MAE Seminar: Daniel Quinn

Boundary interactions in rotorcraft and fish-inspired vehicles

Abstract:

Small autonomous underwater and aerial vehicles (UUVs and UAVs) are transforming the way we interact with our environment. Typical models of these vehicles assume that the surrounding fluid (water or air) is boundless. However, when these vehicles encounter an interface—be it a fluid-fluid or fluid-solid interface—their dynamics are markedly different. This talk presents two ongoing experimental campaigns exploring propulsion near an interface. The first is a set of experiments on rotors as they transition from water to air. The second is a set of experiments on bio-inspired hydrofoils as they swim near a solid surface. Implications for amphibious quadrotors and bottom-dwelling robots/fish are discussed.

Dan Quinn is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Virginia. He received his PhD in 2015 from the Hydrodynamics Lab at Princeton University, where he studied the role of flexibility in rays and skates. While a graduate student, Quinn was also a Visiting Fellow at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. For his doctoral work, Professor Quinn was awarded the American Physical Society’s Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics. He went on to be a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, studying the stability characteristics of birds flying in turbulent gusts. In 2017, he joined UVA’s Link Lab, a group of researchers studying cyber-physical systems. His most recent work is funded by an NSF CAREER award, which he received in 2020.