Wade Schoppa has been selected to receive the 2002 Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics from the American Physical Society (APS). The award honors Schoppa's doctoral research with the UH Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he focused on the mechanisms of fluid turbulence in flow over solid surfaces and the development of new drag reduction strategies applicable to aircraft, ships and pipelines.
According to APS, the award recognizes "exceptional young scientists who have performed original doctoral thesis work of outstanding scientific quality and achievement in the area of fluid dynamics." Schoppa credits the Cullen College of Engineering with helping him earn this accolade.
"It's always an honor to receive such a national award," said Schoppa, "and the UH engineering graduate program deserves such recognition for its commitment to high-quality expectations of graduate student research."
Schoppa also thanked the tenacious pursuit of excellence of mechanical engineering professor Fazle Hussain, whom Schoppa previously worked with in the Institute of Fluid Dynamics and Turbulence, located in the Cullen College of Engineering.
"This is an exceptional honor, well-earned by Wade," Hussain says of his former student's award. "He's an exceptionally talented person and he deserves it. He conceived the ideas almost entirely on his own and he did all the detailed work himself. I'm very happy for Wade for this extraordinary recognition, vied for by the topmost research universities. This is yet another example of the top-quality research at UH."
Schoppa currently works as a senior research engineer for Shell, working as the Technical Team Leader of his group of scientists.