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John O. Dabiri | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dabiri in 2021 | |
| Born | 1980 (age 45–46) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (B.S.E.) California Institute of Technology (M.S.) (Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Vortex formation Reverse engineering ofjellyfish Applications towind turbines |
| Awards | PECASE (2008) MacArthur Fellow (2010) Alan T. Waterman Award (2020) National Medal of Science (2025) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Aeronautics Bioengineering Mechanical engineering |
| Institutions | California Institute of Technology Stanford University |
| Doctoral advisor | Morteza Gharib |
John Oluseun Dabirilistenⓘ is an American Engineer and Professor at theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he holds appointments inaerospace engineering andmechanical engineering.[1][2] His research focuses onfluid mechanics andfluid dynamics, including applications inbiological systems,renewable energy, andenvironmental flows.[3][4]
Dabiri studies biologicalfluid dynamics, including investigations ofjellyfishpropulsion.[5] He has also developed and studiedvertical-axis wind turbine systems inspired by observations of schooling fish.[6][7]
Born in 1980, Dabiri was raised inToledo, Ohio, by Nigerian immigrant parents.[8][9] During his childhood, Dabiri was exposed to engineering concepts through his father's technical work.[6] He attended aBaptist high school where he received hishigh school diploma.[10]
Dabiri graduated fromPrinceton University in 2001 with aB.S.E. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering.[8] He then went toCaltech for graduate studies, graduating with aMaster of Science degree in Aeronautics in 2003, aPh.D. inBioengineering, and a minor in Aeronautics in 2005.[8][11]
From 2005 to 2009, Dabiri worked as an assistant professor at Caltech inaeronautics andbiological engineering.[4] He was promoted to full professor in 2010.[4] From 2013 to 2014, he served as chair of the Faculty Board. During the following school year, he was the Dean of Undergraduates.[12] In 2015, Dabiri became a professor in civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering atStanford University.[13] He was a senior fellow in Stanford'sCenter for Turbulence Research and founding director of the Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions initiative.[12] In 2019, he returned to Caltech as the Centennial Chair Professor in aeronautics and mechanical engineering.[12] Dabiri served on thePresident’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) from 2021 to January 2025.[14]
Dabiri serves on the Board of Directors ofNVIDIA Corporation,[15] the Board of Trustees of theGordon and Betty Moore Foundation,[16] and the United States Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB),[17] and as an advisor toX atAlphabet Inc. (formerly Google X).[18] Additionally, he was the chair of theAmerican Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics, and a member of the National Academies' Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. He served on the editorial boards of theJournal of Fluid Mechanics in 2016 and theJournal of the Royal Society Interface in 2014-2023.[12] He was Co-Chairman of the U.S. National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNC/TAM) in 2015-2018,[12] and was a plenary lecturer at the 2022 USNC/TAM congress.[19]
During his first tenure at Caltech, Dabiri was the director of the Biological Propulsion Laboratory.[20] The lab conducted research on fluid transport applications inaquatic locomotion, fluid dynamic energy conversion,blood flow, and theoretical methods in fluid dynamics andvortex formation. He established the Caltech Field Laboratory for Optimized Wind Energy (FLOWE) in 2011, a wind farm that investigates energy exchange in an array ofvertical-axis wind turbines.[21] To further develop digitalparticle image velocimetry measurements of propulsion in aquatic animals, Dabiri and his student K. Katija designed and patented a device to measure the kinetic energy induced by swimming.[2][22]
Noting constructive interference in the hydrodynamic wakes ofschooling fish, his research suggested that extracting energy from flow vortices could aid more than locomotion.[23] The design of an array of vertical-axis turbines was reported to increase power output per unit land area by more than an order of magnitude compared with horizontal-axis wind farms.[24] Dabiri partnered with Windspire Energy for the use of three of the twenty-four turbines that stand approximately 30 feet tall and 4 feet wide.[25] He founded Scalable Wind Solutions, a company focused on software for wind-turbine array placement optimization.[26] Further research on wind farm design has been led by alumni of his lab working in both academia and industry. Dabiri's research on jellyfish swimming informedU.S. Navy-funded work on biologically inspired underwater propulsion, including the development of an underwater craft that propels itself with up to 30% less energy than conventionally-propelled crafts.[26][27]
