POTSDAM -- A University of Houston scientist has some ideas about how to head off a looming crisis in air traffic capacity, and he speaks about them at Clarkson University Friday.

Fazle Hussain, director of UH's Institute of Fluid Dynamics and Turbulence, will speak on "The Looming Crisis in Air Traffic Capacity -- Can Vortex Dynamics Help?" on Friday, March 4, at 3:30 p.m. in Clarkson's Bertrand H. Snell Hall Room 213.

Airspace demand is expected to triple by 2025, but the actual amount of airspace available will remain unchanged. Safe aircraft separation to avoid wake hazard is not only already a challenge during takeoffs and landings, but will become a major problem when aircraft cruise in the crowded skies.

Hussain proposes a method of breaking up the trailing vortices and inducing their rapid decay so that separation between aircraft can be significantly reduced.

Hussain is the second speaker in the New Horizons in Engineering Distinguished Lectureship Series, which is dedicated to improving the understanding of important issues facing engineering and society in the 21st century.

Hussain's expertise is in vortex dynamics, turbulence, and measurement techniques.

His accomplishments have made him arguably the most decorated fluid dynamicist ever. Of the field's four most coveted awards, only two other people have won two. Hussain has won all four.

Hussain is now interested in fuel savings by drag reduction, wind turbine technology, offshore wind farms, cancer drug delivery, and microseismology.

A reception with refreshments will precede the presentation at 3 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.