MCF2 Lab

MCF2 Lab

MCF2 Lab focuses on the development, implementation, and validation of accurate and tractable computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools for polydisperse multiphase, turbulent mixing, and reacting flows.

Team

Principal Investigator

Ehsan Madadi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Current Members

Graduate Students:

  1. Jia Mao, January 2026 - May 2027, M.Sc.
  2. Elizabeth Alvarez, February 2023 – May 2025, M.Sc.

Undergraduate Students:

  1. Mailey Trieu, August 2024 – present, B.Sc..

Visiting Scholar:

Former Members

Graduate Students:

Thesis Advisor

  1. Mark Kim, M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, May 2026, M.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Quadrature-based moment methods for nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations. First employment: NA.
  2. Heather Leach, M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, December 2025, M.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Extension of the battelle two curve method for fracture control in dense-phase carbon dioxide pipelines. First employment: Mechanical Engineer at SPEC Services, Inc.
  3. Michael M Truong, M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, May 2025. M.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: An investigation of the DSMC method’s computing efficiency and velocity distributions in rarefied gas flow simulations. First employment: NA.
  4. Andrew Gonzalez, M.Sc. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, May 2022. M.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Computational study on the flame and extinction behavior of a high enthalpy air slab. First employment: Virgin Galactic.

Non-Thesis

  1. Geovanny Rivas, August 2024 – May 2026, M.Sc., Open University student.
  2. Jorge Lau Rodriguez, January 2025 - December 2025, M.Sc..
  3. Quang Nguyen, August 2022 – January 2024, M.Sc. Effect of RANS model choice on the simulation of Sandia D flame.
  4. Brandon Hubbard, August 2022 – January 2024, M.Sc. Simulation of crossing flames in a periodic domain.
  5. Anthony Cervantes, M.Sc. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, December 2022. Comp Exam, NASA ZBOT modeling – CFD modeling and validation, First employment: Raytheon Technologies.
  6. Jack Heneghan, M.Sc. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, December 2022. Comp Exam, NASA ZBOT modeling – Mesh analysis, First employment: Virgin Galactic.

Undergraduate Students:

Thesis Advisor

  1. Suzette Mejia, June 2025 – May 2026, B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Open-source data visualization tool: visualizing numerical data on an interactive map. Next: TBA.
  2. Luke Cerda, January 2025 – May 2026, B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Automated Thermochemistry-to-CFD coupling for liquid propellant rocket nozzle flows. Next: TBA.
  3. An Minh Vo, January 2025 – December 2025, B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Computational fluid dynamic baseline analysis for a hybrid attic ventilation system. Next: P2S HVAC industry.
  4. Jose Noel Martinez, January 2025 – December 2025, B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Integrated performance and flow analysis of molten carbonate fuel cell tri-generation system. Next: Quality Engineer at ADC Aerospace.
  5. Tryphena Ho, March 2024 – December 2024, B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Investigation of rotating robots inside body. Collaboration with Tim Colonius at Caltech. Next: United Semiconductors.
  6. Carlos Medina, May 2024 – December 2024, B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Damage mechanisms associated with rotating equipment in renewable fuels refineries. Next: Marathon Oil Industry.
  7. Thomas Nguyen, B.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, May 2022. B.Sc. Thesis Committee Chair, Thesis: Application of RANS closure on modeling of Multi-inlet vortex reactor. Next: Millennium Space Systems.

Non-Thesis

  1. Casandra Zamora, August 2024 – December 2024, Independent Study.
  2. Alex Aubertin, December 2023 – May 2024, Sandia D flame. Next: USC graduate student.
  3. Sindi Ascencio Barrera, January 2023 – October 2023, Hydrogen – Future clean and sustainable energy. Next: Quality Engineer at PCC.
  4. Ailar Naghshineh, April 2023 – May 2024, Modeling of polydisperse sprays. Next: NASA
  5. Nickey Diorio, August 2022 – May 2023, NASA ZBOT modeling – validation and data visualization. Next: Texas A&M graduate student.
  6. Aaron Gutierrez, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, December 2022. NASA ZBOT modeling – Data visualization and report writing.
  7. Rory G. Mellis, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, May 2022. Studies on Confined Impinging Jet Reactors.
  8. Kevin Angyous, B.S., Aerospace Engineering, December 2022. Droplet modeling near solid surfaces. Next: USC graduate student.
  9. Angel Martinez, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, December 2022. Next: Boeing.
  10. Phillip Ho, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, December 2022. Geometry analysis and design for impinging and vortex reactors, Next: NAVY SEAL at Seattle.
  11. Ricardo Manzano, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, December 2022. Next: Graduate student at CSULB.
  12. Vincente Abatay (OURS Program), B.S., Biology, May 2022.
  13. Devon Kuriso (OURS Program), B.S., Mechanical Engineering, May 2022.
  14. Jessica Rogado, B.S., Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Physics, May 2022. NASA ZBOT modeling – Geometry analysis, Next: Rivian Automotive.

Visiting Scholar:

  1. Julian Bjorgo, April 2026 – July 2026 (University of Applied Science Western Switzerland - Geneva) Thesis: CFD-based assessment of subsonic transition and FADS performance for glider wing deployment.
  2. Andre Costa Vinagre, April 2026 – July 2026 (University of Applied Science Western Switzerland - Geneva) Thesis: CFD characterization of a supersonic FADS for a reentry glider.
  3. Henry Nguyen, May 2024 – August 2024 (University of Applied Science Western Switzerland - Geneva) Thesis: LES modeling of Confined Impinging Jet Mixers.
  4. Haroun Naina, May 2022 – August 2022 (University of Applied Science Western Switzerland - Geneva) Thesis: Transient modeling of Multi-inlet vortex reactor. First employment: Graduate student at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.