Skip Navigation
Search

Wayne

 

Wayne Oaks

Postdoctoral Associate

 
 
 
Contact Information 
 
 

Education
    • Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Stony Brook University, 2022
    • M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1984
    • B.Sc, Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1982

Professional Experience 

  • Postdoctoral Associate, Stony Brook University, 2022 - Present 
  • President, Acorn Engineering P.C., 2014 - 2019
  • Senior Engineer, CD-adapco, 1987-2014

Research Interests

Dr. Oaks’ engineering career has been rich and varied including Computational Fluid Dynamic simulations, Finite Element Analysis, and mesh generation. Studies have included material stress simulation to test the strength and safely of the then new O-ring design of the SST solid rocket boosters. CFD simulation predicted the flow into and out of the cylinder of gasoline and diesel engines to predict flow pattern around open valves and in cylinder mixing of combustible fuels.

His Ph.D. research involved Lagrangian Particle Tracking in air flows and finite-time Lyapunov exponents to calculate Lagrangian coherent structures. In his New York City study, contaminate particles were released in lower Manhattan just east of the New York Stock exchange into a 3.8 m/s northern wind. It showed that the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan produced high turbulence causing strong vertical flow in both the upward and downward directions. However, after passing through the skyscrapers, the flow became mostly horizontal and a slight vertical velocity. His COVID mask research showed that wearing a facial mask restricted the movement of exhaled saliva particles during normal breathing to 0.5 m from the mouth. Without wearing a mask, particles traveled 2.5 m from the mouth with the final Lagrangian coherent structure forming a never before seen fractal pattern from the vortex rings produced by each breath.