R&D, S&E, Mechanical Engineering
Biography
Dr. Dan Houck joined Sandia National Laboratories in 2020 and is a member of the Wind Energy Design and Experimentation Department. His research supports experiments at the Scaled Wind Farm Test (SWiFT) facility, including the National Rotor Testbed. Much of his research focuses on the study of wake management techniques to mitigate wind farm wake losses. He uses a combination of low- and high-fidelity simulations and field experiments to explore topics related to wind turbine and wind farm performance.
Before joining Sandia, Dan earned his PhD and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at Cornell University working with Dr. Edwin “Todd” Cowen on model-scale wind energy experiments to accurately measure the effects of dynamic induction control and axial induction control on the wakes and power of model wind turbines. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Portland State University and bachelor’s degree in philosophy and the history of math and science from St. John’s College, Maryland.
