About Us

Personnel

Research

Engineering Services

Facilities

Publications

Awards

Seminar Series

External Academic Review Board

Prospective Students

SAFL Home

Related Links

NCED

Dept. of Civil Engineering

Dept. of Geology & Geophysics

Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior

Institute of Technology

Fun Facts about the Falls

Research Spotlight: SAFL Team Wins Award

Who We Are

SAFL is the world's only fluid-mechanics laboratory that uses a natural waterfall as its prime water source. For nearly 70 years researchers from around the world have been visiting our unique location on an island in the Mississippi River to conduct research for developing innovative and sustainable engineering solutions to major environmental, water resources, and energy-related problems. We would like to extend our warmest invitation to visit our facilities and talk with our research staff and students.

SAFL is also proud to be the headquarters for the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED), an NSF Science and Technology Center.

SAFL postgraduate researcher Iman Borazjani is among the winners of the prestigious Gallery of Fluid Motion competition, presented at the 61st Annual American Physical Society (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in San Antonio, Texas (Nov. 23-25, 2008). Borazjani and SAFL director Fotis Sotiropoulos submitted the winning animation video, "Why don't mackerels swim like eels? The role of form and kinematics on the hydrodynamics of undulatory swimming." The video presents novel computational results in support of the notion that hydrodynamic considerations have played a role in the evolution of fish. To read more and view the video, click here.

Previous Research Spotlight pages

Announcements

SAFL In the News

SAFL welcomes Jeffrey Marr, MS PE as the new Associate Director of Applied Research. Many thanks to former Associate Director Dr. Pete Weiss for his dedication and service to the lab. For more information about Engineering Services at SAFL, please click here.

Assistant Professor Kimberly Hill is the head PI (co-PI Prof. Fernando Porté-Agel) on a new $295k award from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled "Multi-scale studies on the effects of fluid and bed variability on particle entrainment and transport." This research focuses on fluid-driven particle transport where particle-particle interactions are important, specifically bedload transport in river channels. The central goal of this research is to combine computational, experimental and theoretical efforts to develop a better understanding of bedload transport from first principles that can be applied to local particle transport in steady and variable conditions and subsequently to develop a model that can be applied to local and long-range bedload transport.

Congrats SAFL grads!Click here to view photos of our recent graduates with their advisors.

Welcome aboard! The lab continues to grow with many new Visiting Researchers, Students and Staff.

Director Fotis Sotiropoulos was interviewed by PBS Nightly Report about research on the Mississippi River by both the hydropower industry and the U.S. Department of Energy to improve existing traditional hydro turbine design and make it more fish-friendly.

Research and researchers in the Outdoor StreamLab make headlines in the Star Tribune, MarketWatch, Minnesota Daily, Minnesota Public Radio, University News Service, Channel 5 Eyewitness News, and in Civil Engineering Magazine (subscription required).

Click here to watch the UNews Service video of the OSL!

Listen to Director Fotis Sotiropoulos interviewed by local radio station Access Minnesota about the effect of dams on river ecology.

Read all about it! SAFL/NCED stream restoration research featured in The New York Times.

The River Runs Through Us: Located on the continent's most important river, the U of M keeps the Mississippi River central to its academic and cultural life. View the video on SAFL's important contributions to the U of M's river research.

SAFL in The Rake magazine: Click here to read the article. Click here to watch a video tour of the lab.