgessa, Rainald Löhner, Lingquan Li, and Facundo Airaudo. Photo by Cristian Torres." loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image" /></div> </div> <figcaption>The interdisciplinary research team, from left to right, Girum Urgessa, Rainald Löhner, Lingquan Li, and Facundo Airaudo. Photo by Cristian Torres.</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://science.gmu.edu/directory/lingquan-li" target="_blank">Lingquan Li</a>, a postdoctoral research fellow, is working alongside <a href="https://civil.gmu.edu/profiles/gurgessa" target="_blank">Girum Urgessa</a> of the College of Engineering and Computing, <a href="https://science.gmu.edu/directory/rainald-lohner" target="_blank">Rainald Löhner</a> of the <a href="https://science.gmu.edu/" target="_blank" title="College of Science (Opens in new tab/window)">College of Science</a>, and PhD student <a href="https://science.gmu.edu/news/first-cohort-idia-predoctoral-fellows-join-idia-community" target="_blank">Facundo Airaudo</a>. </p> <p>“The sophisticated phenomenon in underwater explosions is important for government agencies interested in protective design,” said Li, who specializes in computational fluid dynamics and mathematics. </p> <p>The team has run more than 100 test cases to study the structural response and the damage due explosions, Li explained. The resulting pressures and flow fields for different explosive yields and stand-off distances are provided to the Department of Defense.  </p> <p>Urgessa and Löhner are the co-principal investigators (PIs) on the project.</p> <p>“[Girum] took more the structural part on it, and Lingquan and I did more the fluid part,” said Löhner, who is director of Mason’s <a href="https://cfd.science.gmu.edu/" target="_blank">Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics</a>, where these experiments have been conducted. “So, we did the explosion in the water, and he did what happens when the shock wave hits the structure and how the structure [reacts].”   </p> <p>“We not only develop new numerical methods and new algorithms in order to compute these explosions, but we also delivered more than 120 results for different geometries, different loads, and different standoff distances,” said Löhner. “It has been extremely successful.”</p> <figure class="quote">There is a demand for experts capable of conducting blast-structure interactions and structural integrity assessments. “At Mason, we continue to mentor exceptional post-doctoral research scholars and graduate students needed to address these complex physics and engineering problems,” said Urgessa. </figure><figure role="group" class="align-right"><div> <div class="field field--name-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img src="/sites/g/files/yyqcgq291/files/2022-12/UNDEXbody_0.jpg" width="400" height="267" alt="Lingquan Li presents her team's work on underwater explosions. Photo by Cristian Torres." loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image" /></div> </div> <figcaption>Lingquan Li presents her team's work on underwater explosions. Photo by Cristian Torres.</figcaption></figure><p>Airaudo, who is an <a href="https://idia.gmu.edu/" target="_blank" title="IDIA (opens in new window/tab)">Institute for Digital Innovation</a> Predoctoral Fellow, is simultaneously working on another project, Optimal HVAC Outlay to Minimize Pathogen Transmission. He and Li spend most weekdays in the center working on these projects.  </p> <p>“It's a good way to collaborate,” said Airaudo, “because she can show me what she's working on and I can just learn from what she's doing and help her a little bit. I can also show her what I'm working on, and she can give me tips as well.” </p> <p>Airaudo is grateful he gets to learn from Dr. Li, he said, as she is part of a largely <a href="/news/2022-08/team-mason-researchers-win-nsf-advance-catalyst-grant-stem-programs" target="_blank">underrepresented group</a> in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).   </p> <p>“For me personally, [this project] means a lot because research is what I'm interested in; it is the thing I'm best at,” said Li. “I don't see a lot of female researchers in my field of study. I don't know why that is, but it is very important to be inclusive because we need people from different backgrounds [and] all kinds of perspectives to [solve these research problems].” </p> <p>Mason’s College of Science is above the national average in the number of women enrolled in STEM degree programs. Of the students enrolled at COS, 62 percent of undergraduates and 50 percent of the graduate students are women, according to Dean Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, who presented the numbers at a Board of Visitors meeting in December. “Quoting <a href="https://president.gmu.edu/about/dr-washingtons-biography" target="_blank">President [Gregory] Washington</a>, the College of Science already looks like the rest of the country will look in 30-40 years.”  </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="layout__region region-second"> <div data-block-plugin-id="inline_block:call_to_action" data-inline-block-uuid="4ce103b9-d12b-47bc-9805-30d7d44560f0"> <div class="cta"> <a class="cta__link" href="https://science.gmu.edu/?utm_medium=cpa&utm_source=oub-spirit-magazine&utm_campaign=sum23&utm_content=article"> <h4 class="cta__title">See what the College of Science is doing <i class="fas fa-arrow-circle-right"></i> </h4> <span class="cta__icon"></span> </a> </div> </div> <div data-block-plugin-id="inline_block:call_to_action" data-inline-block-uuid="36810c36-1d80-4ef8-9432-5fb29b5591d7"> <div class="cta"> <a class="cta__link" href="https://idia.gmu.edu/?utm_medium=cpa&utm_source=oub-spirit-magazine&utm_campaign=sum23&utm_content=article"> <h4 class="cta__title">Connect with the Institute for Digital Innovation <i class="fas fa-arrow-circle-right"></i> </h4> <span class="cta__icon"></span> </a> </div> </div> <div data-block-plugin-id="inline_block:text" data-inline-block-uuid="d464b285-780e-49da-bff4-fdaa3bd85bfd" class="block block-layout-builder block-inline-blocktext"> </div> <div data-block-plugin-id="field_block:node:news_release:field_associated_people" class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenews-releasefield-associated-people"> <h2>In This Story</h2> <div class="field field--name-field-associated-people field--type-entity-reference field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">People Mentioned in This Story</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/profiles/gurgessa" hreflang="und">Girum Urgessa</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <div data-block-plugin-id="field_block:node:news_release:field_content_topics" class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenews-releasefield-content-topics"> <h2>Topics</h2> <div class="field field--name-field-content-topics field--type-entity-reference field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Topics</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/3641" hreflang="en">interdisciplinary</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/6481" hreflang="en">grants</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/291" hreflang="en">College of Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/3071" hreflang="en">College of Engineering and Computing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/4396" hreflang="en">Civil Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/271" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/1011" hreflang="en">Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA)</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/15216" hreflang="en">Mason Spirit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/18176" hreflang="en">Spirit Summer 2023</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/17521" hreflang="en">Inquiring Minds</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5521" hreflang="en">Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/20206" hreflang="en">Defense and Security</a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Mon, 12 Dec 2022 18:00:15 +0000 Shayla Brown 103536 at Komodo dragon blood leads to new wound-healing discovery for Mason researchers /news/2017-04/komodo-dragon-blood-leads-new-wound-healing-discovery-mason-researchers <span>Komodo dragon blood leads to new wound-healing discovery for Mason researchers </span> <span><span lang="" about="/user/236" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="">Melanie Balog</span></span> <span>Tue, 04/11/2017 - 11:01</span> <div class="layout layout--gmu layout--twocol-section layout--twocol-section--30-70"> <div class="layout__region region-first"> </div> <div class="layout__region region-second"> <div data-block-plugin-id="field_block:node:news_release:field_content_topics" class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenews-releasefield-content-topics"> <h2>Topics</h2> <div class="field field--name-field-content-topics field--type-entity-reference field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Topics</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/1331" hreflang="en">Impact</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/291" hreflang="en">College of Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5541" hreflang="en">Antimicrobial Discovery Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/4811" hreflang="en">Monique van Hoek</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5526" hreflang="en">Kent Vilet</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/4806" hreflang="en">Barney Bishop</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5536" hreflang="en">Joel Schnur</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/4816" hreflang="en">Komodo dragons</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5531" hreflang="en">NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5521" hreflang="en">Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/5516" hreflang="en">St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/271" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Tue, 11 Apr 2017 15:01:02 +0000 Melanie Balog 32816 at