Miles Chan

I am a PhD candidate in Aerospace Engineering at Caltech (expected graduation in 2024). I study reduced-order modeling of turbulent flows with my advisor, Dr. Beverley McKeon. I am currently based in Menlo Park, as my group has mostly moved over to Stanford.

I grew up in San Jose, CA, so finishing my PhD at Stanford has brought me home. Here, I developed my interest in engineering, which motivated my pursuit of a BS in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech and my MS/PhD work at Caltech. I also began pursuing music and running here, which remain my central hobbies.

>> My research is in constructing low-order representations of near-wall turbulent flows which capture key aspects of the flow physics while minimizing computational expense, and leveraging those results in the context of wall-modeling for large eddy simulations and low-order predictions for engineering quantities such as drag over surface roughness.

🔬 research highlights

Turbulent fluid flow is a complex system, and it is challenging to simulate and work with the resulting highly-resolved data. Nonetheless, I have found some cool trends useful for modeling and approaches for creating useful simplified representations of near-wall turbulence.

Interrogating the near wall flow over surface roughness

Miles Chan, Zvi Hantsis, Ugo Piomelli, Beverley McKeon

Abstract: With a reduced number of degrees of freedom, I replicate the spatio-temporally averaged statistics and spatial features of the temporally-averaged velocity fluctuations over a sand grain roughness in DNS of a channel flow. ... See More

Coarse representation of near-wall turbulent eddies

Miles Chan, Zvi Hantsis, Ugo Piomelli, Beverley McKeon

Abstract: Developing a self-consistent coarse representation of the near-wall turbulent eddies in a smooth channel flow. ... See More

🎻 music

Playing the violin, especially in chamber ensembles, has been a great source of joy for me since I was 5. During my time at Stanford, I am continuing to take lessons, improve my technique, and think more deeply about interpretation.

Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with Caltech Orchestra (2023)

Schumann Piano Quartet (2023)

Schubert Death and the Maiden (2023)

🏃 sports

I enjoy both the training and social aspects of running and cycling. Currently, I am focused on developing faster 5k speed and preparing for my third marathon.

17:32 in the Santa Run 5k (2023)

4:51:02 at Santa Cruz 70.3 (2022)

2:57:33 at Los Angeles Marathon (2022)

1:24:02 at Rose Bowl Half (2022)

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