Brian Elbing
Brian Elbing is the Tom Cunningham Chair and Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University (OSU). He is an expert in fluid mechanisms with a wide range of applications including sounds from tornadoes, drag reduction for ships, helicopter wake dynamics, and atmospheric turbulence. For his tornado research, he was one of the inaugural recipients of the Experimental Physics Investigator award funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
His research has been published in journals and featured in numerous articles (e.g. Wall Street Journal, Physics Today), radio shows (e.g. NPR’s All Things Considered), and on the National Geographic Channel.
Education
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering
University of Michigan, 2009
M.S.E., Mechanical Engineering
University of Michigan, 2005
B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Western Michigan University, 2003
Research Interests
- Flow Control
- Tornado infrasound
- Multiphase Flow
- Experimental Fluid Mechanics
Awards and Recognition
- OSU Regents Distinguished Research award, Oklahoma State University, 2024
- OSU President Research Fellow, Oklahoma State University, 2022
- Experimental Physics Investigator award for research on infrasound signatures of tornadoes, 2022
- NASA Jet Propulsion Lab team award for work on a high-altitude balloon project, 2021
- John Brammer Professorship, Oklahoma State University, 2019-present
- Tier 1 Faculty Affiliate, Unmanned System Research Institute, 2020
- Distinguished Early Career Faculty Award, Oklahoma State University,2019
- Halliburton Professorship in Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 2016-2019
- Excellent New Teacher Award, Oklahoma State University, College of Engineering, Architecture & Tech, 2016
Professional Memberships
- American Physical Society (APS) –Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD); member
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); member
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); member
- Acoustical Society of America (ASA); member
- Oklahoma AIAA/ASME Symposium
Courses Taught
- ENSC 3233 Fluid Mechanics
- MAE 3333 Fundamental Fluid Dynamics
- MAE 4273 Experimental Fluid Dynamics
- MAE 5233 Advanced Fluid Dynamics I
- MAE 5273 Advanced Fluid Dynamics II
Recent Publications
- Y Farsiani, Z Saeed, B Jayaraman & BR Elbing†(2020) “Modification of turbulent boundary layer coherent structures with drag reducing polymer solution,” Physics of Fluids, 32(1), 015107 (doi.org/10.1063/1.5127293).
- BR Elbing†, SD Young, ML Jonson, RL Campbell, BA Craven, RF Kunz & KL Koudela (2020) “Experi-mental characterization of a high-amplitude fluid-structure-interaction of a flexible hydrofoil at high Reyn-olds number,” Journal of Vibration and Acoustics,142(4), 041014 (doi.org/10.1115/1.4046751).
- B Hemingway†, AE Frazier, BR Elbing & JD Jacob (2020)“High-resolution estimation and spatial interpo-lation of temperature structure in the atmospheric boundary layer using a small unmanned aircraft system,” Boundary-Layer Meteorology,175, 397-416(doi.org/10.1007/s10546-020-00512-1).
- Y Farsiani, Z Saeed& BR Elbing†(2020) “Drag reduction performance of mechanically degraded dilute polyethylene oxide solutions,” ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering, 142(9), 091201 (doi.org/10.1115/1.4047118).
- BR Elbing†(in press) “Impact of polymer degradation on past studies of the mean velocity profile in turbu-lent boundary layers,” Journal of Fluids Engineering, accepted on Oct 27, 2020 (FE-20-1351).