University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
University of Calgary
Ken has had the opportunity to work at both NASA Langley in Virginia and the Boeing Aircraft Company after his graduate work, before joining Clarkson in 1998. He was involved in development and design aspects of the High Speed Civil Transport and the 767-400ER, the latter resulting in a novel wingtip patent flown on Boeing aircraft today. Other fun activities included helping in the design of the America's Cup Team 2000, AmericaOne, and working with Fairchild Dornier Aircraft in Germany. In 2006, Ken spent a year at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) in Braunschweig, Germany.
In addition to currently teaching the Aero Seniors aircraft design at Clarkson, he is the AIAA student faculty advisor and the student-driven Design, Build, and Fly advisor which won the entire international competition in 2018. For some edge of the seat excitement, watch the winning flight here.
Ken is also the Director of the Center for Sustainable Energy Systems at Clarkson University.
Ken’s research interests focus primarily on applied aerodynamics, including areas such as wind turbine design, drag reduction on ground vehicles, and aircraft wing design methodology. His current focus is on developing ducted wind turbine technology, a prototype of which has been built on the Clarkson campus. More information can be found on his research web site.
- Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Teaching Award, April 2010
- Clarkson University Phalanx Commendable Leadership Award, April 2010
- Clarkson University Phalanx Induction, April 2010
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Educator Award, 2009
- Kristin Craig Memorial Faculty Recognition Award, 2004
- Society for Automotive Engineers, Ralph Teeter Educational Aerospace Teaching Award, 2002
- Boeing 2001 Outstanding Educator Award, October 2001
- Clarkson University Phalanx Commendable Service Award, April 2000
Recent
Development of a Slotted Shrouded Wind Turbine (PI)
NEXUS-NY – Phase 2
Amount: 43,500 May 2016
Development of a Slotted Shrouded Wind Turbine (PI)
NEXUS-NY – Phase 1
Amount: $10,000 January 2016
Research on Novel Cooling System for Permanent Magnet Motor/Generator for LC Drives (Co-PI)
B.Helenbrook, (Co-PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
Amount: $2,907 March 2015
Novel Cooling System (Co-PI)
B.Helenbrook, (Co-PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
Amount: $19,344 September 2013
Novel Cooling Magnet Motor (Co-PI)
B.Helenbrook, (Co-PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
Amount: $44,613 September 2013
Industrial Assessment Satellite Center (PI)
DOE
Amount: $125,000 June 2012 – June 2017
Industrial Assessment Center (PI)
DOE Satellite at Clarkson University
Amount: $125,000 September 2016 – August 2021
Woodcrest Digester (Co-PI)
Stefan Grimberg (PI), Shane Rogers National Grid
Amount: $413,744 November 2016
Development of a Slotted Shrouded Wind Turbine (PI)
NEXUS-NY – Phase 1 and 2
Amount: $10,000 January 2016 Amount: 43,500 May 2016
Novel Cooling System (Co-PI)
B.Helenbrook, (Co-PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
Amount: $19,344 September 2013
Novel Cooling Magnet Motor (Co-PI)
B.Helenbrook, (Co-PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
Amount: $44,613 September 2013
Visser, K.D, “Aft Rotor Slotted Ducted Wind Turbine,” Patent Number 10,563,635, Issued February 18, 2020
Visser, K.D, “Drag Reduction of a Tractor Trailer Using Guide Vanes” Patent Number: 9,139,238, September 22, 2015.
Visser, K.D., Grover, K. and Marin, L.E., “Sealed Aft Cavity Drag Reducer” Patent Number: 8,641,126, February 4, 2014.
Visser, K.D., Grover, K. and Marin, L.E., “Sealed Aft Cavity Drag Reducer” Patent Number: 8079634, December 20, 2011.
Herrick, L.L., Bays-Muchmore, B., Hoffman, M.S., LeGrand, L., Ogg, S.S., Paul, B.P. Jr., Visser, K.D., and Wells, S.L. "Blunt Leading-Edge Raked WingTips" Patent Number: 6089502, July 18, 2000.
