Three Yale Engineering Professors Awarded Share of $25 Million NASA Grant

Three Yale professors in the faculty of engineering are among 75 researchers in 25 states selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to receive grants totaling $25 million to improve space exploration research.

The Yale recipients will conduct microgravity fluid physics research on Earth and in space. Among the many benefits of this basic research is knowledge that can lead to better design systems for optimizing fuel efficiency and minimizing pollution.

The researchers and their topics are:

* Robert Apfel, professor of mechanical engineering: Studies of the Dynamics, Control and Evaporation of Three-Dimensional Droplet Arrays and Clusters

* Marshall Grant, professor of chemical engineering: Effect of Structure-dependent Interactions on the Formation of Colloidal Aggregates and Nuclei

* Michael Loewenberg, professor of chemical engineering: Flows of Wet Foams and Concentrated Emulsions

Amir Gaghri, an engineering professor at the University of Connecticut is also a grant recipient. He will study heat transfer in rotating thin liquid films including nucleate boiling.