Shyam Menon

Dr. Shyam Menon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at Louisiana State University's College of Engineering. He received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2010, following an MS from the same institution and a BE in Mechanical Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai, India. After completing his PhD, he conducted post-doctoral research at Caltech, USC, and Oregon State University before joining LSU in 2016.

Dr. Menon leads the Energy and Propulsion Laboratory (EPL) at LSU, where his research focuses on multiphase flow with applications to power generation and propulsion. His work spans experimental and computational approaches to study combustion, reacting flows, droplet and spray dynamics, supersonic flow phenomena, and particle-laden flows in various engine systems.

His research has been funded by numerous federal and state agencies including DOE, AFRL, AFOSR, ONR, NSF, and LaSPACE. Dr. Menon has published over 50 journal and conference papers and is an active member of AIAA and the Combustion Institute. He has received prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER award in 2022 and the Worley Professor of Excellence award in 2023.

Dr. Menon's research encompasses several key areas including multiphase flows, compressible high-speed flows, combustion, propulsion and power generation, low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels, laser diagnostics, emissions, and reacting flow simulations. His work has significant applications in gas turbine, internal combustion, and rocket engines.

His laboratory, the Energy and Propulsion Laboratory, conducts research on:

• Understanding dynamics and evaporation of fuel droplets in supercritical environments
• Understanding and Control of Particle-Laden Flows Impacting Material Surfaces
• Combustion-relevant functional relationship development for Sustainable Aviation Fuels
• Molten particle deposition on turbine blades
• Shock Wave Induced Aerobreakup of Pure Fluid and Nanofluid Droplets
• Ammonia Swirl Combustion
• TDLAS Temperature Measurements with Application to Hybrid Rocket Combustors
• Multiphase Simulations of Paraffin Wax Combustion for Hybrid Rockets

Dr. Menon has advised several graduate students to completion, including PhD candidates Wanjun Dang and Varun Viswamithra, and MS students Hansen Jones, Darren Dehesa Jr, and Connor Becnel. He has also served as a minor advisor for Mohana Gurunadhan's PhD research.

His scientific contributions have been recognized with the following awards:

• NSF CAREER award (2022)
• Worley Professor of Excellence award (2023)

Dr. Menon actively collaborates with NASA Glenn Research Center, Air Force Research Laboratory, and DOE National Laboratories including NREL and Argonne. His research has practical applications in improving the design, operation, efficiency, and emissions of combustion-based devices including various engine types and industrial burners.