Dr. Kelly Senecal Named SAE Fellow

Madison, Wisconsin—December 14, 2018—Dr. Kelly Senecal, Co-Owner and Vice President of Convergent Science, has been named an SAE Fellow for his leading role in the development of advanced computational fluid dynamics software to create cleaner, more efficient combustion engines. SAE Fellow, SAE International’s highest grade of membership, recognizes long-term members whose exceptional leadership, scientific achievements, and innovation have made a significant impact on society’s mobility technology.

“I am incredibly honored to be named an SAE Fellow,” says Senecal. “This is a very prestigious title, and receiving it helps validate the work I have done over my career.”

While pursuing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Senecal co-founded Convergent Science and was one of the original developers of the CONVERGE computational fluid dynamics software.

In addition to his role at Convergent Science, Senecal is an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director and co-founder of the Computational Chemistry Consortium (C3). C3 brings together industry, academic, and government partners to advance combustion and emissions modeling.

Senecal has long been an advocate of creating cleaner combustion engines. He speaks to students, researchers, professors, and engineers about the importance of clean combustion, and gave a TEDx talk on the same topic. Recently, he started the #HugYourEngine movement, which advocates for going green by improving the internal combustion engine.

Senecal has received international recognition, including articles in The New York Times and England’s The Sunday Times, for his pioneering work on the use of CFD in the engine design process. Senecal is the author of the widely used Linearized Instability Sheet Atomization (LISA) spray breakup model, and has authored or co-authored over 90 research papers, which have garnered over 3,000 citations.