Curriculum Vitae
William (Ruddy) E. Mell
Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab
U.S. Forest Service
400 N. 34th St., Suite 201
Work: 206-732-7868 (office); 206-430-2072 (cell)
wemell@fs.fed.us
Research Interests
Development of large eddy simulation methods and other models applicable to the
physics of fire weather, fires in vegetation, structures, and the wildland-urban
interface. Simulation of wind over complex terrain. Thermal radiation modeling /
solvers applicable to large eddy simulation of fires. Multimaterial simulation of
fluid structure interaction processes (thermal, momentum, mechanical processes).
Field and laboratory measurements of fire behavior, vegetation, and wind.
Education
Ph. D. 1994
Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dissertation title: “An Investigation of Closure Models for Nonpremixed Turbulent
Reacting Flow” 
Thesis advisors: Profs. George Kosály and James Riley, Mechanical Engineering
Dept.
M.S. 1987
Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
M.S. program 1982–1983
(degree not completed)
Geophysics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
B.S. 1981
Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Professional and Academic Employment
U.S. Forest Service
Seattle, WA
4/11 to present
National Institute of 
Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD and Boulder,
CO
4/04 to 4/11
Research Combustion Engineer
A range of computer modeling approaches will be developed and tested. to better
understand fire behavior in wildland and wildland-urban interface settings. This is
supported by a close collaboration with colleagues conducting laboratory and field
measurements of fuels, fire, and weather. The overall objective of this work is to
provide improved tools that help forest managers, community planners, fire
officials, the public, and researchers better understand, prepare, and respond to the
negative (and positive) influence of wildland fire on the natural and built
environment.
Research Scientist, Engineering Laboratory
Lead Developer of NIST’s Wildland-urban inteface Fire Dynamics Simulator
Co-Manager of NIST’s wildland-urban interface research effort. Duties included
developing research plans, setting priorites, and building a team with
complementary capabilities (e.g., numerical modeling, experimental and field
measurements) to meet goals. Responsible for the development and testing of
numerical models for the combustion and smoke transport processes (spanning
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laboratory to landscape spatial scales) that capture the ignition, spread, and
cessation of fires occurring in the vegetative and structural fuels comprising the
wildland and the wildland-urban interface. Collaborated with laboratory and field
experimentalists to design and conduct experiments that aid model development and
validation. Developed models for material flammability tests used by NASA.
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
9/99 to 4/04

Research Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department
National Institute of 
Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD
10/96 to 8/99
Research Scientist, Building and Fire Research Laboratory
NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory
10/94 to 10/96
National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
9/87 to 8/94
Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering Department
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
6/86 to 9/87
Research Assistant, Applied Physics Laboratory
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
9/85 to 6/92
(various quarters)
Teaching Assistant, Applied Mathematics Department
Large eddy simulation of fires; microgravity combustion; fire safety; multimaterial
CFD; multigrid and other iterative solvers of 3-D partial differential equations with
rapidly varying coefficients; modeling of turbulent mixing and combustion, soot,
and thermal radiation; long distance transport of seeds via wind; physics-based
modeling fire spread through grasslands and trees.
- Developed efficient two- and three-dimensional high resolution problemdependent thermal radiation solvers for large eddy simulations of fires. Both
iterative (multigrid) and direct (fast fourier transform) solvers were constructed.
- Extended microgravity combustion code to include the effects of thermal radiation
on the transition from ignition to flame spread.
- Incorporated flame spread submodels developed by coworkers into a large eddy
simulation code to simulate the burning of commodity synthetic materials in a
laboratory environment (cone calorimeter). The final composite model was to be
used to assess the fire safety properties of the material.
- Investigated the effects of flame geometry on the transition from ignition to flame
spread upon paper in microgravity.
- Wrote a computer model for heat transfer through fire fighter protective clothing
to complement laboratory investigations into the causes of fire fighter burn
injuries.
- Developed a numerical approach for combustion with realistic heat release in low
Mach number fluid flow. Resulting supports subgrid scale combustion modeling
in large eddy simulations of large fires.
- Examined the validity of models for nonpremixed turbulent reacting flow using
direct numerical simulations and analytical modeling. Focused on the stationary
laminar flamelet model and the conditional moment closure model.
