Chin H. Wu Assistant Professor Address/E-mail Program Affiliations Courses Education Fields of Interest Awards & Honors Summary Files and Links >>> Extended Homepage <<<

Contact Information

1269D Engineering Hall 1415 Engineering Drive Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608/263-3078 Fax: 608/262-5199 E-mail: chinwu@engr.wisc.edu

Program Affiliations

• Civil and Environmental Engineering

• Geological Engineering Program
• Limnology and Marine Science

Courses

• CEE 310: Fluid Mechanics
• CEE 514: Coastal Engineering
• CEE 618: Special Topics in Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics
• CEE 811: Theory of Water Waves
• CEE 919: Seminar-Hydraulic Engineering and Fluid Mechanics

Education

• BS, National Taiwan University
• MS, National Taiwan University
• PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fields of Interest

• environmental fluid mechanics
• air-sea interactions, surface wave dynamics
• coastal processes, sediment transport
• groundwater and surface water interactions
• experimental fluid mechanics: PIV, LIF, and optical and acoustic methods
• environmental aerial photography and monitoring

Selected Awards, Honors and Societies

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• American Geophysical Union
• American Physical Society
• Arthur T. Ippen Fellowship, M.I.T
• Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society
• Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society
• Polygon Outstanding Instructor Award - UW-Madison College of Engineering
• ASCE Student Chapter CEE Outstanding Professor

Summary

We are developing a fundamental understanding of the physical processes in air-sea interactions. Specifically, I am interested in directional breaking waves and breaking under wave-current interaction. To quantify these processes a combination of experimental, theoretical, and numerical approaches are used. Work is underway to study the kinematic and dynamic effects of wave-current interactions on breaking in the laboratory and field. Our ultimate goal is to develop a temporal form of physics-based parameterizations of momentum, heat, and humidity fluxes across wave boundary layer processes for the coupled atmospheric-ocean models.

Contaminated sediments in riverines or estuaries can cause serious water quality problems. A fundamental understanding of hydrodynamic, sediment, and chemical processes is critical. To quantify the fate and transport of the contaminated sediments under current/wave dominated flows, we are developing an innovative in-situ instrument package to measure waves, current and sediment profiles, sediment resuspension rates, depositions, and particle size distributions. In addition, a well-controlled automatic image sediment erosion test flume system is develope to further quantify bottom sediment characteristics. Our ultimate goal is to develop a scientifically sound approach to predict the fate and transport of these contaminated sediments.

Wetlands have widely recognized functions of water quality improvement. We are particular interested in studying the effects of vegetation characteristics (density, distribution, submerged and emergent vegetation) on surface water and sediment processes. Our goal is to better understand the roles of wetlands and to provide the best management practices using a developing wetland model.

Files and Links of Interest

• Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory