Doug Fontes

About  

Doug Fontes joined Florida Polytechnic University in the fall of 2025 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Prior to this, he was an assistant professor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, from 2022 to 2025. He was an instructor Escola Superior de Administração, Marketing e Comunicação (ESAMC) college in Brazil at from 2016 to 2019. 

His research interests are in numerical modeling of multiphase flows with studies related to applications on space exploration (plume-surface interactions), sneeze phenomenon (droplet dispersion), and scramjet combustion (spray formation).  

Awards and Honors  

• Departmental Teacher Encouragement, Westmont College, 2022. 

• Best Paper, Mechanical Engineering Forum, Federal University of Uberlandia, 2012. 

Education 

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia, 2018 

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia, 2015 

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia, 2014 

Expertise  

• Two-Phase Flows 

• Compressible Flows 

• Interfacial Flows 

• Numerical Modeling 

Professional Activities  

• Member, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), 2000-current 

• Member, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), 2022-2025 

• Member, American Physical Society (APS), 2019-2021 

• Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), 2019-2020 

Selected Publications  

• Jordi Pallares, Alexandre Fabregat, Akim Lavrinenko, Nelson Marques, Bruno Santos, Gabriele Mosca, Pedro Obando Vega, Jure Ravnik, Nejc Vovk, Bruño Fraga, Aleksandra Monka, Manuel Martínez, Naomi Mestre-Curto, Francisco Jose de Souza, Douglas Fontes, Natalie Jüngling, Jennifer Niessner, Robert Castilla, Mercè García-Vílchez, David F. Fletcher, Kiao Inthavong, Matjaž Hriberšek, Paul Steinmann, Jana Wedel, Florent Duchaine, Shriram Sankurantripati, Leo Amari, Gábor Janiga, Cristian Marchioli, Salvatore Cito; Computational fluid dynamics challenge on indoor dispersion of pathogen-laden aerosols. Physics of Fluids 1 February 2025; 37 (2): 025226. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0252665 

• Loubimov G, Spitzer A, Fontes D, Kinzel M. Sprayed Liquid Flaps: A Numerical Assessment of a Multiphase Jet Concept. J Aircr. Published online October 10, 2024:12. doi:10.2514/1.C037850 

• Shrestha, Rajendra, Douglas Fontes, and Michael Kinzel. 2024. “A Numerical Evaluation of Airborne Transmission Control through Saliva Modification” Fluids 9, no. 10: 228. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids9100228 

• Jordi Pallares , Alexandre Fabregat , Akim Lavrinenko , Hadifathul Akmal bin Norshamsudin , Gábor Janiga , David F Fletcher , Kiao Inthavong , Marina Zasimova , Vladimir Ris , Nikolay Ivanov , Robert Castilla , Pedro Javier Gamez-Montero , Gustavo Raush , Hadrien Calmet , Daniel Mira , Jana Wedel , Mitja Štrakl , Jure Ravnik , Douglas Fontes , Francisco Jose de Souza , Cristian Marchioli , and Salvatore Cito , “Numerical simulations of the flow and aerosol dispersion in a violent expiratory event: Outcomes of the “2022 International Computational Fluid Dynamics Challenge on violent expiratory events””, Physics of Fluids (in press) (2023); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0143795 

• Fontes, D., Mantovani, J. G., & Metzger, P. (2022). Numerical estimations of lunar regolith trajectories and damage potential due to rocket plumes. Acta Astronautica, 195(June 2021), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.02.016 

• Velasco LJ, Venturi DN, Fontes DH, de Souza FJ. Numerical simulation of drag reduction by microbubbles in a vertical channel. Eur J Mech – B/Fluids. 2022;92:215-225. doi:10.1016/j.euromechflu.2021.12.007 

• Reyes J, Fontes D, Bazzi A, Otero M, Ahmed K, Kinzel M. Effect of saliva fluid properties on pathogen transmissibility. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):16051. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-95559-6 

• Hartig M, Stephens C, Foster A, Fontes D, Kinzel M, García-Godoy F. Stopping the COVID-19 pandemic in dental offices: A review of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and cross-infection prevention. Exp Biol Med. Published online August 3, 2021:153537022110341. doi:10.1177/15353702211034164 

• Fontes D, Reyes J, Ahmed K, Kinzel M. A study of fluid dynamics and human physiology factors driving droplets dispersion from a human sneeze. Phys Fluids. 2020;111904(November). doi:10.1063/5.0032006 

• Fontes, D. H., Vilela, V., Souza Meira, L. de, & José de Souza, F. (2019). Improved Hybrid Model Applied to Liquid Jet in Crossflow. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 114, 98–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2019.02.009