Miguel Alfonso Mendez
Assistant Professor
Environmental and Applied Fluid Dynamics Department
von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
Waterloosesteenweg 72
1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode
Phone: +32 2 359 98 62
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ResearchGate Personal Page
Biography
Biography
Education
2013-2018 , PhD in Engineering, Universitè Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
2012-2013 , MRes. in Experimental Fluid Mechanics, von KarmanInstitute. Graduated with Honors and von Karman Prize for achieving the best overall result in the course work and research project.
2009-2012 , M.Sc. in Energy and Nuclear Engineering, University of Florence (UniFI). GPA: 110/110 cum laude.
2010-2011 , 5th Year In Industrial Engineering, Erasmus Exchange at the Higher Technical School of Engineering (ETSI), Seville. GPA: 8.9/10.
2006-2009 , B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, University of L’Aquila (UniAq) GPA- 107/110.
Professional Experience
2019 May - Present
Assistant Professor in the EA Department of the von Karman Institute. In charge of the courses on Measurement Techniques, Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics, Signal Processing, Data-Driven Methods and Machine Learning and Tools for Scientific Computing. Supervisor of 5 PhD Thesis and about 10 short training program and Research master students.
2018 March - 2019 March
Development of a theoretical model to predict the unsteady behavior of a jet wiping line. The model will be validated on experimental and numerical data and implemented on a stand-alone software to be delivered to process engineers.
2017 October - 2019 March
IPANEMA Project (Horizon 2020/Clean Sky): development of a PIV/PTV tracking algorithms for highly swirled particleladen flows. The software will be implemented in the experimental characterization of an Inertial Particle Separator (IPS) used to protect turboprop engines from the ingestion of dust particles.
2017 June - 2018 June
Experimental campaign and theoretical modeling of wire coating in galvanizing lines. The purpose is to understand and to control the hydrodynamic instabilities produced in certain operating conditions of the line.
2014 October - 2018 March
Experimental, numerical and theoretical analysis of the stability of the jet wiping process. This project, linked to my Ph.D. thesis, allowed to identify different unstable mechanisms of the process and it involved the development and the testing of different flow control strategies. Three experimental facilities were designed and constructed to reproduce the process, while TR-PIV, Light Absorption, and LIF were used to experimentally characterize it. Numerical simulations, including URANS, LES and VMS were used in parallel to complement the analysis and a novel modal analysis technique (the Multiscale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition) was developed to process both the experimental and numerical data.
2016 February - 2016 April
Member of the VKI team participating in the 64th ESA Parabolic Flight Campaig. The project aimed at characterizing, via optical techniques, the liquid/gas interface shape and the liquid velocity in the sloshing motion of a partially filled cylindrical reservoir in microgravity conditions.
2015 - 2016
Numerical simulation and preliminary analytical investigation of the liquid flow in the wire coating process. The purpose was to identify methods to increase the coating layer thickness in the galvanizing line.
2015 - 2016
Theoretical modeling and experimental characterization of the particle-laden flow produced by straw blower machines. The project involved the in-situ experimental characterization of the straw jets, the development of image processing techniques to detect and track straw elements, and the engineering modeling of the flow using a Eulerian- Lagrangian formulation. This model was validated on the experimental data and then implemented in a dedicated software package.
Service to Society
Co-director of the VKI Lecture Series Introduction to Measurement Techniques 2020
Organization and direction of the VKI Lecture Series ’Machine Learning for Fluid Dynamics’ (the largest LS)
Co-organizer of the European Coating Symposium 2021 (https://www.european-coating-symposium.eu/Organizing20Committee.html)
Reviewer for Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Physics of Fluids, Chemical Engineering Science, International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Member of the European Coating Symposium (ECS) Scientific Committee http://www.european-coating-symposium.eu/committee.html
Awards and Fellowships
Solvay PhD Thesis Award for research excellence. Awarded during the
Solvay Awards ceremony (see link)
AFVL PhD Thesis Award for the contributions to Laser diagnostics in fluid mechanics. Awarded at the CFTL 2018 (see link)
Best Oral Presentation at the Annual VKI PhD Symposium 2015-2016.
Best Oral Presentation of the Experimental Fluid Mechanics Conference 2015.
FNRS-FRIA grant Fellowship 2013-2017.
von Karman Prize for best overall result in course work and research project in the RM 2012-2013.
