Daniel MacDonald, PhD
Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Professor
SMAST / Estuarine & Ocean Sciences
Contact
508-910-6334
dmacdonald@umassd.edu
Violette Research 107B
Contact
508-910-6334
dmacdonald@umassd.edu
School for Marine Science & Technology East, New Bedford 233
Education
| 2003 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Joint Program | Ph.D. in Oceanographic Engineering |
| 1996 | Cornell University | M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| 1992 | Univeristy of New Hampshire | B.S.C.E. |
Teaching
- Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Pollutant Transport in the Environment
- Turbulence
- Wave Mechanics
- Stratified Flows and Estuarine Dynamics
Teaching
Programs
- Civil & Environmental Engineering MS
- Civil Engineering BS, BS/MS
- Engineering and Applied Science PhD
- Environmental Resources Engineering Concentration
- Intercampus Marine Science Programs MS, PhD
- Marine Science and Technology MS
- Marine Science and Technology PhD
- Marine Science and Technology PSM
- University of São Paulo Dual PhD PhD
Teaching
Courses
General topics of interest and relevance to civil & environmental engineering applications. Topics may include subject matter related to transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, structures design, water resources, fluid mechanics, and/or environmental science and engineering. Laboratory and field exercises may supplement lecture material. Course can be repeated with change of content.
Final design experience requiring practitioner involvement, student reports, and oral presentations. An interdisciplinary, team approach is emphasized. Course offers two credits in the fall and two credits in the spring. All four credits must be earned within the same academic year.
Final design experience requiring practitioner involvement, student reports, and oral presentations. An interdisciplinary, team approach is emphasized. Course offers two credits in the fall and two credits in the spring. All four credits must be earned within the same academic year.
Final design experience requiring practitioner involvement, student reports, and oral presentations. An interdisciplinary, team approach is emphasized. Course offers two credits in the fall and two credits in the spring. All four credits must be earned within the same academic year.
Final design experience requiring practitioner involvement, student reports, and oral presentations. An interdisciplinary, team approach is emphasized. Course offers two credits in the fall and two credits in the spring. All four credits must be earned within the same academic year.
General topics of interest and relevance to civil & environmental engineering applications. Topics may include subject matter related to transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, structures design, water resources, fluid mechanics, and/or environmental science and engineering. Laboratory and field exercises may supplement lecture material. Course can be repeated with change of content.
General topics of interest and relevance to civil & environmental engineering applications. Topics may include subject matter related to transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, structures design, water resources, fluid mechanics, and/or environmental science and engineering. Laboratory and field exercises may supplement lecture material. Course can be repeated with change of content.
Study of transport processes in the environment. Topics include advection, diffusion, jets, plumes, air-gas transfer, heat transfer, reaction kinetics, sediment-water exchange, sediment erosion/deposition, and ground water transport. The course should be of interest to upper level undergraduates or first year graduate students in ocean science or engineering with an interest on transport processes in the environment.
Fundamental fluid dynamics underpinning ocean turbulence theory. Emphasis is placed on both a mathematical and physical understanding of turbulence and considerable time is spent on classical turbulence theory and its application to ocean processes. Random variables and their quantification are introduced, as are dimensional scaling and analysis and non-dimensional quantities such as the Reynolds, Richardson and Prandtl number. Other course emphases include exchange of energy between the mean flow and turbulent field, turbulent diffusion, modern data analysis techniques and recent observations and newly emerging observational tools and techniques.
Fundamental fluid dynamics underpinning ocean turbulence theory. Emphasis is placed on both a mathematical and physical understanding of turbulence and considerable time is spent on classical turbulence theory and its application to ocean processes. Random variables and their quantification are introduced, as are dimensional scaling and analysis and non-dimensional quantities such as the Reynolds, Richardson and Prandtl number. Other course emphases include exchange of energy between the mean flow and turbulent field, turbulent diffusion, modern data analysis techniques and recent observations and newly emerging observational tools and techniques.
Teaching
Online and Continuing Education Courses
Internship experience focused on oceanographic and fisheries research areas. Each intern is assigned to a particular faculty member determined by mutual research interests. Offered by the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), the research internship is open to undergraduate science and engineering majors.
Research
Research interests
- Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Turbulence and Mixing
- River Plume Dynamics
- Marine Renewable Energy
- Environmental Data Collection with Autonomous Vehicles
Research
Research Activities
- Office of Naval Research. The Role of Scale in the Development and Evolution of Stratified Shear Turbulence, Entrainment and Mixing. D. MacDonald and M. Raessi. $155,121. 2015-2019.
- Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council, Reducing the cost of wave energy with an innovative tethered ballast system. D. MacDonald. $239,898. 2016-2018.
- Department of Energy (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy), as subcontractor to Littoral Power Systems, Inc. A cost-disruptive, low impact, modular form factor low-head hydropower system. D. MacDonald. $196,192 ($1,421,666 total). 2016-2018.
- Other ongoing research includes use of the UMassD turbulence microstructure equipped autonomous underwater vehicle (T-REMUS) to quantify coastal turbulence in a variety of settings.
Select publications
Horner-Devine, A.R., R. D. Hetland, and D. G. MacDonald (2015).
Mixing and Transport in Coastal River Plumes
Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 47, 569-594.
MacDonald, D.G., J.O. Carlson, and L. Goodman (2013).
On the heterogeneity of shear-stratified turbulence: Observations from a near-field river plume
Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, 118, 6223-6237.
D.G. MacDonald and F. Chen (2012).
Enhancement of turbulence through lateral spreading in a stratified-shear flow: Development and assessment of a conceptual model.
Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, 117, C05025.
At UMass Dartmouth, Dr. MacDonald leads the Coastal Engineering and Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, which focuses research in a variety of areas related to coastal physics and engineering. Basic and applied research encompasses the areas of stratified hydrodynamics, turbulence and frontal dynamics—with specific emphasis on estuarine flows, river plumes, and industrial discharges. A significant research focus also lies in the area of renewable energy, including wave energy and the hydrodynamic aspects of other marine renewable technologies, and conventional hydropower. He is also actively involved in the utilization of robotic platforms for environmental data acquisition in coastal and inland aquatic environments.
Dr. MacDonald is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and American Geophysical Union.