Recent
Valyou, D.N. and Visser, K.D.: “Design considerations for a small ducted wind turbine”, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1452 (2020) 012019, doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1452/1/012019
Bagheri-Sadeghi, N., B.T. Helenbrook, and Visser, K.D., “Turbulent Channel Flow with a Modified k-w Turbulence Model for Higher Order Finite Element Methods”, Proceedings of the ASME-JSME-KSME 2019 Joint Fluids Engineering Conference, AJKFLUIDS2019, July 28 – Aug 1, 2019, San Francisco, CA
Kanya, B. and Visser, K. D.: Experimental Validation of a Ducted Wind Turbine Design Strategy, Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 919-928, Dec 2018 https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-919-2018
Bagheri-Sadeghi, N., Helenbrook, B. T., and Visser, K. D.: Ducted wind turbine optimization and sensitivity to rotor position, Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 221-229, April 2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-221-2018
Venters R, Helenbrook BT, Visser KD. Ducted Wind Turbine Optimization. ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. 2017;140(1):011005-011005-8. doi:10.1115/1.4037741. Feb 2018
Marvin, R.H., Broomfield, D.J., B.T. Helenbrook, and Visser, K.D.,“ Optimum Design of a Lightweight 10MW Propulsion Motor”, August, 2017.
Marvin, R.H., B.T. Helenbrook, and Visser, K.D.,“ Predicting motor and generator maximum torque as a function of mass”, Electric Machines and Drives Conference (IEMDC), 2017 IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference (IEMDC), 2017 IEEE International, Miami, FL, , May 21-24, 2017.
Kehs, J., Visser, K., Grossmann, J., Horrell, C., and Smith, A., “Experimental and Full Scale Investigation of Base Cavity Drag Reduction Devices for Use on Ground Transport Vehicles” The Aerodynamics of Heavy Vehicles III: Trucks, Buses, and Trains, Lecture Notes in Applied and Computational Mechanics , Vol. 79, Dillmann, Andreas; Orellano, Alexander; (Eds.), 2016, Hardcover, ISBN: 978-3-319-20121-4
Venters, R., Helenbrook, B., and Visser, K.D., “Ducted Wind Turbine Optimization,” AIAA 2016-3729, AIAA Aviation, 13-17 June 2016, Washington, D.C., 34th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference
Lee, M. and Visser, K.D., “Towards an Effective Nonplanar Wing Design Strategy,” AIAA 2016-4328, AIAA Aviation, 13-17 June 2016, Washington, D.C., 34th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference
Salisbury, A. and Visser, K., “Potential Inaccuracies in Energy Estimates from Standard Wind Turbine Power Curves”, The 2nd International Conference on Future Technologies in Wind Energy (WindTech2015), October 19-21, 2015 - London, Ontario, Canada
Kehs, J., Visser, K., Grossman, J., Niemiec, J. et al., "A Comparison of Full Scale Aft Cavity Drag Reduction Concepts With Equivalent Wind Tunnel Test Results," SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. 6(2):2013, doi:10.4271/2013-01-2429.
Streit, T, Visser, K., and Liersch, C.,“Minimal Induced Drag for Non-Planar Lifting Surfaces with Moderate and Small Aspect Ratio” New Results in Numerical and Experimental Fluid Mechanics VII (NNFM) Vol 112, Springer 2010.
Grover, K. and Visser, K.D., “Over-the-Road Tests of Sealed Aft Cavities on Tractor Trailers,” SAE 2006 Transactions Journal of Commercial Vehicles, No. 2006-01-3529, pp.170, March 2007.
Khan, M.A., Pillay, P., and Visser, K.D., ” On Adapting a Small PM Wind Generator for a Multi-Blade, High Solidity Wind Turbine,” IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 20, No. 3, September 2005.
Bennington, M.A. and Visser, K.D., ”Aerial Refueling Implications for Commercial Transports,” AIAA Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 42, No. 2, March–April 2005
Duquette, M.M, Swanson, J. and Visser, K.D., “Solidity and blade number effects on a fixed pitch, 50W horizontal axis wind turbine,” Wind Engineering, Vol 27, No. 4, pp. 299-316, 2003.
Duquette, M. and Visser, K.D., “Numerical Implications of Solidity and Blade Number on Rotor Performance of Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines,” Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 125, No. 4, pp. 425-432, November 2003.