The Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering presents its fall 2025 seminar series featuring guest speaker Myoungkyu Lee, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Houston, who will present “Inverse Energy Transfer in Wall-Bounded Turbulence: Insights from Direct Numerical Simulations.” This event is open to the public and will take place on Wednesday, October 8, from 12:45–1:45 p.m in room 104 of the Stuart Building.

Abstract

Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) provides detailed insights into turbulence but is computationally prohibitive for many applications. As an alternative, Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) with subgrid-scale (SGS) models offers a more feasible approach, though accurately modeling energy transfer from small to large scales remains challenging. Inverse energy cascades, where energy flows from smaller to larger scales, frequently occur in flows with strong anisotropy. For example, in turbulent channel flows, significant inverse energy transfer is observed in the near-wall region, yet the mechanisms driving this phenomenon remain poorly understood. In this talk, we will explore inverse energy transfer by focusing on DNS studies of turbulent channel flows across various Reynolds numbers. Our investigation aims to illuminate the complex interactions between different scales in wall-bounded turbulence and advance the development of more accurate SGS models for LES.

Biography

Myoungkyu Lee is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Houston, previously serving in the same role at the University of Alabama. He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015 and completed a postdoctoral position at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES). In 2018 he joined the Combustion Research Facility at Sandia National Laboratories, focusing on combustion processes with strong thermal nonequilibrium. In 2023 Lee received a Department of Energy INCITE grant, enhancing his large-scale computational research efforts. He was also honored as an Early Career Presenter Fellow by the United States National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in 2021 and was a Best Student Paper Finalist at SuperComputing 2013. His research interests include high-performance computing, flows with thermal and chemical nonequilibrium, and direct numerical simulations of wall-bounded turbulent and reactive flows.