Wind engineer wins Three-Minute Thesis competition sponsored by NSF-funded network

“Winning the competition indicates researchers in this field have acknowledged the quality of my work and it motivates me to continue to do high-quality research,” Li says.

MECHS is a research coordination network focused on broadening the community of researchers engaged in hybrid simulation projects. The organization aims to foster new research initiatives to tackle emerging scientific challenges. Li first became involved with MECHS in 2017 when he joined the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering as a PhD student in 2017.

“My first project was about real-time aerodynamics hybrid simulation of long span bridges. When investigating the area of hybrid simulation, I found MECHS has conducted a lot of high-quality research and then I started to pay close attention,” says Li.

During the competition, Li discussed his research on Real-Time Aerodynamics Hybrid Simulation of Wind-Sensitive Structures in an AI-Empowered Multiple-Fan Wind Tunnel.

Li has completed part of the numerical simulation for this project and will begin implementing the experimental work in the lab. According to Li, “this novel framework will be extended to structures subjected to multiple-hazards, such as offshore floating wind turbines.”

Li works closely with his advisor, associate professor Teng Wu on his research.

You can check out the video of Li's three minute thesis here