Welcome!

We're a curiosity-driven research group working on a range of fluid mechanics and flow-structure interaction problems. Our research can be classified into two major themes:

(i) turbulent flows interacting with complex (e.g. rough, porous, compliant) surfaces, and
(ii) interaction between flow and flexible structures.

This work addresses open problems in aero- and hydrodynamic engineering design, flow control, environmental science, as well as physical biology, and involves a combination of laboratory experiments and theory.

If you're an existing undergradate or MS student at USC and interested in pursuing research in our group, please get in touch with Dr. Luhar and attach your CV or resume. If you're interested in pursuing a PhD at USC Viterbi, you can find more information regarding the department and the application process here.

News and updates

• 01/2018: Dr. Luhar recently wrote an invited piece in Nature Physics on a solution for relaminarizing turbulent flow in pipes.
• 01/2018: Christoph Efstathiou's first paper (on turbulent flows over porous walls) is accepted for publication in Journal of Fluid Mechanics. Congrats Christoph!
• 11/2017: Dr. Luhar, along with Prof. Hemati at University of Minnesota and Prof. Taira at Florida State University organize a Tutorial and Focus Session on Modal Analysis Methods for Fluid Flows at the upcoming APS-DFD meeting.
• 06/2017: Mohit Tekriwal (SN Bose Scholar), Timothy Kim, and Alejandro Vilez (SHINE students) join the lab for the summer. A warm welcome to them all!
• 05/2017: Nina Singh just received the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship. This follows USC WiSE and USC Provost Research Fellowships--Nina's on a roll!
• 05/2017: Dr. Luhar and Dr. Bermejo-Moreno judge the 10th Grade Engineering Contest at STEM Academy of Hollywood: 3D printed, solar- and hydrogen-powered cars, what's not to like?
• 05/2017: Sifat Syed (BS), Chan-ye Ohh (MS), Christoph Efstathiou (MS), Changning Zhou (MS), Shen Wang (MS), and Hyunggong Park (MS) receive their well-earned degrees!
• 11/2016: Christoph Efstathiou, Chan-Ye Ohh, and Dr. Luhar will be presenting their research at the upcoming APS-DFD meeting in Portland.
• 10/2016: Dr. Luhar is selected for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program award. This work will support his research on the development of complex surfaces for flow control.
• 09/2016: Dr. Luhar is part of a team, led by Dr. Eva Kanso, selected by the Office of Naval Research to develop a sea star-inspired robot (StarBot) capable of locomotion and object manipulation under high hydrodynamic loads.
• 08/2016: Andrew Chavarin, Mark Hermes, and Shilpa Vijay join the group as Ph.D. students. A very warm welcome to them all!!
• 07/2016: Erik Szayna and Akash Velu join the lab for the summer as part of the SHINE program. They will be figuring out how to make spherical water-treading robots more efficient!
• 06/2016: Dr. Luhar presents some of his work on the Resolvent Analysis at an invited session on modal decomposition methods at AIAA Aviation (video).