Biography
I've had the opportunity to work at NASA Langley after grad school and then the Boeing Aircraft Company for five years. I was involved in development and design aspects of two aircraft: the High Speed Civil Transport and the 767-400ER. Other activities include helping in the design of the America's Cup Team 2000, AmericaOne, and working with Fairchild Dornier Aircraft in Germany. In 2006, I had the opportunity to spend a year at the DLR in Braunschweig, Germany. I enjoy spending time with my family, playing hockey, building things and traveling.
Education
University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
University of Calgary
Research Interests
Dr. Visser's research interests are primarily applied experimental aerodynamics and also include such areas as aircraft design, sustainable energy, and experimental measurement techniques. More information can be found on his research web site. Below are several current project areas.
The aft end of ground vehicles is often a design compromise between functionality and aerodynamics. Traditional transport vehicles have a flat aft end which creates a large drag on the vehicle at highway speeds. The use of extendable flat plates mounted to the truck doors to reduce drag is being studied in the wind tunnel and on full scale vehicles.
Distributed power generation is a viable strategy to complement the present day grid system, especially for rural homes and farms. Concepts for especially for rural homes and farms. Concepts for multi-bladed rotors are being studied to increase the efficiency of small, homeowner sized turbines. Novel tidal energy extraction concepts are also being studied. These projects are part of the Wind Energy Research Group under the Clarkson Center for Sustainable Energy Systems.
Wing-tip rollup and formation is a complex process and the design of an appropriate wing-tip to maximize the overall advantage to an airplane design is not always that obvious. Research is focused on optimizing the possibilities of raked wing-tip concepts and investigating the nature of the shear layer that forms the leading-edge vortex structure in a delta wing flow field.
Awards
- 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
Grants
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
GE Fellowship – Scott Cary (PI)
General Electric
Amount: $90,000 January 2011 -August 2012
Fuel-Efficient Active Flow Control for Heavy-Duty Vehicles (PI)
ATDynamics sub from NYSERDA
Amount: $120,000 September 2009
Undergrad Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Study
Aerovironment
Amount: $15,000 June 2009
Advancement of Intelligent Aerospace Systems (Co-PI)
G. Ahmadi (PI) R. Jha P.Marzocca, J. McLaughlin, B.Helenbrook, E.Bollt, D. Bohl
AFOSR
$1,741,500 January 2009
Optiwind (PI)
Daniel Valentine, Brian Helenbrook, Pier Marzocca, Douglas Bohl
Future Energy Solutions, Inc.
$150,000 June 2008
Optiwind (Co-PI)
Daniel Valentine(PI), Brian Helenbrook, Pier Marzocca, Douglas Bohl
Future Energy Solutions, Inc.
$184,754 January 2008
Use of Plasma Actuators to Increase Wind Energy Extraction (PI)
Robert Nelson (Notre Dame)
California Energy Commission, ESIG
$98,453 February 2007
Development of a Blade Outer Air Seal Geometry Tool (Co-PI)
Kenneth Willmert (PI), Ratneshwar Jha, Brian Helenbrook, Pier Marzocca, John Moosbrugger
Pratt and Whitney
$120,000 September 2006
Novel Wind Turbine Designs for Commercial Rooftop and Rural Applications (PI)
Pragassen Pillay
Warner Energy, Syracuse, NY
$149,978 April 2006
NYSTAR Center for Environmental Quality System (NY-EQS)) (Co-PI)
Philip Hopke (PI), Thomas Holson, John McLaughlin, Goodarz Ahmadi
New York State
$1,640,000 ($246,000) October 2005
A Computational Wing Tip Optimization Study on Using Winglets and Raked Tips for Drag Reductions (PI)
NASA Langley Research Center
Applied: June, 2004
Amount: $20,894 September 2004
Trailer Drag Reduction:Phase 3: Full Scale Road Verification & Conceptual Studies (PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
Amount: $249,332 February, April 2004
NYSTAR Center for Environmental Quality System (NY-EQS)) (Co-PI)
Philip Hopke (PI), Thomas Holson, John McLaughlin, Goodarz Ahmadi,
New York State
$1,892,000 ($283,800) April 2003
Design and Development of a Prototype Multi-Bladed Wind Turbine (PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
$24,057, March, 2003
Trailers Drag Reduction II (PI)
New York State Energy and Research Development Association
$84,814, September 2002
Patents
Pending
Visser, K.D, “Aft Rotor Slotted Ducted Wind Turbine,” Provisional issued Nov 2015
Granted
Visser, K.D, “Drag Reduction of a Tractor Trailer Using Guide Vanes,” Patent Number 9,139,238, Issued September 22, 2015.
Visser, K.D., Grover, K. and Marin, L.E., “Sealed Aft Cavity Drag Reducer,” Patent Number 8,641,126, Issued February 4, 2014.
Visser, K.D., Grover, K. and Marin, L.E., “Sealed Aft Cavity Drag Reducer,” Patent Number 8079634, Issued 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, Issued July 18, 2000.
Publications
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
Helenbrook, B., Visser, K.D., and Wilson, S., “Ducted Wind Turbines: More Efficient Than Open Rotors?”, The 2nd International Conference on Future Technologies in Wind Energy (WindTech2015), October 19-21, 2015 - London, Ontario, Canada
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., 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
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.
B.S. Lazos and K.D. Visser, "Aerodynamic Comparison of Hyper-Elliptic Cambered Span (HECS) Wings with Conventional Configurations," AIAA-2006-3469, 25th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference, San Francisco, CA (June 2006).
M.C. Rector and K.D. Visser, "Solidity, Blade Number, and Pitch Angle Effects on a One Kilowatt HAWT," AIAA-2006-0608, 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV (January 2006).
M.A. Khan, P. Pillay and K.D. Visser, "On Adapting a Small PM Wind Generator for a Multiblade, 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. 1 (January-February 2005).
K.D. Visser, Ferrero Ferrero, M. del Carmen and R.C. Nelson, "Physical Considerations of Leading Edge Flows," AIAA 2004-5083, 22nd Applied Aerodynamics Conference, Providence, RI (August 2004).
J.D. Coon and K.D. Visser, "Drag Reduction of a Tractor-Trailer Using Planar Boat Tail Plates," The Aerodynamics of Heavy Vehicles: Trucks, Buses, and Trains, Lecture Notes in Applied and Computational Mechanics, Vol. 19, McCallen, Rose; Browand, Fred; Ross, James (Eds.), XII, 567 p.378, with CD-ROM., Hardcover, ISBN: 3-540-22088 (2004).
M.M. Duquette, J. Swanson and K.D. Visser, "Solidity and Blade Number Effects on Small Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines," Wind Engineering, Vol 27, No. 4, pp. 299-316 (2003).
M. Duquette and K.D. Visser, "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).