Today’s interview is with Professor Paul Ronney from University of Souther California.

Here are the questions that Paul, very kindly, agreed to discuss with me during this interview. (If you are having trouble listening to the interview, simply  install a Quicktime plug-in for your web browser).

An expert with 25 years of experience in the field of fuel chemistry and chemical kinetics, Dr. Pitz addresses these questions in my interview with him:

1. Why are chemical mechanisms relevant? Who should study them and why?
2. From a kinetecist point of view a mechanism can never be proven to be correct, only shown to be incorrect. What is the point of testing mechanisms against experimental data? Would they always be “incorrect” and is it better to just stick to experiments?
3. Could computations that use chemical mechanisms ever be useful?
4. What is the difference between detailed and reduced chemistry mechanisms? What do you see as being the biggest challenge in obtaining reduced mechanisms?
5. What is the biggest misconception that engineers have about chemical mechanisms?
6. What is the biggest challenge in reactive flow simulation and modeling?
7. If you had to give one piece of advice to an engineer who is thinking of adding some reactive flow modeling to his research and is looking for mechanisms – what would it be?

Dr. Pitz Bio:

Dr. Pitz received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of Professor Robert F. Sawyer. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering science from Purdue University.  He has been developing chemical kinetic mechanisms for hydrocarbon fuels and alternative fuels at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for over 25 years.  He has been using these mechanisms to study applied problems of ignition and pollutant emissions from HCCI and diesel engines, and engine knock in spark ignition engines.  For his work, he has received the Horning Award and the Cowell Merit Award from the society of automotive engineers.

(Click on “play” button to listen tot he 35 minute interview. If you are not able to listen, make sure that Quicktime plug-in is installed) Read more »

We have yet another excellent interview this week! The author of the pioneering book the “Combustion Theory,” Professor Forman Williams,  sat down with me to discuss the past, present and future of combustion.

But first, as always,  some excitting MVP updates:

- Coming up on MVP blog in the beginning of October  - an interview with Dr. Bill Pitz from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  Dr. Pitz will answers questions on importance of chemical mechanisms and talks about some challenges facing the fuel chemistry industry. Read more »

Dear Readers,

I invite you ALL to sign up for my Webinar hosted by www.NAFEMS.org on Contributing to the Bottom Line with Computer Modeling.  Best part? You do not have to be a NAFEMS member and the webinar is compltely FREE! Learn how to use engineering computer modeling in your organization to cut costs, save time and create more innovative products.

To register go here : http://www.nafems.org/events/nafems/2008/bottomline/

Read more »

This week, it is my pleasure to present to you my interview with Dr. Elaine Oran.

Elaine has over 40 years of experience working with computer simulation in the engineering industry. She is an author of an engineering textbook “Numerical Simulation of Reactive Flow” and a prestigious researcher at the Naval Research Lab.

In this interview, she shares with us her views on computer simulation and gives important advice to engineers thinking of becoming more involved with computer simulation and modeling. Listening to what this veteran expert has to say on the subject, is a MUST for any engineering professional. Read more »