Douglas H. Kelley
Institute for Research in Electronics & Applied Physics (IREAP)University of Maryland
Energy Research Building
College Park, MD 20742-0223
301-405-7986
dhk@umd.edu
Current Research
Advised by Dr. Daniel Lathrop, our group explores nonlinear dynamics and turbulence in fluids, with particular interest in magnetohydrodynamics and the geodynamo problem—understanding how earth's magnetic field arises. I am a PhD candidate in physics and a Graduate Research Assistant, working primarily on Dynamo 3.5, a spherical experiment 60 cm in diameter, filled with liquid sodium, and capable of rotating up to 35 times per second (2100 rpm). An inner shaft allows for independent rotation of a forcing package such as a concentric sphere (giving spherical Couette flow) or propeller(s). Our past work has focused on the presence of inertial waves in the experiment. Currently we are exploring flows dominated by a combination of “donut-shaped” circulation and rotation about the axis (a superposition of the S1 and T1 vector spherical harmonics).
Publications
- Santiago Andrés Triana, Douglas H. Kelley, Daniel S. Zimmerman, Daniel R. Sisan, and Daniel P. Lathrop. Hopf bifurcations with fluctuating gain. Astronomische Nachrichten 329 7: 701-705 (2008).
- Douglas H. Kelley, Santiago Andrés Triana, Daniel S. Zimmerman, Andreas Tilgner, and Daniel P. Lathrop. Inertial waves driven by differential rotation in a planetary geometry. Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics 101 5/6: 469-487 (2007).
- James Diorio, Douglas H. Kelley, and James M. Wallace. The spatial correlations of dissipation and production rates in turbulent boundary and mixing layers. Physics of Fluids 19, 035101 (2007).
- Douglas H. Kelley, Santiago Andrés Triana, Daniel S. Zimmerman, Barbara Brawn, Daniel P. Lathrop, and Donald H. Martin. Driven inertial waves in spherical Couette flow, Chaos 16, 041105 (2006).
Professional Activities
- Will present poster “Laboratory geodynamo models: Effects of a soft iron core” at the 2008 Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
- Will present talk “A hydromagnetic spherical Couette experiment with a soft iron core” at the 2008 Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics.
- Presented poster “Integrating numerical and experimental geodynamo models” at the KITP Magnetic Field Generation in Experiments, Geophysics, and Astrophyics conference.
- Presented poster “Spatial distribution of production and dissipation of TKE in turbulent boundary and mixing layers” at the CEAFM Symposium on Fluid Science & Turbulence.
- Presented poster “Wave motions in rotating, spherical, hydromagnetic experiments” at the 2007 Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
- Presented talk “Experimental studies of MHD flow in a rapidly rotating system” at the 2007 Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics.
- Presented poster “Magnetohydrodynamics in experimental S1T1 flow” at the Les Houches Dynamo School, 2007.
- Presented talk “The spatial relationships between dissipation and production rates and vortical structures in turbulent boundary and mixing layers” at the 2007 Research Symposium on Environmental and Applied Fluid Dynamics (sponsored jointly by CEAFM and the Burgers Program)
- Presented talk “Observations of inertial waves in spherical Couette flow” at the 2006 Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics.
- Presented poster “Driven inertial waves in spherical Couette” (with supplementary results) at the 10th Symposium of SEDI.
- Presented poster “Driven inertial waves in spherical Couette flow” in the Gallery of Nonlinear Images at the 2006 March Meeting of the APS.
- Attended 2006 Dynamics Days conference.
- Presented poster “Nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics in spherical Couette flow” at the 2005 Gordon Conference on Nonlinear Science.
- Member of the American Physical Society
- Member of the American Geophysical Union
Education
- PhD student in physics at University of Maryland, August 2004-present (candidate since January 2007)
- MS in physics from Auburn University, August 2004
- BS in electrical engineering, Magna Cum Laude, from Virginia Tech, May 2000
Teaching
My teaching philosophy: Education, at its best, is lens-making. Our teaching must be more than a hard-drive copy of factual data from one brain to others, more than… [more]
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, Auburn Physics Department, August 2002-August 2004
- Taught lecture course with full responsibility for syllabus, lesson plans, lectures, homework, tests, grade assessment, and supervision of lab assistant:
- PHYS 1000, Foundations of Physics, summer 2004
- Taught laboratory courses with responsibility for laboratory activities, recitation lectures, group activities, some homework, and grading:
- PHYS 1618, Honors Physics II Laboratory, spring 2004
- PHYS 1501, General Physics I Laboratory, fall 2003
- PHYS 1511, General Physics II Laboratory, spring 2003
- PHYS 1501, General Physics I Laboratory, fall 2002
- Taught lecture course with full responsibility for syllabus, lesson plans, lectures, homework, tests, grade assessment, and supervision of lab assistant:
- Outstanding GTA Award, Auburn Physics Department, 2003.
- Significant experience (~500 hours) as a private physics tutor at both the undergraduate and high school levels
- Elected to take graduate course in education, FOUN 6100: “Educational Psychology and Assessment,” spring 2003
- Attended 2007 Lilly-East Conference on College and University Teaching.
- Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, Fall 1997-Spring 1999
Other Past Work
- Systems Engineer, Corning Cable Systems, June 2000-August 2002
- Designed and presented optical communication networks for data centers, LANs, HFC networks, fiber-to-the-home PONs, and more.
- Constructed an HFC system model to encompass all CATV network builds and predict sales volumes for all system components.
- Performed statistical analyses of product capabilities.
- Head Counselor, Camp McDowell, Nauvoo, AL, Summer 1999
- Supervised a staff of 30 camp counselors; had responsibility for planning and implementing day-to-day camp activities.
Community Involvement, Honors, and Background
- Serving on the vestry of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, January 2007-present.
- Serving on the council of the Episcopal-Anglican Campus Ministry at the University of Maryland, May 2007-present.
- Co-chair of the Environment Committee at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, April 2007-present.
- Other interests: nonlinear dynamics, chaos, self-organization, and pattern formation; network theory and disease modeling; physics education; nonlinear optics, telecommunication, distortion effects on fiber, and solitons; cycling, hiking, and backpacking; graphic design and publishing; genealogy
- Undergraduate scholarships at Virginia Tech: National Merit, Seay, Litton Industries, Alumni Honors, Faculty Honor, Marshall-Hahn, Babcock & Wilcox (McDermott)
- Named to Dean's List at Virginia Tech for seven of eight semesters enrolled.
- Produced an independent magazine, entitled Speak, as a study of oral history and everyday life in western North Carolina.
- Production Manager of Silhouette, Virginia Tech's literary and art magazine, Fall 1998-Spring 2000.
- Earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
This page, available at http://complex.umd.edu/~dhk, last updated 16 September 2008.