When
Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.
Marco Panesi
Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of California, Irvine
"From Empiricism to Physics‑Based Modeling: Overcoming Challenges in Hypersonic Flow Simulation"
AME Lecture Hall, Room S202 | Zoom link
Abstract: The simulation of the aerothermal environment surrounding vehicles moving at hypersonic speed is a complex problem due to its multi-physics and multi-scale nature. Progress in the ability to accurately model these systems has been hindered by the lack of reliable physical models for the thermochemical and transport processes that dominate the dynamics of the flow. The most physically consistent description of non-equilibrium flows relies on the direct numerical solution of the kinetic equations for each internal state of the gas particles. However, for problems of interest, the exponentially large number of degrees of freedom and the wide range of spatial and temporal scales involved, make these equations unsolvable. This talk outlines a new paradigm for constructing predictive modeling and simulation tools from a fundamental physics perspective, rejecting the empiricism that has prevented progress in modeling hypersonic flows for decades.
I will delve into the critical aspects of model development, including: (1) the use of direct numerical simulation to understand the fundamental physics; (2) the derivation of a reduced-order set of equations that provide an accurate and physically consistent description of the physics, while significantly reducing computational cost; (3) validation and uncertainty quantification.
Bio: Marco Panesi is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on hypersonic aerothermodynamics, nonequilibrium plasma physics and high-fidelity computational modeling of atmospheric entry flows. Prior to joining UCI, he was a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he founded and directed the Center for Hypersonics and Entry Systems Studies (CHESS).
Panesi has received numerous awards, including the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, the Young Investigator Program award from AFOSR and the Early Career Faculty award from NASA. In 2015, he received the Award on Physical Modelling at the Symposium on Aerothermodynamics for Space Vehicles (ESA) for his contributions to the fundamentals of aerothermodynamics.