Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung, associate professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering
Academic focus: Bio-inspired fluid mechanics
Previous positions: Associate professor, engineering science and mechanics, Virginia Tech, 2016-18; assistant professor, Department Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, 2009-15; instructor, Department Math, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007-09; postdoctoral researcher, Department Applied Math, Courant Institute, 2005-07
Academic background: B.S., chemical engineering. Sogang University, 1999; MSc., physics, POSTECH, 2001; Ph.D., physics, University of Texas at Austin, 2005
What do you do when not working? I usually spend time with my family; hiking, traveling, and others. These days, we are exploring areas near Ithaca.
What gets you out of bed in the morning? I really enjoy working with students. Through interactions, we brainstorm new ideas and solve problems.
Current research projects? How pathogenic spores are dispersed due to raindrops or irrigation water. This is important to understand how plant disease spreads across the field by rain.
We also study how animals jump out of water, which allows us to understand the maximum height of aquatic animals using fluid forces.
Recently, we to work on how arctic foxes dive into snow to catch prey.
Current outreach/extension projects? We are also developing a device to clean fruits using bubbles. Once it is successful, then farmers or households can use to clean agriculture produce easily.
What are three adjectives people might use to describe you? Positive, pleasant, proactive
Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching? I am developing two courses; one focusing on designs, and the other focusing on mechanics in biology.
If you had unlimited grant funding, what in your field would you want to solve? I would like to study how animals use mechanics principles their lives. There are a lot of examples in nature, yet to be explored.
What most excites you about Cornell CALS? I love the diversity in CALS. People in various research interests, and different backgrounds. Also, a lot of departments in CALS from economics to engineering/science.