Research Interest
Main research Interests
Experimental Fluid Mechanics, with a particular interest in Optical Techniques (PIV, High-Speed imaging, LIF, Light Absorption) and related image processing (PIV/PTV Interrogation, Dynamic Masking, Optical Flows, Feature Detection/Tracking and Pattern Recognition).
Data Processing Algorithms, including machine learning, data-driven decompositions, model reduction, sparse sampling and dynamical system-based processing (Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, Koopman Theory, Resolvent Analysis).
Engineering Modeling of fluid flows, including integral boundary layer models for liquid films, coating flows, stability analysis, oscillating shear layers, particle-laden flows, cavitation and flow control.
Teaching Activities
Formal courses
Ongoing Courses and Teaching
Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics (FFD), RM 2020-2021
Signal Processing (SP)- Part II: Advanced Topics, RM 2020-2021.
Data-Driven Fluid Mechanics and Machine learning (DDFM), RM 2020-2021.
Tools for Scientific Computing (TSC), RM 2020-2021.
Introduction to Measurement Techniques (IMT), RM 2020-2021.
Previous Courses and Teaching
Differential Equations of Fluid Mechanics (full course of 12h), RM 2019-2020
Signal Processing (half course, 8h), RM 2019-2020.
Introduction to Particle Image Velocimetry (2h) in Measurement Techniques, RM 2019-2020.
Methods of Applied Fluid Mechanics, Tutorial Test case, RM 2019-2020. Introduction to LTI Systems, in Machine Learning For Fluid Mechanics, RM 2019-2020.
Generalized Modal Analysis and Multiscale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, in Machine Learning for fluid Mechanics, RM 2019-2020.
Machine Learning for Fluid Mechanics– Challenges, Opportunities and Perspectives, in Optimization Methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics, RM 2019-2020.
Lectures / Seminars
Organization of the lecture series ‘Big Data in Fluid Mechanics: From first principles to Machine Learning in Model Order Reduction and Model Identification’, course codirected with Prof. Noack (LIMSI) and Prof. Ianiro (Univ Carlos III Madrid). LS scheduled for 24-28 February 2020.
An Introduction to Multiscale Data-Driven Modal Analysis and Model Reduction, “Seminar on Data Processing”, February 22, 2019, invited by Prof. Ianiro, Univ Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Multiscale Data-Driven Modal Analysis, “Seminar on Data Analysis”, February 7, 2019, LadHyx, invited by Prof. G.Amselem, Université Paris Saclay, Paris, France.
An Introduction to Data Decompositions, DAP13-14 lectures on the DAP course at the VKI-RM and Matlab tutorial session given in December 2018.
Differential Equations of Fluid Mechanics, DEFM10-12 and DEFM 11-12 lectures, plus preparation of tutorial sections, exams and corrections. Tutorial session given in the last three academic years.
Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry, preparation of the course demo in the framework of the IMT LS 2018. Lab session given in the last 3 editions of the LS.
Multiscale Data Driven Modal Analysis, Seminar given at the TIPS Laboratory (ULB), invited by Prof. P. Colinet, 8 December 2017, Bruxelles.
Multiscale Modal Analysis of Experimental and Numerical Data, Keynote Lecture at the Experiments in Fluid Mechanics (ExFM) conference 23-24 October 2017, invited by Prof. J. Rokicki. Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics, Warsaw University, Poland.
Image Processing by POD Filtering, “Ledith Seminar – Multiphase Fluids”, March 20, 2017, von Karman Institute.
Promotor of the PhD thesis of:
- Barreiro, D. Numerical models for the simulation of gas-liquid flows in the galvanization process, Ongoing PhD Thesis at UDC, University of A Coruña, Spain.
- Fiore, M. Thermal turbulence modelling for low Prandtl number fluid flows via data analysis and machine learning, Ongoing PhD Thesis at UCL, Louvain, University, Belgium
- Fiorini, D. Gas-Liquid Interface Dynamics in Non-Isothermal Sloshing: Experimental Analysis and Simplified Modeling, Ongoing PhD Thesis at KULeuven University, Belgium
- Fabio, P. Feedback Control of Liquid Metal Coatings, Ongoing PhD Thesis at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.
- Poletti, R. (2019-ongoing). Real Time Optimization of bio-inspired wings using the deformable overset method and machine learning. PhD thesis at UGent, Ghent University.
