Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/15/2020
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
Location
365C Weil Hall - ESSIE Conference Room
Categories
Spicer Bak is a Research Engineer with USACE ERDC. He graduated with a PhD from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2015 and began work for USACE shortly after that. He is based at the remote Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, North Carolina in the Coastal Observation and Analysis Branch (COAB) of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL). His research is primarily focused on nearshore hydrodynamic and morphologic models. Specifically, Dr. Bak utilized the FRF’s real-time data to establish a coastal model test bed, linking the 40 years history of nearshore data collection at the FRF with CHL’s numerical modeling expertise. As part of the U.S. Nearshore Coastal Research Program, Dr. Bak leads a team of researchers to implement USACE and community wave, circulation, and morphology models into the testbed framework he developed. The coastal model test bed is focused on evaluating and quantifying errors, uncertainty in community nearshore numerical models. Since models are continuously validated in near real-time with both traditional in situ gauges as well as novel remote sensing techniques, the development of the test-bed framework required Dr. Bak to become the FRF’s in-house expert on data management strategies. As a result he now serves as the technical lead on the CHL Data Integration Framework project and integral team member in the CHL model modernization program. Other research interests include subsurface robotics for surfzone application. Dr. Spicer Bak will describe the goals, activities and outcomes of the Coastal Model Test Bed project. Dr. Spicer will talk for about 30 minutes and additional 15 minutes will be reserved for questions and discussion.