John Oluseun Dabiri is a Nigerian-American aeronautics engineer and the Centennial Chair Professor at the California Institute of Technology, with appointments in the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories and Mechanical Engineering.
19 Facts About John Dabiri
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John Dabiri's research focuses on unsteady fluid mechanics and flow physics, with particular emphasis on topics relevant to biology, energy, and the environment.
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John Dabiri is best known for his research of the hydrodynamics of jellyfish propulsion and the design of a vertical-axis wind farm adapted from schooling fish.
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John Dabiri is the director of the Biological Propulsion Laboratory, which examines fluid transport with applications in aquatic locomotion, fluid dynamic energy conversion, and cardiac flows, as well as applying theoretical methods in fluid dynamics and concepts of optimal vortex formation.
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In 2010, Dabiri was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his theoretical engineering work.
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John Dabiri established the Caltech Field Laboratory for Optimized Wind Energy in 2011, a wind farm which investigates the energy exchange in an array of vertical-axis wind turbines.
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John Dabiri's honors include a Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and being named as one of Popular Science magazine's "Brilliant 10" scientists in 2008.
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John Dabiri's parents are Nigerian immigrants, who settled in Toledo, Ohio, in 1975.
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John Dabiri's father was a mechanical engineer who taught math at a community college.
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John Dabiri was primarily interested in rockets and jets, and spent two summers doing research that included work on helicopter design.
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John Dabiri was a finalist for both the Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship.
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John Dabiri has been awarded NSF research grants eight times in five different fields.
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John Dabiri partnered with Windspire Energy for use of three of 24 turbines that stand approximately 30 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
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John Dabiri started a company, Scalable Wind Solutions, to commercialize the software used to optimally place the wind turbines.
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John Dabiri was offered a tenured position at Caltech at the age of 29.
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John Dabiri was named Professor of the Month at Caltech in February 2012.
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John Dabiri served as Chair of the Faculty Board and as Dean of Students during his 10 years in the Caltech Faculty.
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John Dabiri is interested in motivating kids considering STEM fields.
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John Dabiri is involved in his church's mentoring program, The Faith Foundation.