When
Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.
Joseph Katz
Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Department of Aerospace Engineering
San Diego State University
"Aerodynamics in Motor Racing"
AME Lecture Hall, Room S202
Zoom link
Abstract: Motor racing, as any other popular form of competitive sports, requires physical fitness, concentration, and vigorous training, and a well-developed race car. Although, progress in technology may dominate the race, governing bodies are continuously updating the rulebooks to keep the human factor dominant in winning races. On the other hand, vehicle performance depends on elements such as the engine, tires, suspension, road, and aerodynamics. In recent years however, vehicle-aerodynamics gained increased attention, mainly due to the utilization of the negative lift (downforce) principle, yielding several significant performance improvements. The importance of drag reduction and improved fuel efficiency are easily understood by the novice observer and are still at the center of racing vehicle design. Interestingly, however, generating downforce by the vehicle usually increases its drag, but improves average speed in closed circuits. Consequently, various methods to generate downforce such as inverted wings, diffusers, and vortex generators, will be discussed. At first, though, generic trends connecting vehicle’s shape to its aerodynamics are presented, followed by more specific racecar examples. Due to the complex geometry of these vehicles, the aerodynamic interaction between the various body components is significant, resulting in vortex flows and wing shapes which may be different than those used on airplanes.
Bio: Joseph Katz is a professor of aerospace engineering at San Diego State University, where he served as department chair for 12 years. Throughout his career he was involved in numerous engineering projects disseminating aeronautical technology. His hands-on experience inspired him in initiating a variety of research topics, which he later published in several books he wrote. His rich and diverse academic and engineering background covers typical aerospace and automotive disciplines such as computational and experimental aerodynamics, UAV design, vehicle dynamics, racecar and automotive aerodynamics, and engine cooling. His fluid mechanics research interest includes unsteady aerodynamics and incompressible flow with strong emphasis on developing numerical techniques.