- Investigated the physical basis of experimental findings regarding length scale
dependence of scalar mixing in homogeneous turbulence.
- Applied the Backus-Gilbert geophysical inverse theory to determine the optimal
hydrophone array for resolving shallow water seabed structure.
- Taught quiz sections, tutored and graded classes (undergraduate and graduate
level) in ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations and complex
analysis.
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William (Ruddy) Mell
Dow Chemical
Crystal Falls, MI
6/83 - 8/85
Field Geophysicist
Schlumberger
Cody, WY
9/81 - 8/82
Field Engineer
- Led field team in exploration surveys for kimberlite ore using magnetic, seismic,
and soil sampling methods. Processed, interpreted, and presented findings from
the field for further planning.
- Led field crew in oil well logging measurements.
Professional Societies
American Physical Society
Combustion Institute
International Association of Wildland Fire
Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society
Awards/Synergistic Activities
2009
NIST Engineering Laboratory Communicator Award
2001
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), sponsored
by NASA.
2001
Harry C. Bigglestone Award. International award sponsored by the Fire Protection
Research Foundation. Honors most outstanding paper published in Fire Technology
during the previous year.
1994
National Research Council—National Institute of Standards and Technology
Postdoctoral Research Associateship
1990
Summer research program, Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University,
“Laminar Flamelet Modeling of Turbulent Diffusion Flames”
Papers published in peer–reviewed forums1
1. C. Hoffman, P. Morgan, W.E. Mell, R. Parsons, E. Strand, S. Cook, “Numerical simulation of crown fire hazard
following bark beetle caused mortality in lodgepole pine forests,” Forest Science, to appear
2. D. Morvan, C. Hoffman, F. Rego, W. Mell, “Numerical simulation of the interaction between two fire fronts in
grassland and shrubland,” Fire Safety Journal, to appear.
3. R. Parsons, W.E. Mell, P. McCauley, “Modelling the spatial distribution of forest crown biomass and effects on fire
behavior with FUEL3D and WFDS,” Ecological Modeling (2011); currently available online http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.ecolmodel.2010.10.023
4. A. Maranghides and W.E. Mell, “A Case Study of a Community Affected by the Witch and Guejito Fires,”to appear in
1. The Proceedings of the Combustion Institute is considered to be the most competitive and selective peer-reviewed forum in
the combustion science community. Because this is presently under-appreciated in many academic institutions, The Combustion Institute has issued and recommends statements similar to this one to prospective reviewers.
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William (Ruddy) Mell
Fire Technology (2011); currently available online.
5. R. Lawson, W.E. Mell, K. Prasad, “A heat transfer model for firefighter's protective clothing, continued developments
in protective clothing modeling,” Fire Technology, Special Issue: Bigglestone Award - A 25th Anniversary
Retrospective. 24, 833-841 (2010)
6. W.E. Mell, S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, D. Butry, R.G. Rehm, “The wildland-urban interface fire problem - current
approaches and research needs,” International J. Wildland Fire, 19, 238-251 (2010).
7. W.E. Mell, A. Maranghides, R. McDermott, S. Manzello, “Numerical simulation and experiments of burning Douglas
fir trees,” Combustion and Flame, 156, 2023-2041 (2009)
8. R.G. Rehm, W.E. Mell, “A simplified model for wind effects of burning structures and topography on WUI surfacefire propagation,” International J. Wildland Fire, 18, 290-301 (2009)
9. S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, J.R. Shields, W. E. Mell, Y. Hayashi, D. Nii, “Mass and size distribution of firebrands
generated from burning Korean pine (pinus Koraiensis) trees,” Fire & Materials, 33, 21-31 (2009)
10. W.E. Mell, J.J. Charney, M.A. Jenkins, P. Cheney, J. Gould, “Numerical simulations of grassland fire behavior from
the LANL-FIRETEC and NIST-WFDS models,” Remote Sensing and Modeling Applications to Wildland Fires, in
Geosciences, Springer-Verlag and Tsinghua University Press, to appear
11. S.L Manzello, J.R. Shields, T.G. Cleary, A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, J.C. Yang, "On the Development and
Characterization of a Firebrand Generator," Fire Safety Journal, 43, 258-268 (2008)
12. S.L. Manzello, T.G. Cleary, J.R. Shields, A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, J.C. Yang, "An Experimental Investigation of
Firebrands: Generation and Ignition of Fuel Beds", Fire Safety Journal, 43, 226-233 (2008)
13. S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, Firebrand Generation from Burning Vegetation, Int'l J. Wildland Fire, Int'l
J. Wildland Fire, 16, 458-462 (2007).
14. W.E. Mell, M.A. Jenkins, J. Gould, P. Cheney, “A physics-based approach to modelling grassland fires,” Intnl. J.
Wildland Fire, Vol. 16, pp. 1-22 (2007).
15. S.L. Manzello, T.G. Cleary, J.R. Shields, A. Maranghides, W. Mell, J.C. Yang “Experimental study on the ignition of
fuel beds by firebrands,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 31, (2006)
16. R. Sun, M.A. Jenkins, S.K. Krueger, W. Mell, J.J. Charney, “An evaluation of fire-plume properties simulated with the
fire dynamics simulator (FDS) and the Clark coupled wildfire model,” Canadian J. Forest Res., Vol. 35, pp. 2894-2908
(2006)
17. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan, H.R. Baum, “g-jitter Effects on Spherical Diffusion Flames,” Microgravity Science and
Technology, Vol. 15, pp. 12-30 (2004)
18. W.E. Mell, S.L. Olson and T. Kashiwagi, “Flame Spread Along Free Edges of Thermally Thin Samples in
Microgravity,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 28, pp. 2843-2849 (2000)
19. W.E. Mell and T. Kashiwagi, “Effects of Finite Sample Width on Transition and Flame Spread in Microgravity,” ,
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 28, pp. 2843-2849 (2000)
20. H.R. Baum and William E. Mell, “Radiation and Velocity Fields Induced by Localized Temperature Fluctuations,” ,
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 28, pp. 473-479 (2000)
21. W.E. Mell and J.R. Lawson, “A Heat Transfer Model for Fire Fighters’ Protective Clothing,” Fire Technology, 36, 3968 (2000).
22. W.E. Mell and T. Kashiwagi, “Dimensional Effects on Microgravity Flame Transition,” Proceedings of the Combustion
Institute, Vol. 27, pp. 2635-2641 (1998).
23. H.R. Baum and W.E. Mell, “A Radiative Transport Model for Large Eddy Fire Simulations,” Combust. Theory and
Modeling, 2, 405-422 (1998).
24. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan and H.R. Baum, “Numerical Simulation of Combustion in Fire Plumes,” Proceedings of
the Combustion Institute, Vol. 26, 1523-1530 (1996)
25. W.E. Mell, V. Nilsen, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Investigation of Closure Models for Nonpremixed Turbulent Reacting
Flows,” Phys. of Fluids, 6, 1331-1356 (1994).
26. W.E. Mell, V. Nilsen, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Direct Numerical Simulation Investigation of the Conditional Moment
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William (Ruddy) Mell
Closure Model for Nonpremixed Turbulent Reacting Flows,” Combust. Sci. and Tech., 91, 179-186 (1993).
27. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Length Scale Dependence of Scalar Mixing,” Phys. Fluids A, 3, 2474-2476
(1991).
28. W.E. Mell and J. Mercer, “An Inverse Solution for the Depth and Frequency Dependent Sediment Attenuation of LowFrequency (20 – 320 Hz) Compressional Waves,” Journal Geophys. Res., 93(C1), 621-630 (1988).
Papers submitted to peer-reviewed forums
1. C. Hoffman, P. Morgan, W. Mell, R. Parsons, E. Strand, S. Cook, “Surface fire intensity influences simulated crown
fire behavior in forests with mountain pine beetle-caused tree mortality,” submitted to Forest Science.
2. M. Ginder. C. Hoffman, W. Mell, M Whiteman, E Strand, T Hall, “Numerical simulations of fuel treatment
effectiveness in preventing structure ignition,” submitted to Journal of Forestry
Professional Activites / Committees
Currently active
1. Associate Editor, International Journal of Wildland Fire
2. Guest Editor, Special Issue of Combustion, “Forest Fire Research: The Latest Advances in Tools for Understanding and
Managing Wildland Fire”
3. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Forest and Rural Fire Protection Standards Committee, member
4. Sub-Panels to support the development of a cohesive strategy for wildland fire as requested by the 2009 FLAME Act
5. Ph. D. committee member for Chad Hoffman, University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources. Dissertation title:
“Numerical simulation of crown fire hazard and bark beetle infestation in lodgepole pine stands”
Completed within past five years
1. Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (subcommittee of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the
President’s National Science and Technology Council), co-lead with Sue Conard of the USDAFS on wildland fire
disaster element.
2. NOAA Science Adivisory Board Fire Weather Working Group.
3. Examiner on PhD committee for Andrew Sullivan, Australian National University. Dissertation title: “Competitive
Thermokinetics and Non-linear Bushfire Behavior”
4. Member of technical panel to review the National Fire Protection Association’s use of ArcView in their FIREWISE
program to aid communities assess and mitigate their risk to wildland fire.
5. Member of Joint Action Group formed by the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and
Supporting Research (OCFM) to review the needs and requirements for wildland fire weather information, to include
identifying organizational responsibilities and addressing the following issues: data collection, fire weather research,
weather forecast services, data assimilation, air quality, information dissemination, education and outreach, and user
response.
6. Ph. D. committee member for Ruiyu Sun of the University of Utah’s Meteorology Dept. Dissertation title: “Numcerical
modeling of the effects of fire-induce convection and fire-atmospher interactions on wildland fire spread and fire plume
dynamics”
7. Member of an international panel that reviewed the USDAFS Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS)
publications.
Publications in preparation.
1. W.E. Mell, R. Parsons, “Numerical simulation of laboratory measured fire spread threseholds in discontinuous fuel
beds”
2. D. Castle, F. Miller, W.E. Mell, T. Watcharapong, S. Mahalingham, “Numerical simulation of crown fire initiation
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experiments”
3. W.E. Mell, R. McDermott, “Development and assessment of a level set fire spread model using physics based
modeling”
4. S.L. Manzello, S.H. Park, W. Mell, Y. Hayashi “Use of the NIST firebrand generator to investigate firebrand transport
for computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model validation”
Peer–reviewed conference publications
1. D. Morvan, S. Meradji, W. Mell, “Numerical study of the interaction between a head fire and a backfire propagating in
grassland,” 10th Symposium on Fire Safety Science, University of Maryland, USA, 19-25 June 2011
2. K. McGrattan, R. McDermott, W. Mell, G. Forney, J. Floyd, S. Hostikka, “Modeling the burning of complicatied
objects using Lagrangian particles,” 12th International Conference on Fire Science and Engineering, 5-7 July 2010
3. W.E. Mell, A. W. Johnson, K. McGrattan, H. Baum and W.M. Pitts, “Large Eddy Simulations of Fire-Driven Flows”,
National Heat Transfer Conference, August 5–9, 1995, Portland, OR, HTD-Vol. 304, pp. 73-77, ASME.
4. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “A Direct Numerical Simulation Investigation of Closure Models for
Nonpremixed Turbulent Reacting Flows,” Paper No. 93–0104, 31st Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 11–14, 1993,
Reno, NV.
Invited Talks
1. W.E. Mell, “Wildland & wildland-urban interface fire behavior modeling - Perspective, new approaches and
applications,” Workshop: The importance of mechanism in understanding climate change effects on forest fires,
Calgary, Canada 18 June 2010.
2. W.E. Mell “NIST WUI Fire Research,” Joint Fire Sciences Governing Board Meeting, Minneapolis, MN 26 May 2010
3. W.E. Mell 'The WUI Fire Problem - Current Approaches and Research Needs,” 43rd North Americal Forest
Commission Fire Management Working Group Meeting, Sacremento, CA-USA, Oct. 6-8, 2009
4. W.E. Mell, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello “NIST’s wildland-urban interface fire program,” Spot Fire Workshop,
University of Toronto, 23-25 April 2009
5. W.E. Mell, “NIST’s wildland-urban interface fire program,” Fire Environment Committee Meeting, Boise, ID, 8-12
December 2008
6. A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, S.L. Manzello, “Fire investigation - Determining fire behavior from post-fire analysis,
Joint NASA/USDA Forest Service Wildfire Recovery Initiative, Pasadena, CA November 28, 2007
7. G. Forney, W.E. Mell, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, “NIST’s Wildland-Urban Interface Project,” National Blue
Ribbon WUI Panel Meeting, October 23, 2007, Washington D.C.
8. W.E. Mell, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, G. Forney, “Modeling wildland and wildland-urban interface fires,”
Plenary session: Eastern States Section Combustion Institute, October 21, 2007, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA.
9. A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, S.L Manzello, G. Fornegy, “Modeling firespread through communities,” Florida
FIREWISE Conference, October 2-3 2007.
10. W.E. Mell, R. Rehm, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, “Firespread in the wildland-urban interface,” 2nd Fire Behavior
and Fuels Conference; Special session on Wildland-urban Interface Fires, March 26-30, 2007, Destin, FL
11. G. Forney, W.E. Mell, “Visualization and modeling of smoke transport over landscape scales,” 2nd Fire Behavior and
Fuels Conference; Special session on Fundamental Research in Smoke Prediction, March 26-30, 2007, Destin, FL
12. W.E. Mell, B. Butler, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, S. Mahalingham, “Numerical simulation of burning vegetation:
laboratory experiments and crown fires,” 2nd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference; Special session on Fire Modeling
in Live Fuels, March 26-30, 2007, Destin, FL
13. W.E. Mell and A. Maranghides, “NIST wildland-urban interface fire research program,” Joint Action Group formed by
the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, April 20-21, 2006, Silver
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Spring, Maryland.
14. W.E. Mell and A. Maranghides, “NIST’s wildland-urban interface fire research program - Activities to date,” Forest
Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) Fire Advisory Committee meeting, Sept. 26, 2006, Edmonton, AB,
Canada.
15. W.E., Mell, R. Rehm, M.A. Jenkins, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, G. Forney, “Numerical modeling and experiments
of fire spread in trees and grassland fuels,” Biogeoscience Seminar Series, Oct. 28, 2005, University of Calgary,
Calgary, AB, Canada.
16. W.E. Mell, J.R. Lawson, Honors session of the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) World Fire Safety
Congress and Exposition, May 2001, Anaheim, CA. “A Heat Transfer Model for Fire Fighter’s Protective Clothing,”
W.E. Mell and J.R. Lawson recipients of NFPA’s Harry C. Bigglestone award.
Other conference publications or presentations (selected)
1. W. Mell, A. Maranghides, R. McDermott, G. Forney, D. McNamara, J. Trook, C. Hoffman “Computer modeling of
wildland-urban interface fires,” Fire and Materials 2011, 12th International Conference, 31st Jan - 2nd Feb 2011, San
Francisco, CA.
2. W.E. Mell, R. McDermott, G. Forney “Wildland & wildland-urban interface fire behavior modeling - Perspective, new
approaches and applications,” 3rd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference, October 2010, Spokane, WA-USA
3. M. Ginder. C. Hoffman, W. Mell, M Whiteman, E Strand, T Hall, “Numerical simulations of fuel treatment
effectiveness in preventing structure ignition,” 3rd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference, October 2010, Spokane, WAUSA
4. C. Hoffman, P. Morgan, W. Mell, R. Parsons, S. Cook, “Numerical simulation of crown fire hazard following bark
beetle caused mortality in Lodgepole Pine forests,” 3rd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference, October 2010, Spokane,
WA-USA
5. K. McGrattan, R. McDermott, W. Mell, G. Forney, J. Floyd, S. Hostikka, “Modeling the burning of complicatied
objects using Lagrangian particles,” 12th International Conference on Fire Science and Engineering, 5-7 July 2010
6. R. McDermott, G.P. Forney, K.B. McGrattan, W.E. Mell “Towards FDS6: Complex Geometry, Embedded Meshes,
and Quality Assessment,” V European Conf. on Fluid Dynamics, ECCOMA CFD 2010, Lisbon, Portugal, 14-17 June
2010.
7. C. Hoffman, P. Morgan, W. Mell, R. Parsons, S. Cook, “Numverical simulations of crown fire hazard immediately
following bark beetle caused mortality in Lodgepole pine forests,” Central Oregon Fire Science Symposium, April 2930, 2010, Bend, OR
8. A. Kochanski, M.A. Jenkins, S. Krueger, R. McDermott, W. Mell, “Capabilities of current wildfire models when
simulating topographical flow,” 2009 Fall AGU Meeting, 14-16 December 2009, San Francisco, CA-USA
9. C. Hoffman, P. Morgan, W. Mell, R. Parsons, S. Cook, “Numerical simulations of crown fire hazard in insect and
disease infested forests of the Pacific Northwest,” USDA Forest Service Region 6 Annual Forest Health and Protection
Technical Meeting, Dec. 10-11, 2009, Portland, OR, USA
10. C. Hoffman, P. Morgan, W. Mell, R. Parsons, S. Cook, E. Strand, “Numerical Simulation of Crown Fire Hazard
Following Bark beetle-Caused Mortality in Lodgepole Pine Forests,” AFE International Congress on Fire Ecology and
management. Nov. 30 – Dec. 4 2009, in Savannah GA-USA.
11. D. Morvan, C. Hoffman, F. Rego, W. Mell “Numerical simulation of the interaction between two fire fronts in the
context of suppression fire operations,” 8th Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorlogy, 13-15 October 2009, Kalispell,
MT-USA
12. S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, J. R. Shields, W.E. Mell, J.C., Y. Hayashi, D. Nii, “Measurement of firebrand
production and heat release rate (HRR) from burning Korean pine (pinus koraiensis) trees,” 7th Asia-Oceania
Symposium, Sept. 20-22, 2007, Hong Kong,
13. S.L. Manzello, J.R. Shields, T.G. Cleary, A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, J.C. Yang, Y. Hayashi, D. Nii, “On the
developments and use of a firebrand generator to investigate ignition of structures in wildland-urban interface fires,”
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Interflam 2007, Sept. 3-5, 2007, University of London,
14. W.E. Mell, R. Rehm, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, “Firespread in the wildland-urban interface,” 2nd Fire Behavior
and Fuels Conference, Special Workshop, March 26-30, 2007, Destin, FL
15. W.E. Mell, B. Butler, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, S. Mahalingham, “Numerical simulation of burning vegetation:
laboratory experiments and crown fires,” 2nd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference, March 26-30, 2007, Destin, FL .
16. S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, Y. Hayashi, D. Nii, “On the size and mass distribution of firebrands
generated from burning Korean pine (Pinus Koraniensis) trees” 2nd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference, March 2630, 2007, Destin, FL to appear.
17. G. Forney, W.E. Mell, “Visualization and modeling of smoke transport over landscape scales,” 2nd Fire Behavior and
Fuels Conference, March 26-30, 2007, Destin, FL to appear.
18. W.E. Mell, G. Forney, S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, R. Rehm, “Numerical modeling of firespread through trees and
shrubs,” 5th Intnl. Conf. Forest Fire Research, Nov. 27-30, 2006, Figuiera da Foz, Portugal.
19. S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, W.E. Mell, T. Cleary, J.C. Yang, “Firebrand production from burning vegetation,” 5th
Intnl. Conf. Forest Fire Research, Nov. 27-30, 2006, Figuiera da Foz, Portugal.
20. W.E. Mell, H. Hockenberry, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, G. Forney, G. DiMego, E. Jacks “NOAA-NIST fire
research initiative,” 2006 National WUI Fire Education Conference, Nov. 2-4, 2006, Denver, CO.
21. W.E. Mell, G. Forney, R. Rehm, S.L. Manzello, W. Ziperrer, A. Long, “NIST’s wildland-urban interface fire research
program - Activities to date,” USDA Forest Service Core Fire Science Caucus meeting, July 25-26, 2006, Seattle, WA
22. W.E. Mell, A. Maranghides, S.L. Manzello, W. Ziperrer, A. Long, “Solutions for fires in the wildland-urban interface:
The NIST/USDAFS research program,” NFPA World Safety Congress & Expo., June 4 - 8, 2006, Orlando, FL
23. W.E. Mell, R. Rehm, S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, G. Forney, A. Long, W. Ziperrer, D. McNamara, “Wildlandurban interface fires,” NIST Annual Fire Conference, April 3-4, 2006, Gaithersburg, MD.
24. W.E. Mell, R. Rehm, S.L. Manzello, A. Maranghides, G. Forney, “Experiments and modeling of fire in trees,” First
Fire Behavior & Fuels Conf., March 27-30, 2006, Portland, OR
25. S.L. Manzello, T.G. Cleary, J.R. Shields, A. Maranghides, W. Mell, J.C. Yang, “Experimental study on the ignition of
fuelbeds by firebrands in the wildland-urban interface,” Fist Fire Behavior & Fuels Conf., March 27-30, 2006,
Portland, OR
26. R. Sun, S.K. Krueger, M.A. Jenkins, W. Mell, J.J. Charney, “An evaluation of FDS and Clark coupled wildfire model,”
6th Fire & Forest Meteorology Symposium, Oct. 25-27, 2005, Canmore, AB, Canada
27. W.E. Mell, S. Manzello, A. Maranghides, G. Forney, “Numerical modeling of fire spread through individual trees and
shrubs,” 6th Fire & Forest Meteorology Symposium, Oct. 25-27, 2005, Canmore, AB, Canada
28. Rehm, R., W. Mell, “Improved models of forest and wildland-urban interface fires,” 6th Fire & Forest Meteorology
Symposium, Oct. 25-27, 2005, Canmore, AB, Canada
29. W.E. Mell, R. Rehm, A. Maranghides, S. L. Manzello, B. Pitts, G. Forney, “Overview of NIST’s community fire spread
program - Focus on firebrand experiments,” US Forest Service Core Fire Science Caucus meeting, August 22-23, 2005,
Seattle, WA
30. W.E. Mell, J. Charney, M.A. Jenkins, P. Cheney, J. Gould, “Numerical simulation of grassland fire behavior from the
NIST-WFDS models (with some comparisons to the LANL-FIRETEC fire model),” Fourth Annual Eastern Area
Modeling Consortium Meeting, June 21-22, 2005, Lansing, MI.
31. W.E. Mell, J. Charney, M.A. Jenkins, P. Cheney, J. Gould, “Numerical simulation of grassland fire behavior from the
LANL-FIRETEC and NIST-WFDS models,” EastFIRE Conference, Wildland Fire Research in the Eastern United
States, May 11-13, 2005, George Mason University
32. W. Zipperer, A. Long, R. Rehm, A. Maranghides, W. Mell, “Assessing fire risk of wildland-urban communities across
multiple scales,” EastFIRE Conference, Wildland Fire Research in the Eastern United States, May 11-13, 2005,
George Mason University
33. R. Rehm, D. Evans, W. Mell, “Mathematical Modeling of Neighborhood-Scale Fires,” Symposium on the Role of
Technology in Developing a Holistic Approach to Wildland-Urban Interface Fires, National Academy of Sciences,
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Organized by the U.S. General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C., August 17-18, 2004.
34. M.A. Jenkins, W.E. Mell, “Physical Modeling of Fire Spread through Vegetative Fuels,” Third Annual Eastern Area
Modeling Consortium Meeting, May 18-19, 2004, Lansing, MI.
35. R. Rehm, D. Evans, W. Mell, “Mathematical Modeling of WUI Fires,” invited talk presented at the May 19, 2004
workshop entitled, Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface: What does the Future Hold?. Sponsored by the Risk
Prediction Initiative (RPI) of the re-insurance industry at the Bermude Biological Station for Research, Bermuda, Dr.
Rick Murnane, organizer.
36. R. Rehm, D. Evans, W. Mell, S. Hostikka, K. McGrattan, G. Forney, C. Bouldin, E. Baker “Neighborhood-Scale Fire
Spread,” Second Intnl. Wildland Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress and