Dr. Steven W. Day holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia as well as a diploma from the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium. He joined the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department at RIT in 2005. Dr. Day also teaches for the Biomedical Engineering program and is active in guiding multidisciplinary senior design teams and advising master’s thesis projects. He strives to promote critical thinking in his students and involves both undergraduates and graduate students in his research.
Dr. Day has expertise in application methods in experimental and computation fluid mechanics and biological flows. Past studies have included the analysis of naturally occurring biomechanical systems (multiple lung bifurcations), engineered systems (supersonic combustion engines), and the design and testing of biomedical devices (artificial heart pumps). During his first year of postgraduate research in Belgium, Dr. Day used a laser based system to study the flow through lung bifurcations. At the University of Virginia, his research focused on the development of a state-of-the-art implantable blood pump. On this project, he worked with a team of faculty and students from the Engineering and Medical Departments at UVa, as well as collaborators at the Utah Artificial Heart Institute at the University of Utah and industry partner MedQuest, Inc. His dissertation focused on experimental measurements of the pump performance and internal fluid dynamics and he contributed to published research on the computational modeling, electro/mechanical design, and physiological modeling of the device. Most recently, Dr. Day collaborated with a group of Evolutionary Biologists and experts in Biomechanics at the University of California, Davis on a series of studies involving the complex application of fluid dynamics to suction feeding in fish. All of these novel collaborative efforts effectively cross the traditional boundaries between the basic, medical, and applied sciences. For more about Dr. Day see his personal site: http://people.rit.edu/~swdeme/index.html
- Tchantchaleishvili, Vakhtang, Bryan S. Bush, Michael Swartz, Steven W. Day, and H. Todd Massey. 2012. “Plutonium-238: An ideal power source for intracorporeal ventricular assist devices?” ASAIO Journal In Press (anticipated Nov/Dec).
- Stewart, Sandy F. C., Eric G. Paterson, Greg W. Burgreen, Prasanna Hariharan, Matthew Giarra, Varun Reddy, Steven W. Day, et al. 2012. "Assessment of CFD Performance in Simulations of an Idealized Medical Device: Results of FDA's First Computational Interlaboratory Study." Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology 3 (2) (February 28): 139-160. doi:10.1007/s13239-012-0087-5. http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s13239-012-0087-5.
- Cheng, S., M.W. Olles, A.F. Burger, and S.W. Day. 2011. "Optimization of a hybrid magnetic bearing for a magnetically levitated blood pump via 3-D FEA." Mechatronics 21 (7): 1163-1169. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957415811001188.
- Hariharan, Prasanna, Matthew Giarra, Varun Reddy, Steven W. Day, Keefe B. Manning, Steven Deutsch, Sandy F. C. Stewart, et al. 2011. "Multilaboratory Particle Image Velocimetry Analysis of the FDA Benchmark Nozzle Model to Support Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations." Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 133 (4) (April): 041002 1-14 online. doi:10.1115/1.4003440. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21428676.
- Cheng, Shanbao, Mark W Olles, Don B. Olsen, Lyle D Joyce, and Steven W Day. 2010. "Miniaturization of a magnetically levitated axial flow blood pump." Artificial Organs 34 (10) (October): 807-15. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1594.2010.01077.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20946280.
- Oakes, Jessica M, Steven Day, Steven J Weinstein, and Risa J Robinson. 2010. "Flow field analysis in expanding healthy and emphysematous alveolar models using Particle Image Velocimetry." Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 132 (February) (February): 021008. doi:10.1115/1.4000870. http://gradworks.umi.com/14/58/1458226.html.