Turbo Lab members receive Young Engineer Turbo Expo Participant Award
Three members in Dr. Luis San Andrés Tribology group and one of Dr. Dara Child’s former graduate students were honored with a prestigious award for up-and-coming engineers.
Dr. Jing Yang, assistant research engineer in the Turbo Lab, and former students Dr. Bonjin Koo and Dr. Tingcheng Wu, and Nathan Balke, each received the 2019 Young Engineer Turbo Expo Participant Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Gas Turbine Institute. The burgeoning engineers received the award at the 2019 Turbomachinery Technical Conference & Exposition (Turbo Expo) in Phoenix, Arizona, June 17-22, where they each presented papers. The award included funding for travel expenses and registration to attend the conference.
The Young Engineer Turbo Expo Participation Award was implemented to encourage more early-career engineers to participate in the annual Turbo Expo. It is intended for young engineers working in industry, in government or in academia, and engineering graduate students in the gas turbine or related fields. Nominees must have obtained an academic degree in an engineering discipline related to turbomachinery, and present a paper or poster at the conference.
Yang served as a session organizer for the Structures and Dynamics Committee, chaired a session in the Bearings & Seals Dynamics track, and presented a research paper titled “Leakage and Dynamic Force Coefficients of a Pocket Damper Seal Operating Under a Wet Gas Condition: Tests vs. Predictions.” The project was funded by the Turbomachinery Research Consortium (TRC), a group of industrial firms whose annual membership fees support a broad range of member-selected research projects.
“I feel honored to have been selected and to work at a top-ranked turbomachinery laboratory,” Yang said.
Koo, product engineer for Daikin Applied, presented “A Model and Experimental Verification of the Dynamic Forced Performance of a Tightly Sealed Squeeze Film Damper Supplied with a Bubbly Mixture.” Koo, former student Dr. Sunghwa Jeung, and Prof. San Andrés also received a best paper award.
Dr. Wu, presently employed with Siemens as a senior rotordynamics engineer, presented three papers: “Pump Grooved Seals: A CFD Approach to Improve Bulk-Flow Model Predictions;” “Leakage and Cavity Pressures in an Interlocking Labyrinth Gas Seal: Measurements vs Predictions; and “Leakage and Force Coefficients of a Grooved Wet (Bubbly Liquid) Seal for Multiphase Pumps and Comparisons with Prior Test Results for a Three Wave Seal.”
All six conference papers from San Andrés group have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power.
Mr. Balke, mechanical engineer with Kuraray America, Inc. co-authored “Comparisons of a Liquid Annular Seal for Pump Applications with and without a Swirl Brake.”
“I am incredibly proud of each of these engineers,” said Dr. San Andrés, Mast-Childs Chair professor. “While at the Turbo Lab I enjoyed seeing their technical growth and desire to serve the professional society, so it’s not a surprise that they continue to do well and are still producing quality research.”
Nominations for the 2020 Turbo Expo young engineer award will close February 1. The 2020 Turbo Expo will be held in London, England June 23-25.
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Turbomachinery Laboratory makes a vital impact on turbomachinery and related industries through research, education and professional workforce development.
I am incredibly proud of each of these engineers. While at the Turbo Lab I enjoyed seeing their technical growth and desire to serve the professional society, so it’s not a surprise that they continue to do well and are still producing quality research.
Dr. Luis San Andrés