Curriculum Vitae
Currently
I currently work as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) in Columbia, Maryland. I am involved in multiple projects requiring application and assessment of Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) code. I simulate life-size experiments performed by UL FSRI to investigate the robustness of several sub-models used in FDS. I am also involved in data analysis of large-scale experiments to derive scientific-based improvement of understanding hazards in such scnearios and provide tactical considerations for firefighting.
Education
2017 - 2021
University of Maryland, College Park
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation: Experiments and Semi-Empirical Modeling of Buoyancy-Driven, Turbulent Flame Spread over Combustible Solids in a Corner Configuration
2014 - 2016
Texas A&M University, College Station
Masters in Chemical Engineering
Thesis: Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to Study Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Pool Fires
Work Experience
2021 - Now
Post-doctoral Researcher
Research work to improve safety and operation of firefighters, people, and environment
Fire Safety Research Institute, Columbia, Maryland, U.S.A
- Regularly perform analysis of large-scale experimental data, present data in visualization to convey information to a broad range of audience, write research reports, perform Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) simulations to improve fire modeling.
2017 - 2021
Graduate Research Assistant
Doctoral Research on flame spread and material flammability
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, U.S.A
- Designed and built a large-scale fire experimentation facility for flame spread testing. Independently designed fast-response sampling system having a 13 second response time for a half Mega Watt exhaust hood to calculate heat release rate during flame spread over solids.
- Examined pyrolysis and flaming combustion using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Microscale Combustion Calorimetry (MCC), Controlled Atmosphere Pyrolysis Apparatus II (CAPA II), Milligram-scale Flame Calorimetry (MFC), Cone Calorimetry for poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly (isocyanurate) (PIR), and oriented strand board (OSB).
- Mentored junior graduate students and undergraduate researchers with experiments and data analysis.
- Communicated and published research findings via conferences and journal publications.
2016
Student Co-op
Development of 1D Fire Shelter-in-place (SIP) consequence analysis model
Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants Inc., Houston, Texas, U.S.A
- Performed individual research to develop a simplified 1D consequence analysis model for fire SIP situation using Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS), MATLAB, and VBScript.
- Other responsibilities during the internship were assisting on-site jet fire and other experimentation activities which included setting up of the instrumentation such as radiometers, data acquisition system.
- Consulting facility siting and risk analysis studies for chemical industries also fell under the job responsibility.
Publications
Journals
2021
-
Chaudhari D.M., Stoliarov S.I., Beach M.W., Suryadevara K.A., Polyisocyanurate foam pyrolysis and flame spread modeling, Appl. Sci. 11 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/APP11083463.
-
Chaudhari D.M., Fiola G.J., Stoliarov S.I., Experimental analysis and modeling of Buoyancy-driven flame spread on cast poly(methyl methacrylate) in corner configuration, Polym. Degrad. Stab. 183 2021 109433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2020.109433.
-
Fiola G.J., Chaudhari D.M., Stoliarov S.I., Comparison of Pyrolysis Properties of Extruded and Cast Poly(methyl methacrylate), Fire Saf. J. 120 2021 103083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103083.
2017
- Jain P., Reese A.M., Chaudhari D., Mentzer R.A., Mannan M.S., Regulatory approaches - Safety case vs US approach: Is there a best solution today?, J. Loss Prev. Process Ind. 46 2017 154–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2017.02.001.
Presentations
2021
-
Experiments and Modeling of Flame Spread over Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) in a Corner Configuration, 12th U.S Combustion Meeting (Eastern States, held virtually), College Station, Texas, May 2021 (oral presentation)
-
Comparison of Pyrolysis properties of Extruded and Cast Poly(Methyl Methacrylate), 13th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science (held virtually), Waterloo, Canada, April 2021 (oral presentation)
2019
- Flame Spread on Black Poly (Methyl-Methacrylate) in Corner Configuration, FAA 9th Triennial International Fire & Cabin Safety Research Conference, Atlantic City, NJ, Oct 2019 (oral presentation)