Donald L. Koch

About

Donald L. Koch is a full professor at the R.F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University, located in Olin Hall, Room 167C. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering and B.A. in history from Case Western Reserve University in 1981, and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at DAMTP in Cambridge University, he joined Cornell's School of Chemical Engineering. His research interests encompass rheology and transport processes in particle suspensions, porous media, and micro- and nano-structured materials, as well as particle-filled polymeric materials, solvent-free nanoparticle fluids, and aggregation processes in colloids and aerosols. He also investigates non-continuum gas flows, collective behavior of swimming micro-organisms, convective heat and mass transfer in particulate systems, and geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, among other topics. Dr. Koch is a fellow of the American Physical Society, has coauthored over 100 scientific publications, and has supervised 18 Ph.D. students. His contributions include advancing understanding in fluid dynamics, complex fluids, and sustainable energy systems.

Research topics

• Physics
• Materials science
• Classical mechanics
• Composite material
• Mechanics

Selected publications

• Predictive Inverse Model for Advective Heat Transfer in a Short‐Circuited Fracture: Dimensional Analysis, Machine Learning, and Field Demonstration

  Water Resources Research · 2020-10-17 · 25 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Identifying fluid flow maldistribution in planar geometries is a well‐established problem in subsurface science/engineering. Of particular importance to the thermal performance of enhanced (or “engineered”) geothermal systems is identifying the existence of nonuniform (i.e., heterogeneous) permeability and subsequently predicting advective heat transfer. Here, machine learning via a genetic algorithm (GA) identifies the spatial distribution of an unknown permeability field in a two‐dime…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Collision rate of bidisperse, hydrodynamically interacting spheres settling in a turbulent flow

  Journal of Fluid Mechanics · 2021-02-04 · 19 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract

  PublisherDOI

• Collision rate of bidisperse spheres settling in a compressional non-continuum gas flow

  Journal of Fluid Mechanics · 2021-01-08 · 13 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract

  PublisherDOI

• Non-continuum tangential lubrication gas flow between two spheres

  Journal of Fluid Mechanics · 2021 · 12 citations

  Abstract

  DOI

• The role of rolling resistance in the rheology of wizarding quidditch ball suspensions

  Journal of Fluid Mechanics · 2023-11-03 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  To elucidate the effect of particle shape on the rheology of a dense, viscous suspension of frictional, non-Brownian particles, experimental measurements are presented for suspensions of polystyrene particles with different shapes in the same solvent. The first suspension is made of spheres whereas the particles which compose the second suspension are globular but with flattened faces. We present results from steady shear and shear-reversal rheological experiments for the two suspensions over a…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: The role of microphysical processes and turbulence intermittency in droplet coalescence in warm cumulus clouds

  NSF · $247k · 2014–2017

• The Effect of Particle-polymer Interactions on the Rheology and Structure of Dilute Particle-filled Polymeric Liquids

  NSF · $317k · 2018–2021

• Hydrodynamically Assisted Bacterial Chemotaxis

  NSF · $328k · 2011–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Ganesh Subramanian

  Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

  32 shared

• Ashok S. Sangani

  Syracuse University

  24 shared

• Lynden A. Archer

  Cornell University

  21 shared

• Abraham D. Stroock

  17 shared

• Gaojin Li

  16 shared

• Anubhab Roy

  Indian Institute of Technology Madras

  15 shared

• Eric S. G. Shaqfeh

  Stanford University

  12 shared

• Claude Cohen

  12 shared

Labs

• Donald L. Koch Research GroupPI

Education

• PhD, Chemical Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1985

• BS, Chemical Engineering

  Case Western Reserve University

  1981

Awards & honors

• Fellow, American Physical Society (1998)
• Fellow, National Science Foundation (1981)
• Presidential Young Investigator (1988)
• Frenkiel Award, Division of Fluid Dynamics (1988)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NAT…

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