The College of Technology proudly congratulates Mechanical Engineering Technology graduate student, Leonardo Chica Garzòn for his winning paper, Fluid Structure Interaction Analysis of Two-Phase Flow in an M-shaped Jumper. Honored by CD-adapco as the 2012 Global Academic Paper Contest winner, Leonardo will receive an all-expense paid trip to the CD-adapco STAR-Global Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 19th – 21st. He will be the featured presenter in the academic track of the conference. Dr. Raresh Pascali, Instructional Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Technology Program, is his project advisor. A member of the Honors College at UH, Leonardo is currently pursuing his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology.
The two-day event is a worldwide celebration of engineering success that will bring together engineers from around the world to explore the latest developments in engineering simulation technology and to discuss the ways in which it can be deployed to solve industrial problems, reducing costs and empowering innovation.
A native of Bogota, Colombia, Leonardo graduated from UH with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology in December 2011. He was awarded the Engineering Technology Department's Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award for his excellent academic standing and for innovative research pursued as part of his Honors thesis. During the final last semester of his undergraduate studies at UH, Leonardo conducted a research study, in the area of multiphase flow induced vibration. Mentored by MCS Kenny, the project focused on modeling and analyzing the effects of the flow in subsea jumpers using Star CCM+ and Abaqus, specifically two-way coupling simulation. The work has been accepted for publishing in two most prominent offshore conferences: OMAE and ISOPE.