Supervision
Supervision of 35 Research Master and STPs projects and 5 PhD Theses
Publications
Journal Publications
- Ninni, D and Mendez, M.A. (2021) MODULO: A software for Multiscale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition of data. to appear in Software X. Arxiv link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.12123.
- Mendez, F., Pasculli, A., Mendez, M.A., Sciarra, N. (2021) Calibration of the von Wolffersdorff model using Genetic Algorithms,to appear in Acta Geotechnica. Arxiv link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.08433. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 464)
- Balabane, M. , Mendez, M.A., Najem, S. (2020) On Koopman Operators for Burgers Equation,to appear in Physical Review Fluids. Arxiv link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.01218. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 512)
- Esposito, C., Mendez, M.A., Steelant, J., Vetrano, M.R, (2020) Spectral and Modal Analysis of a Cavitating Flow through an orifice, Exp Therm Fluid Sci, 121: 11051, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2020.110251. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 444)
- Mendez, M.A., Gosset, A., Scheid, B., Balabane, N., Buchlin, J.-M. (2019) Dynamics of the Jet Wiping Process via Integral Models,to appear in Journal of Fluid Mech. Arxiv link:https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.13400 (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 354)
- A. Mendez, D. Hess, B. B. Watz and J.-M. Buchlin (2020) Multiscale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (mPOD) of TR-PIV data– a Case Study on Stationary and Transient Cylinder Wake Flows, Meas. Sci Tech, 31(9):11051, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6501/ab82be/ (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 1.857)
- Dianfang Bi, Theunissen R., Mendez, M.A. and Wei, Y. (2019) Probabilistic evaluation of streamline topologies for the detection of preferential flow configurations in PIV applications, Exp Fluids, 61(13): 11051, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00348-019-2852-9. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 335)
- Mendez, M.A., Gosset, A., Buchlin, J.-M. (2019) An Experimental Analysis of the Stability of the Jet Wiping Process: Part II- Multiscale Modal Analysis of the Gas Jet-Liquid Film Interaction , Exp Therm Fluid Sci, 106: 48–67, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2019.03.004. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 444)
- Gosset, A., Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M. (2019) An Experimental Analysis of the Stability of the Jet Wiping Process: Part I- Characterization of the Coating Uniformity, Exp Therm Fluid Sci, 103: 51–65, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2018.12.029. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 444)
- Mendez, M.A., Balabane, M., Buchlin, J.-M. (2019) Multi-Scale Modal Analysis of Complex Fluid Flows, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 870:988-1036, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2019.212. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 354)
- Mendez, M.A., Enache, A., Gosset, A., Buchlin, J.-M. (2018) Experimental Characterization of the Jet Wiping Process, EPJ Web Conf. 180 (2018): 02064, https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201818002064. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: -)
- Mendez, M.A., Scelzo, M.T., Enache, A., Buchlin, J.-M. (2018) Fluidic Vectoring of a Planar Incompressible Jet Flow, EPJ Web Conf. 180 (2018): 02065, https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201818002065. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: -)
- Mendez, M.A., Scelzo, M.T., Buchlin, J.-M. (2018) Multiscale modal analysis of an oscillating impinging gas jet, Exp. Therm Fluid Sci 91: 256–276, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2017.10.032. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 444)
- Mendez, M.A., Scheid, B., Buchlin, J.-M. (2017) Low Kapitza Falling Liquid Films, Chem. Eng Sci 170: 122-138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces. 2016.12.050. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 871)
- Mendez, M., Raiola, M., Masullo, A., Discetti, S., Ianiro,A., Theunissen,R., Buchlin, J.-M (2017) POD-based background removal for particle image velocimetry, Exp. Therm Fluid Sci 91: 181–192, https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.expthermflusci.2016.08.021. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: 444)
- Mendez, M., Nemeth, L, Buchlin, J.-M. (2016) Measurement of Liquid Film Thickness via Light Absorption and Laser Tomography, EPJ Web Conf. 114: 02072, https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201611402072. (JCR Impact 2019-2020: -)
Conference Contributions
- Anfuso, E., Demange, S., Fagnani, A., Torres- Herrador, F., Mendez, M.A. Multiscale Modal Analysis of a Plasma Jet: Coherent Structures and their Observability, AIAA Aviation Forum 2020, Washington, US, June 2021.
