William W. Schultz Appointed to NSF Position
William W. Schultz
Professor William W. Schultz has been appointed director of the Fluid Dynamics and Hydraulics (FDH) program of the National Science Foundation. The program falls under the auspices of the division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) of the NSF's Directorate for Engineering.
The program Schultz will direct beginning fall 2006 supports fundamental research into the mechanisms governing fluid flow phenomena. As program director, Schultz will primarily oversee grant programs for university faculty in the United States. Research funded by the program includes four major areas of fluid flow phenomena: hydrodynamic stability, turbulence and flow control; rheology, polymers and complex fluids; micro-, nano- and bio-fluid dynamics; and waves, hydraulics and environmental fluid mechanics. He also expects to get involved in related activities in engineering education and serve as an international liaison.
Michael Plesniak, immediate past program director of FDH and a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, and John Foss, a professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan State University and Plesniak's predecessor, both recommended Schultz for the two-year position.
Schultz says he is most looking forward to "learning which research areas are hot, and since I'll be interacting with other federal funding agencies I'll know a lot more about the ins and outs of funding. I'm also looking forward to working with all sorts of other programs to fund joint projects."
At U-M, Schultz has several joint, ongoing research projects of his own. "I'll be coming back [to Ann Arbor] every few weeks to meet with the co-investigators and the students I'm advising, plus we'll have day-to-day email and phone contact, so all of my research will continue," he said.
Schultz is also enthusiastic about spending two years in the nation's capital. "I spent one summer in Washington, D.C., and that was 20 years ago with a young family. As empty nesters now, we're looking forward to experiencing the city in a different way. All of the previous directors and colleagues from the ME department who've lived there say it was a wonderful experience and an exciting place to be."
