WISE Research Group

The people who test the wind.

The Windstorm Impact, Science, and Engineering (WISE) Research Group, led by Dr. Aly Mousaad Aly at Louisiana State University, studies how extreme wind loads buildings, bridges, solar arrays, and wind turbines, and how to design them to survive. This page is the team: who is here now, who graduated, and where they went.

The group has graduated 7 Ph.D. students and 19 M.S. students, mentored 20 undergraduate researchers and 2 postdoctoral researchers, and co-authored 38 journal articles with graduate students and 7 with students who started in the group as undergraduates.

Illustration of streamlines passing over a low-rise building model
Illustration: flow over a low-rise building model, the kind of flow the group studies in the LSU WISE open-jet facility (4 m by 4 m test section).

Aly Mousaad Aly, Ph.D., P.E.

Associate Professor, Louisiana State University, and Director, WISE Research Group

Dr. Aly founded and directs the WISE Research Group and oversees the LSU WISE open-jet testing facility, which reproduces atmospheric boundary-layer turbulence at high Reynolds numbers for large-scale aerodynamic testing. His group works at the intersection of wind engineering, structural dynamics and control, and machine-learning-accelerated computational fluid dynamics. He is a member of ASCE and ASME and a licensed Professional Engineer in Louisiana.

  • DepartmentCivil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University
  • Office3230H Patrick F. Taylor Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
  • Emailaly@lsu.edu
  • Phone(225) 578-6654
  • FocusWind engineering, structural dynamics, machine learning
  • ProfilesGoogle Scholar  |  ORCID

Current team

Doctoral and undergraduate researchers working in the LSU open-jet facility and on CFD and machine-learning studies.

Doctoral student

Binura J. Kudagama

Ph.D. student, wind engineering

Passed the qualifying examination, fall 2025.

Research: the role of turbulence, Reynolds number, and scale on bluff-body aerodynamics, through open-jet testing and CFD.

Undergraduate researchers

Hannah T. Lowery

Undergraduate student researcher

Computer Engineering

Ariel Davis

Undergraduate student researcher

Construction Management

Research Advisory Committee

Leaders from industry, government, and LSU who give the group technical and strategic guidance, keeping its work technically sound, useful in practice, and aligned with Gulf Coast resilience priorities.

Jeff Cantin

President, Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association (GSREIA)

Industry leadership in renewable energy deployment. Collaborates with the group on solar wind-resilience research that uses LSU WISE testing to validate findings, such as the 45–63% reduction in wind-induced roof forces from rooftop solar panels.

Beth Galante

CEO, Fortifyy

Nearly 20 years of leadership in energy efficiency, rooftop solar development, and clean energy policy. Fortifyy specializes in FORTIFIED Roof services and community-level resilience, linking structural integrity, solar deployment, and government relations.

Tyler Patrick Gray, J.D., M.B.A.

Director of Energy Innovation, LSU Energy Institute

Energy policy, government relations, and industry development. Advises on connecting the group's results with state energy policy, regulatory modernization, and the practical use of resilient energy solutions in Louisiana.

Jack Koban, Ph.D., P.E., P.G.

Senior Director of Energy Industry Engagement, Office of Industry Engagement, LSU Foundation

Geotechnical engineering, coastal restoration, flood protection, and infrastructure. Serves as a liaison between LSU research and energy-industry partners, including the commercial potential of WISE technologies.

Jack (John R.) Clarke, M.S.

Senior Structural Engineer, Tetra Tech; WISE M.S. alumnus

Experience across all phases of renewable energy projects, with specialized knowledge of machine learning and CFD for predicting wind loads on solar panel systems.

Zac Lemoine

Government Affairs, Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX)

Legislative and government affairs. Helps present research clearly to policymakers working on wind and solar energy, and supports CPEX’s Power Up initiative.

Jonathan Wiebe

Program Manager, Restoration Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Government and environmental expertise, aligning research with state conservation and restoration programs.

Doctoral and postdoctoral alumni

Seven Ph.D. graduates and two postdoctoral researchers. One holds a faculty position at an R1 university; the others work in catastrophe modeling, waterfront and structural design, and infrastructure consulting.

  1. 2026

    Amro Zahrawi, Ph.D.

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2026

    Dissertation: Wind-Induced Instabilities in Solar Trackers: A Combined CFD, Experimental, and Machine Learning Framework for Predicting Torsional Galloping

  2. 2026

    Feng Xie, Ph.D., P.E.

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2026

    Dissertation: Energy-Based Probabilistic Approaches for Vibration Control Efficacy Evaluation with Applications to Wind Turbines

    Engineer Analyst, WGI, Inc.

  3. 2025

    Husam AlShannaq, Ph.D.

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2025; M.S., 2024

    Dissertation: Development of a Comprehensive Framework for Predicting Fatigue in Wind Turbine Blades: Integrating Finite Element, Artificial Intelligence, and Experimental Testing for Enhanced Renewable Energy Sustainability

    WGI, Inc. (formerly SDR Engineering, Inc.)

  4. 2022

    Md. Faiaz Khaled, Ph.D.

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2022; M.S., 2022

    Dissertation: Aerodynamics of Low-Rise Buildings: Large-Scale (Open-Jet) Testing and CFD Simulation

    Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University (affiliated with the National Wind Institute)

  5. 2021

    Suvash Chapain, Ph.D., P.E.