- Villaverde, D.B., Gosset, A., Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M Validation of High-Fidelity CFD Simulations of the Jet Wiping Process, European Coating Symposium 2019, Heidelberg, Germany, September 2019
- Mendez, M.A., Gosset, A., Scheid, B., Buchlin, J.-M Integral Boundary Layer Simulations of the Jet Wiping Process, European Coating Symposium 2019, Heidelberg, Germany, September 2019.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M Multiscale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (mPOD) of TR-PIV data: a Case Study on Transient Flows, 13th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry, Munich, Germany, July
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M Analyse du Procédé d’Essorage au Moyen de la Vélocimétrie par Image de Particules et la Technique d’Absorption de Lumière, 16e Congrés Francophone de Techniques Laser (CFTL), Dourdan, France, September 2018.
- Mendez, M.A., Enache, A., Gosset, A., Buchlin, J.-M, Experimental Characterization of the Jet Wiping Process, Experimental Fluid Mechanics (EFM), Mikulov, Czech Republic, November 2017.
- Mendez, M.A., Scelzo, M.T., Enache, A., Buchlin, J.-M, Fluidic Vectoring of a Planar Incompressible Jet Flow, Experimental Fluid Mechanic (EFM), Mikulov, Czech Republic, November 2017.
- Gosset, A., Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M, Experimental Characterization of the Jet Wiping Instability, European Coating Symposium-ECS2017, Fribourg, Swizerland, November 2017.
- Mendez, M.A., Gosset, A., Myrillas, K., Buchlin, J.-M, Numerical Modal Analysis of the Jet Wiping Instability, European Coating Symposium (ECS), Fri- bourg, Swizerland, November 2017.
- Mendez, M.A., Balabane, M., Buchlin, J.-M, Multiscale Modal Analysis of Experimental and Numerical Data (Keynote, Invited Talk), Experiments in Fluid Mechanics, Warsaw, Poland, October 2017.
- Mendez, M.A., Balabane, M., Buchlin, J.-M, Multi-Scale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (mPOD), International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics (ICNAAM), Thessaloniki, Greece, September 2017.
- Mendez, M.A., Scheid, B., Buchlin, J.-M, Low Kapitza Falling Liquid Films, 13-th International Conference on Gas-Liquid and Gas-Liquid-Solid Reactor Engineering (GLS), Bruxelles, Belgium, August 2017.
- Mendez, M.A., Raiola, M., Masullo, A., Discetti, S., Ianiro, A., Theunissen, R., Buchlin, J.-M., Prétraitement d’images PIV par Décomposition Aux Valeurs Propres, 15-th Congrès Francophone de Techniques Laser (CFTL), Toulouse, France, September 2016.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M., Oscillation of a Planar Gas Jet impinging on a Deformable Wall, Symposium of VKI PhD Research, von Karman Institute, Bruxelles, 2016.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M., Experimental characterization of 2D Traveling Waves in Low Kapitza Liquid film down a vertical wall, 24-th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Montreal, Canada, August 2016.
- Mendez, M.A., Németh, L., Buchlin, J.-M., Measurement of Liquid Films Thickness via Light Absorption and Laser Tomography, Experimental Fluid Mechanics-EFM2015, Prague, Czech Republic, November 2015.
- Mendez, M.A., Myrillas, K., Gosset, A., Buchlin, J.-M, A Research Methodology to Study Jet Wiping Processes, European Coating Symposium-ECS2015, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, November 2015.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M. Quantitative flow visualization of confinement- driven instabilities of an impinging slot jet, 11th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry- PIV15, Santa Barbara, US, September 2015.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M. Experimental Characterization of Straw Jets via Image Processing Techniques, 10th Pacific Symposium on Flow Visualization and Image Processing 2015-PSFVIP, Napoli, Italy, June 2015.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M., Dynamics of Gas Jet Impingement on Vertical Falling Liquid Films, Symposium of VKI PhD Research, von Karman Institute, Bruxelles, 2015.
Technical notes
- Mendez, M.A., Gosset, A., Buchlin, J.-M (2018) Integral Modeling of the Jet Wiping Process: Part 1, Introduction and Self-Similar Formulation, VKI Technical Note
- Mendez, M.A., Di Nardo, M., Benocci, C. (2017) Running FineOpen43 Sim- ulations at VKI: A tutorial and a collection of scripts, VKI Technical Note 217.
- Mendez, M.A., Buchlin, J.-M (2016) Notes on 2D Pulsatile Poiseuille Flows: an introduction to Eigenfunction Expansion and Complex Variables using Matlab, VKI Technical Note