After returning to Caltech, Dabiri’s research has focused on the hydrodynamics of electromechanically modified jellyfish, which has been proposed as a mode for oceanographic sensing and exploration.[28][29] Dabiri and colleagues have reported experiments in which low-power microelectronics were embedded in live jellyfish to modify propulsion and swimming behavior.[30] An additional area of research in Dabiri’s lab focuses on the physics of turbulence transition. His recent work is exploring the role of the fluid-solid interface in theoretical predictions of turbulence transition.[31]
Dabiri was named Professor of the Month at Caltech in February 2012.[32] He has taught classes including a graduate class onpropulsion, abiomechanics course, a lab class on experimental methods inaeronautics andapplied physics, and the introductionto fluid mechanics course.[32][33]
In anNPR interview, Dabiri discussed the role of early education and mentorship inSTEM fields:
"Having two parents who encouraged me and, in some cases, forced me to study and to really take academics seriously was very important at an early stage. And then going through school, the role of my teachers was always so important. I remember my fourth-grade teacher ... [she] made me believe that I was smart and so I took that and sort of owned that and tried to live up to the expectations that she had placed on me, even as a fourth grader. And so we really want to grab hold of the imagination of the first graders and the second graders at a very early stage, and get them wondering about becoming scientists, as focused as they are about becoming a firefighter or the next rap star."[7]
Dabiri's early honors include a Young Investigator Award from theOffice of Naval Research, aPresidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers,[20] and being named as one ofPopular Science magazine's "Brilliant 10" scientists in 2008.[34]
In 2010 Dabiri was awarded aMacArthur Fellowship for his theoretical engineering work.[35] That same year, he gave the Convocation Address at Caltech.[36]
Bloomberg Businessweek magazine listed him among its 2012 Technology Innovators.[26]
Dabiri was awarded the 2020Alan T. Waterman Award fromNSF.[37] In 2023, he was awarded theG. Evelyn Hutchinson Award for aquatic sciences.[38]
He is a Fellow of theAmerican Physical Society and theAmerican Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.[13]
Dabiri was awarded theNational Medal of Science, “for outstanding achievements in aeronautical and biological engineering,” in 2024; the medal was presented at a White House ceremony on January 3, 2025.[39][40]
In 2021, Dabiri served as a scientific consultant forJordan Peele's science fiction filmNope.[41] His role included advising on the design of the alien featured in the film, taking inspiration from the biology of marine invertebrates such as jellyfish and squid. The goal of the collaboration was to create an aerial predator with the ability to hide in the clouds (hence the scientific name of the fictional race:Occulonimbus edoequus), generate electric fields, and use electric propulsion.[42][43][44]
Gordy may have been a friendlychimp[anzee], but he was still an animal, who shouldn't have been on a soundstage with chaotic elements that could scare him. He got startled and reacted as his instincts told him to act. The murder of Jupe's family confirms to OJ that thisflying saucer isn't a ship, but a predatorycryptid, one-winged-angel-style creature that acts when its dominance is tested when people look straight at it.
Over the course of the film, the UAP ["unidentified aerial phenomenon"] assumes several terrifying forms, which make it roughly something of a cross between ashark, aflying saucer, amanta ray, a flat humongous man-eatingeyeball, and a"biblically accurate" angel, [with] Jean Jacket's appearance and design most closely resembl[ing] those ofSahaquiel, the 10th Angel, which appears in the 12th episode of the original 1995 anime,"A Miracle's Worth," and the second film in theRebuild of Evangelion tetralogy,Evangelion[:] 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, [with] Jordan Peele [ mak[ing] his fandom of the series clear onTwitter in the days leading up to the film's release.
(the design of this apparent saucer is, initially, shocking in its simplicity, but by the end, you may as well call it "Biblically accurate").
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