Research Areas
Coastal Resilience & Urban Water Systems
Dr. Zhang’s team is developing new methods and data products to address:
- Urban flooding & stormwater system resilience
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Sewer overflow & pollution control modeling
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Hydrologic monitoring & infrastructure assessment
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Geospatial data analysis for water systems
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Sustainable regional water management
Modular Technologies for Biomedical & Coastal Systems
Dr. Baca’s research focuses on the design and development of modular, reconfigurable engineering systems that address challenges in biomedical innovation and coastal resilience.
- Modular biomedical & rehabilitation systems
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Human performance technologies
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Robotic coastal monitoring platforms
- Coastal protection & restoration technologies
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Artificial reefs & erosion mitigation systems
CFD Modeling & Energy Systems Research
This research leverages high-performance computing, AI, and advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to study complex fluid and plasma phenomena in next-generation energy systems. High-fidelity simulations support innovations in propulsion, fusion, renewable energy, and multiphase flow systems.
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Plasma instabilities & inertial confinement fusion (ICF) modeling
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Shock–turbulence–combustion interactions
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Multiphase & multicomponent reactive flows
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Variable-property turbulent flow simulations
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Wind–wave interaction & offshore wind energy systems
Intelligent Imaging & Environmental Sensing
Dr. Ruby Mehrubeoglu’s work combines advanced imaging and machine learning for environmental and engineering applications.
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Multispectral imaging (hyperspectral, IR, NVIS)
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Image segmentation & object classification
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Computer vision, machine & deep learning
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Environmental monitoring
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IoT-enabled sensing & real-time data systems
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Imaging-integrated capstone design projects