Sean Tavares will join the University of New Hampshire at Manchester this fall as an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Technology program.
Tavares brings more than 20 years of industry experience working in the areas of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, aerospace, propulsion, and energy applications.
His most recent position was as Principal Engineer with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX where he has worked since 2008. His areas of focus included performance testing of compressors and gas turbine engines; vibration and pulsation testing and troubleshooting of rotating machinery, piping, and structures; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); fluid dynamic design and analysis of turbomachinery (compressors, turbines, fans and pumps); root cause failure analysis; and engineering design audits.
Tavares’ prior higher education experience has included courses at the University of Texas San Antonio where he developed and taught engineering courses, including Experimental Techniques in Engineering. He was a visiting scientist in the in Computational Fluid Dynamics Research Section at the National Research Council, United States Air Force Wright Lab in Ohio. He was also a Research Assistant with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Cambridge, MA where he assisted in construction and testing of M.I.T. Monarch airplane, winner of the Third Kremer Prize for Human Powered Aircraft.
His earned his Ph.D. in Aerodynamics from the M.I.T where his thesis research focused on calculation and interpretation of the aerodynamic interaction between low-aspect ratio wings and their leading-edge vortex wakes at high angle-of-attack and in large amplitude maneuver. His these was titled “Aerodynamics of Maneuvering Slender Wings with Leading-Edge Separation.” He also holds an S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and an S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from M.I.T.
Tavares begins teaching at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester this fall and will teach Mechanical Engineering Technology Senior Project (ET751) and Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning -- HVAC (ET639).
