Sanders receives 2003 CAREER award

Scott Sanders (24K JPG)

Assistant Professor Scott Sanders is a 2003 recipient of the National Science Foundation's prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) The awards are granted on the basis of creative career-development plans that effectively integrate research and education.

Sanders' project aims to develop laser-based sensors for monitoring gas and liquid properties with sub-millisecond time responses. The sensors will be applied to fundamental test beds, such as Bunsen flames, as well as practical systems like internal combustion engines. Sanders is affiliated with the Engine Research Center.

According to Sanders, the project will enhance the use of laser sensors as a diagnostic tool. Most existing sensors measure either continuous data (such as a time history of temperature at a certain point) or spatially resolved data (such as a single image of gas temperature).

Sanders says that this project will combine these two approaches, offering data that are both continuous and spatially resolved (such as a movie of gas temperature).

The project integrates research and education by incorporating active learning techniques and creative problem solving into the undergraduate thermal-fluid sequence. In addition, the project will be coupled with a graduate-level course in optical techniques and provide research opportunities for undergraduate students.