Areas of Research

• Computational Methods Applied to Energy-related Problems
• Novel Morphing-blade Wind Turbines
• Simulation of Thermal Energy Storage Processes

Education

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of California - San Diego and San Diego State University
• M.A.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
• B.S. Mathematics and Engineering, Queens University

Biography

Dr. David W. MacPhee’s research is broadly focused on energy efficiency, energy conversion and computational mechanics. More specifically, he is interested in the following areas:

• Latent and sensible thermal energy storage;
• 2nd law analysis of thermodynamic systems;
• Computational Fluid Mechanics (CFD), as applied to wind turbines, flapping wings and turbomachines;
• Tidal and Wave energy conversion devices;
• Optimization of passively flexible blades for open and closed turbomachines;
• Fluid-structure interaction;
• Computational heat transfer;
• Open-source computational software development;
• Manufacturing energy use and efficiency, especially regarding supporting equipment;
• Micro or meso-scale wind resource mapping using CFD;
• Pollutant dispersion modeling and simulation;
• Low-grade waste heat recovery;
• Concentrated solar power energy storage.

He is also assistant director of the Alabama Industrial Assessment Center.