Bio

Peter DiamessisPeter Diamessis joined the CEE faculty in January 2006. He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece in 1995. As a student at NTUA, he was an active member of the environmentalist student group. He worked for a year as a research assistant at the Computational Fluid Dynamics laboratory at NTUA focusing on the development of a multifractal cascade model for fluid turbulence. From 1996 to 2001, he pursued graduate studies at the Mechanical and Aerospace Department (formerly Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences Dept.) of the University of California, San Diego.

Following extensive coursework in fluid dynamics and physical oceanography, his PhD thesis concentrated on using direct numerical simulations of stratified homogeneous turbulence to better understand ocean microstructure measurements. Following completion of his PhD studies, Diamessis became a postdoctoral researcher in the fluid dynamics group at the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California. His work there focused on the development and implementation of numerically stable spectral multidomain techniques and the numerical investigation of stably stratified turbulent wakes and 2-D instabilities under internal solitary waves.

From a numerical standpoint, Diamessis recent and ongoing work involves the continued development of spectral multidomain schemes for more complex flow geometries and the application of element-based techniques to other disciplines such as structural mechanics and soil chemistry. The physically-focused component of his efforts consists of the study of high Reynolds number stratified wakes and the evolution of the radiated internal wave field and its interaction with the subsurface region, the investigation 3-D turbulence and resuspension under internal solitary waves, the study of nonlinear effects in internal waves propagating through variable environments and the application of stability analysis to environmental boundary layers.