William McDoniel Ph.D.

Member
AICES
Research
Direct Simulation Monte Carlo, Molecular Dynamics
Contact
AICES Graduate School
RWTH Aachen University
Schinkelstr. 2
D-52062 Aachen
Germany
Office: Schinkelstrasse 2a, GRS building, Room 207
Phone: +49 152 36685386
Email: mcdoniel@aices.rwth-aachen.de
Education
- 8/2008 - 12/2015 Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA, under supervision of Profs. David Goldstein and Philip Varghese
- 8/2004 - 6/2008 B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Philosophy at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.
Professional Career
01/2016 - present Postdoctoral Research Associate at AICES
Research Interests
Direct Simulation Monte Carlo, Molecular Dynamics, Io
Peer Reviewed Journal Publications
- McDoniel, W.J., Goldstein, D.B., Varghese, P.L., and Trafton, L.M., 2015. Three-dimensional simulation of gas and dust in Io's Pele plume. Icarus, Volume 257, pp 251-274.
- McDoniel, W.J., Goldstein, D.B., Varghese, P.L., and Trafton, L.M., 2016. The interaction of Io's plumes and sublimation atmosphere. Icarus, in revision.
- McDoniel, W.J., Goldstein, D.B., Varghese, P.L., and Trafton, L.M., 2016. The interaction of Io's plumes with Jupiter's plasma torus. Icarus, in preparation.
Peer Reviewed Conference Publications
- McDoniel, W.J., Goldstein, D.B., Varghese, P.L., Trafton, L.M., Buchta, D.A., Freund, J., and Kieffer, S.W., 2011. Simulating Irregular Source Geometries for Ionian Plumes. Proceedings of the 27th International Rarefied Gas Dynamics Symposium, Pacific Grove, CA.
Talks
- Simulations of the Effects of Jupiter's Plasma Torus on Io's Pele Plume. 46th Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, November 2014. Tucson, AZ.
- Constraining Diameters of Ash Particles in Io's Pele Plume by DSMC Simulation. 45th Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, October 2013. Denver, CO.
- Cracks in a Lava Lake: Boundary Conditions for Io's Pele Plume. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo 2013: Theory, Methods, and Applications (DSMC13), October 2013. Santa Fe, NM.
- DSMC Simulations of Io's Pele Plume. 44th Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, October 2012. Reno, NV.
- Modeling Gas and Dust Flow in Io's Pele Plume. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo 2011: Theory, Methods, and Applications (DSMC11), September 2011. Santa Fe, NM.
- DSMC Simulations of Irregular Source Geometries for Io's Pele Plume. 42nd Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, October 2010. Pasadena, CA.
- DSMC Modeling of the Pele Plume on Io. 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. March, 2010. The Woodlands, TX.
- DSMC Modeling of an Irregular Vent Geometry for Ionian Plumes. 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. March, 2009. The Woodlands, TX.