From Jeeps and Jaguars to jellyfish

Dabiri was named one of Popular Science magazine’s “Brilliant 10” scientists last year for his work studying the physics and engineering behind jellyfish propulsion, work that has inspired him to deal with issues ranging from energy conservation to human health. But while Dabiri’s research with “jellies” has led him from ocean bottoms around the Adriatic Sea to engineering labs in California, it was Princeton, he said, that “was the catalyst for my entire research career.”

In 2001, Dabiri graduated summa cum laude from Princeton as a major in mechanical and aerospace engineering. After graduating, he moved on to Caltech to pursue a master’s degree in aeronautics, and in 2005, he earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering.

“Princeton for me was eye-opening because you realize how many other opportunities are out there in the world,” Dabiri said. He came to grasp that a mechanical and aerospace engineer could do much more than spend his entire career working on “one small component in an automobile.”

He explained that, when he first arrived at Princeton from a small Baptist school in Toledo, Ohio, he thought he would become an automobile engineer like his father and go on to work at Ford or Chrysler. At Princeton, he said, “I picked up the mindset of really being able to do anything if you know the fundamentals in your field.”

Dabiri had no idea how unusual that field would be.

He worked on his doctoral thesis with Caltech aeronautics and bioengineering professor Morteza Gharib, writing about vortex formation and the fluid dynamics of the blood pumping through the heart. Dabiri began to connect his topic to the motion of jellyfish, which he had first studied in the summer of his junior year at Princeton. He saw that currents created as blood was pumped from the lungs to the heart’s left ventricle “were not dissimilar to the water currents that a jellyfish would create.” Studying jellyfish, he realized, could help him better understand the dynamics of a human heart.

Dabiri’s research of jellyfish then led to further insights. Soon his research group was studying the fluid dynamics of jellyfish motion and how that motion is tuned for energy efficiency, maneuverability and stealth while swimming. Dabiri and his fellow researchers then began using these ideas to develop underwater vehicles for the Navy.

But that was not the end of his aquatic inspiration. Dabiri explained that studying fish schooling also presents opportunities to address how to make the use of wind energy more feasible. As fish swim in tight schools, the swirling water currents each fish creates interfere constructively with the others’, thus reducing the amount of energy the group expends.

Wind turbines could be arranged similarly, Dabiri said. The amount of land needed to produce wind energy could be reduced, so wind farms could be put closer to cities. This, in turn, would reduce the financial and energy costs of transmitting energy over long distances.

Despite being dubbed the “Jellyfish Engineer” by Popular Science, Dabiri’s association with these creatures has not always been cordial. During a photo shoot for the magazine, for example, Dabiri had to maintain a smile for the camera while he was stung all over his body by jellyfish tentacles.

Conducting research in the open sea does have other perks, however, Dabiri explained. He recalled his time studying jellyfish in the beautiful ring lakes of Croatia, along the Adriatic.

“At night there, you can see millions of stars,” he reminisced fondly. “Coming from L.A., where you can’t see stars at all, it was a big change for me. I really liked being out there on a boat and just sort of taking in the scenery.” His group left in May, right before the tourist season. This meant they could have the islands all to themselves just doing research, the engineer noted.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Dabiri’s research career has its roots in Princeton. He had never done any significant research before coming to Princeton, and he worked with mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Fred Dryer for his sophomore-year independent work. He looked at developing micro-air vehicles — scaled-down helicopters and planes that can fit in the palm of a hand.

From then on, he was hooked. In the summer after his junior year, Dabiri gave up an internship at Ford and drove the final nail in the coffin of his automobile industry career. But that summer turned out to be providential, as he joined Gharib’s research team at Caltech. Dabiri returned to Princeton that fall to make progress on his senior-year independent work, in measurement diagnostics — he worked on developing a laser technique to measure airflow around a helicopter’s blades and predict its aerodynamic performance.

Looking back, Dabiri said he is impressed with the constant support of his professors, who not only helped him with his courses and research, but also taught him to approach his Princeton career more confidently. He recalled coming into Princeton as a “really insecure freshman,” not having been able to take any Advanced Placement or honors courses in high school. His adviser told him he shouldn’t approach course selection as a way to prove himself to his peers; instead, he should take courses in line with his interests.

Dabiri said his experience as a professor revealed to him the pressure of balancing research and teaching, especially when supervising undergraduate students. He added that, unlike at Princeton, it was unusual at most American schools for professors to be leaders in their fields and still take time to care about their undergraduate students.

Yet Dabiri did not only thrive in Princeton’s academic waters, he was also “all over the place” when it came to extracurriculars. He served as a Butler College RCA and an Orange Key tour guide, and he also dabbled in club soccer and “kept getting injured,” he said. “There were just so many things going on — it was hard for me to focus on doing just one.”

Dabiri recalled participating in the last Nude Olympics, in the winter of his sophomore year, as one of the best moments of his Princeton experience. He explained that he and his roommates “actually ran from the old Butler all the way up to Holder.”

“It was really cold, but it was a lot of fun,” he added.

Dabiri also remembers the challenges he faced at Princeton, including running on two to three hours of sleep every night in his junior-year fall as he tried to balance RCA duties, research and academics. “It was a pretty rough time,” he said, “but I enjoyed it a lot.”

If he were to do his Princeton experience over again, though, he would not have worked quite as hard, Dabiri said. “You have a whole lifetime to work.”

“You don’t realize how quickly [Princeton] goes by, and once you’re gone, how much you’ll miss it,” he noted. “So definitely make the most of it.”