OXFORD,
Miss. – Jack Seiner readily admits that few scientists like himself
would ever dream that acoustics, an interdisciplinary science dealing
with sound and its transmission, could have the potential to help solve
the country’s energy concerns.
“Neither the average person nor
even a top-notch scientist who works with fuel cells would think that
acoustics could help, but it has already been demonstrated that the
application of acoustic stimulation in a fuel cell can increase its
efficiency,” said Seiner, a former National Aeronautics and Space
Administration scientist.
Tapped in March to direct the Jamie L.
Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics at the University of
Mississippi, Seiner says one of his loftiest goals is get more
Mississippi students to consider going into science and engineering,
and to recruit more students to help develop alternative energy sources.
By
2050, the world’s population is projected to be cut in half as a direct
result of climate change, and it’s up to today’s students to help
combat global warming, he said.
“It’s going to take the
dedication of a lot of young people to try to find and develop methods
to deal with climate change. I would like the students of Mississippi
to step up and be part of the solution.”
Having served as NCPA’s associate director of applied research since 1998, Seiner succeeds the late Henry E. “Hank” Bass, who helped found the center and served as its director from 1992 until his death in May 2008. Seiner also holds a joint appointment as professor of mechanical engineering in UM’s School of Engineering, where he spearheaded development of the graduate program in aeroacoustics.
“You must have the ability to dream to be a successful scientist,” he said. “And then, of course, you have to have strong motivation and a strong dedication to work hard, very hard.”
The university is fortunate to have someone with Seiner’s capabilities, experience and vision leading NCPA, said Alice Clark, UM vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs.
“He understands and values basic, applied and translational research, and knows the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to solving problems,” Clark said. “I know that we will see NCPA continue to flourish under his visionary leadership.”
Seiner said his team of researchers is “very, very good” in their fields, and he believes they can develop new, cleaner energy technologies. Avenues that Seiner wants to explore include increasing fuel cell efficiency, reducing the noise generated by wind turbines, enhancing high-temperature flexible ceramics for engine technology and exploring carbon nanotubes for hydrogen storage.
“Here at the NCPA, we want to contribute to things that are important to this country – to things that it needs,” he said.
For the U.S. military, NCPA scientists have conducted research to better detect submarines and approaching tanks, muffle sonic booms of supersonic planes and missiles, and prevent injured soldiers from bleeding to death on battlefields, in addition to completing the International Monitoring System, a network of 60 infrasound stations scattered around the world that use certain low-frequency sounds to pinpoint nuclear blasts up to thousands of miles away.
They also pioneered development of multipoint laser doppler velocimetry systems, which are used to detect land mines and code sonic boom predictions. NCPA’s LDV system consists of 256 channels, whereas NASA’s system has a mere 16 channels. Seiner intends to maintain his center’s dominance in LDV systems.
“The LDV system is a real breakthrough, and we have the best in the world, right here at NCPA,” he said.
Before joining the NCPA, Seiner had a distinguished 25-year career with NASA and led the jet noise team of the aeroacoustics branch at the Langley Research Center. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University and both master’s and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
While at NCPA, he has led the center’s aeroacoustic research efforts and was instrumental in bringing to campus a Mach 5 trisonic wind tunnel, one of only a few such facilities in the United States.
“Our investment in this wind tunnel has turned out very well, especially with the interest it has generated from the U.S. Army and NASA in Huntsville in regard to rocket research,” he said.
NCPA was established at UM in 1989. With an annual budget of more than $18 million, the center functions as a national research facility, an academic enterprise and an acoustics knowledge base.
For more information about NCPA, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/ncpa/ .