Congratulations to mechanical engineering PhD student Samuel Whitman for earning a 2018 Blue Waters Graduate Fellowship!
The fellowship is awarded by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and recognizes ten students across the United States annually. The program provides awardees with a year of full-time research support, including a stipend and tuition allowance, as well as an allocation of up to 50,000 node-hours on the Blue Waters petascale computing system.
Blue Waters is one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and is used by scientists and engineers to tackle a wide range of interdisciplinary challenges.
Fellowship winners are typically engaged in projects that combine disciplines such as computer science, applied mathematics, and computational science applications. To apply, a student must submit 3-4 reference letters, transcripts, and a research proposal.
Whitman aims to use the system to enhance "gas turbine stability, efficiency, and emissions through study of turbulence-flame interactions in the presence of intense coherent vortex structures."
Whitman is in the second year of his PhD. He earned his bachelor's in Physics at Carlton College and is advised by Peter Hamlington.