Education
Paul Onubi Ayegba holds dual PhDs in Fluid Mechanics and Chemical Engineering. He earned his PhD in Fluid Mechanics from Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, France, where his research focused on flow boiling in normal and microgravity. Earlier, he completed a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, concentrating on drag reduction in liquid-liquid flow. He was also a Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, investigating fluid mechanics. His academic background includes a Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering (First Class) and a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering (Second Class Upper), both from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria.
Experience
Dr. Ayegba is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at California State University, Long Beach. Prior to this, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, where he was involved in advanced research and mentoring. His earlier professional roles include serving as a Senior Engineer at the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in Nigeria, a Lecturer and Researcher at the Federal Polytechnic Idah, and a Quality Control Engineer at the Abia State Water Board.
Skills
His core professional skills include pipeline flow, multiphase flow, flow boiling, heat and mass transfer, environmental management, drag reduction by additives, and computational fluid dynamics. He is proficient in SolidWorks, MATLAB, COMSOL Multiphysics, AutoCAD, Aspen HYSYS/Plus, Fusion 360, and 3D printing. His expertise also spans project development and management, thermal systems, microgravity applications, and environmental monitoring and pollution control.
Awards
Dr. Ayegba has been recognized with several prestigious awards including the Leopold Escande Prize from Toulouse INP in 2022, the Postdoctoral Associate Award from MIT in 2022, a PhD Scholarship Award from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund in 2019, and the Fulbright Visiting Research Award in 2018.
Research Focus
His research is primarily focused on fluid mechanics, particularly multiphase flow, flow boiling in varying gravity conditions, drag reduction in curved pipelines, and machine learning applications in fluid transport systems. He has extensively published on wave velocity modeling, hydrodynamics, and heat transfer mechanisms in complex flow systems, making significant contributions to the understanding of annular and two-phase flow dynamics in both terrestrial and microgravity environments.