Lab Members

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Franck

Ihlenfeld, Jay & Cynthia Associate Professor of
Mechanical Engineering

jafranck – at – wisc.edu

B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia
M.S. Aeronautics, California Institute of Technology
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology

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Postdocs and Graduate Researchers

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Undergraduate Researchers

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Lab Alumni: Postdocs and Graduate Students

(degree awarded; thesis title; first position after CFPM lab)

Carlos Nogues Armengol: Visiting Scholar UW-Madison; M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, Uni. Politècnica de València (2025)
“CFD Analysis of the Hydrodynamic Properties of an Eel-like Body for Propulsion and Energy Generation”
Air Worthiness Engineer, Indra, Madrid, Spain

Kolton Janz: M.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2025)
“Computational Analysis of a Bio-Inspired Passive Energy Harvester”
Design Engineer at Milwaukee Tool, Brookfield, WI

Caelan Consing: M.S. Mechanical Engineering, UW-Madison (2025)
“Computational Investigation of Cambered Blades and Virtual Camber in Cross-Flow Turbines”
GE Vernova: Wind Turbine Aeroacoustics, Greenville, SC

Rithwik Kandukuri: M.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2025)
“Marine Energy Cross-Flow Turbines in High Confinement“

Soundarya Ramasubramanian: M.S. Mechanical Engineering, UW-Madison (2023)
“Critical Points in the Wake of a Bio-Inspired Undulated Cylinder”
Product Engineer at Siemens, Portland OR

Bernardo Luiz Rocha Ribeiro: Ph.D. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2023)
“Vortex Dynamics and Machine Learning on Oscillating-Foil Turbines”
Postdoctoral Fellow in Unsteady Aerodynamics, University of Campinas, Brazil

Mukul Dave: Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, UW-Madison (2022)
“Simulations of Unsteady Flow Phenomena in Cross-Flow Turbines”
Lawrence-Berkeley National Lab, National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Postdoctoral Fellow, Berkeley, CA

Riley Bridges: M.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2022)
“Cross-Flow Turbines with Equivalent Planar Motion”
Engineer, Jacobs Space Exploration Group at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Kate Lyons: Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, UW-Madison (2021)
“Effects of Topography Variation on Fluid Flow over Seal Whisker Inspired Geometries”
Thermal-Hydraulics Engineer, X-Energy, Washington, DC

Alejandro Gonzalez Calvet: Visiting Scholar UW-Madison; M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, Uni. Politècnica de València (2019)
Glovo, Product Data Analyst, Barcelona, Spain

Divya Jaganathan: Sc.M. Engineering, Brown University (2018)
“Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction of Flow Through Compliant Vessels”
PhD student, International Center for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru, India

Xiaoyue Zhao: Sc.M. Engineering, Brown University (2017)
“OpenFOAM Simulation of Diaphragmless Shock Tube”
Applications Engineer, COMSOL, Shanghai City, China

Ka Ling Wu: Sc.M. Engineering, Brown University (2015)
“Simulation of an Oscillating Hydrofoil near Boundaries”
PhD Student École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne ‐ EPFL

Alex Czulak: Sc.M. Engineering, Brown University (2015)
“Simulations of Plasma Actuation on a Wind Turbine Airfoil at High Reynolds Numbers”
Mechanical Engineer, Robert Bosch LLC, Waltham, MA

Koketso Makhafola: Sc.M. Engineering, Brown University (2014)
“Computational Modeling of Plasma Actuator Flow Control on Non-Symmetric Airfoils”
Senior Engineer, Willdan Energy Solutions, Dallas, TX

Justin Morse: Sc.M. Biomedical Eng, Brown University (2014)
“An Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Head Dynamics due to Stick Impacts in Girls’ Lacrosse”
Electrical Engineer, Ximedica, Providence, RI

Alumni: Undergraduate Researchers

Alex Kress: B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2026)
PhD Student at UW-Madison

Varun Nathan: B.S. Aerospace Engineering, Purdue (2027)

Scott Russell : B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2025)
Aircraft Systems Engineer, United Airlines, Chicago, IL

Xinyi (Shirley) Zhang: B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2024)
PhD Student at Purdue

Julia Thormann : B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2024)
Lockheed Martin, New Jersey

Austin Howk: B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2023)
Engineer, Nuclear Power Division, Sargent and Lundy, Chicago, IL

Vineet Pasumarti: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, UW-Madison (2023)
Structural Analysis Engineer, Boeing, Huntington Beach, CA

Hanqi Dong:  B.S. Mechanical Engineering, UW-Madison (2023)
PhD Student UT-Austin

Riya Agrawal:  Visiting Researcher; B.Tech. Mechanical Engineering (2023) United College of Engineering and Research
Graduate Student, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Mikihisa Yuasa:  B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2021)
PhD Student UIUC

Kirby Heck:  B.S. Engineering Mechanics, UW-Madison (2021)
PhD Student MIT

David Burkhart:  B.S. Applied Math and Engineering Physics, UW-Madison (2020)
Engineer, Oshkosh Corporation, Madison, WI

Aneesh Heintz: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2018)
PhD Student, Cornell University

Arianne Spaulding: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2018)
Mechanical Engineer, Amazon Robotics, Boston, MA

Noemaikealohaiku`ulei (Noe) Lum: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2018)
Grad Student, UC-Berkeley

Matthew Shorter: Sc.B. Mechanical Engineering Brown University (2017)
PhD Student, MIT

Isabel Scherl: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2017)
PhD Student, University of Washington

Filip Simeski: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2017)
PhD Student, Stanford University

Aryssa Medina: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2015)
Lead Assembly Operations Engineer, Pratt & Whitney, Hartford CT

Evan Roelke: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2015)
PhD Student, Georgia Institute of Technology

Sarah Frank: Sc.B. Mech Eng, Brown University (2014)
PhD Student, University of California-Berkeley

Joo Yeon Jung: Sc.B. Biomedical Eng, Brown University (2014)