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2021

    Dissertation: Vibration Control in High-Rise Buildings and Wind Turbines to Achieve System-Level Performance Under Multiple Hazard Loads

    Economic Development Assistantship (2018); NSF support to attend the PREEMPTIVE Advanced Studies Institute in Costa Rica (2019).

    Senior Waterfront Structural Engineer, Anchor QEA

  6. 2017

    Hamzeh Gol-Zaroudi, Ph.D., P.E., CEEM

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2017; WISE postdoctoral researcher, 2017–2018

    Dissertation: Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Processes to Mimic Peak Pressures on Low-Rise Buildings: CFD Versus Full-Scale and Wind Tunnel Measurements

    Senior Catastrophe Modeling Analyst, Brown & Brown (formerly AIR Worldwide)

  7. 2017

    Milad Rezaee, Ph.D., P.E.

    Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 2017; WISE postdoctoral researcher, 2017–2018

    Dissertation: Vibration Control in Wind Turbines for Multihazards

    Senior Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants (formerly AECOM)

M.S. alumni

Nineteen master's graduates, fourteen by thesis and five by project. Current positions are listed where known.

Undergraduate alumni

Twenty undergraduate researchers have worked in the group, several as LSU President's Future Leaders in Research or LSU Discover Scholars. Four are co-authors on journal articles, and two continued to M.S. degrees in the group.

Ethan Fenton

Undergraduate researcher in the group

Jonathan M. Russell

College of the Coast and Environment and Ogden Honors College; LSU Stamps Scholar; coastal meteorology, climatology and disaster science; LASAL, Gulf, and Shell Honors Scholar

Anthony T. Nguyen

Civil and Environmental Engineering; LSU President's Future Leaders in Research

Ryan T. Clancy

Civil and Environmental Engineering; LSU President's Future Leaders in Research; co-author on a journal article

Long Tran

Civil and Environmental Engineering; LSU President's Future Leaders in Research

Thomas H. O'Donnell III

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Eli P. Barbin

Civil and Environmental Engineering; low-rise buildings; LSU President's Future Leaders in Research

Hongjie Zhu

Civil and Environmental Engineering; 2021 LSU Discover Scholar

Jacob Conerly

Civil and Environmental Engineering; co-author on a journal article

Matthew Thomas

Wind demonstration table for the Louisiana Art & Science Museum; 2018 LSU Discover Scholar; LCOPRI ASCE scholarship, 2018; continued to an M.S. in the group. Now Transmission Engineer, GAI Consultants

Emily Rone, P.E.

Machine-learning project; McLaughlin Medalist; continued to an M.S. in the group. Now Civil Engineer, Stantec

Raymond Poche

CFD of wind impact on low-rise buildings with OpenFOAM; 2018 LSU Discover Scholar; co-author on a 2017 journal article

James Erskine

Civil Engineering, 2017

Kameron Williams

Open-jet wind engineering testing, 2017

Mark Jollissaint

Wind engineering testing of low-rise buildings, 2016

Dalton R. Guidry

Web design and data visualization, 2016; LSU President's Future Leaders in Research

Sunny Nguyen

Web design and data visualization, 2015

Fabiola Campoblanco

Hurricane wind simulation, 2013–2014

Joseph Richard Bresowar

Hurricane wind generation in the open-jet simulator, 2013–2016; LSU President's Future Leaders in Research; co-author on a journal article

My research at LSU focuses on the effects of wind loads on roofs and roof-mounted solar panels. I am studying why solar panels fail when subjected to loads often less than the advertised load capacity. In performing this research, I learned about the fluid mechanics and dynamics of wind, and ran computational fluid dynamics simulations in OpenFOAM to visualize flow fields and measure pressure and velocity profiles. I developed many skills that I believe will help me for the rest of my life: diligence, self-discipline, time management, communication, and the ability to learn new information quickly. These allowed me to publish a journal article with my research mentor, maintain a 4.2 GPA, and earn several scholarships.

Raymond Poche, undergraduate researcher

K-12 student researchers

Students from Kenilworth Science and Technology School who completed science-fair projects with the group, plus the group's wind demonstration table at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, where children predict which roof shape best resists wind and then test it.

Brice S.

Aerodynamic mitigation for low-rise buildings; 3rd place, 2018 Region VII Science and Engineering Fair (Junior Division)

Derrick B.

Aerodynamic mitigation for low-rise buildings; 3rd place, 2018 Region VII Science and Engineering Fair (Junior Division)

Jordan F.

Hurricane hazard mitigation for buildings; 4th place, 2017 Region VII Science and Engineering Fair (Junior Division)

Kolby T.

Hurricane hazard mitigation in buildings, 2015–2016

Where alumni work

Current employers of WISE graduates, from the entries above.

Texas Tech University Geosyntec Consultants Brown & Brown Anchor QEA WGI HNTB Fluor Stantec Tetra Tech Forte & Tablada Volkert Nucor Building Systems BASF U.S. Coast Guard GAI Consultants Hunt Guillot & Associates Cumming Group

Join the group

Prospective Ph.D. and M.S. students with a background in structural dynamics, fluid mechanics, CFD, or machine learning, and LSU undergraduates interested in hands-on wind testing, are welcome to get in touch.

How to join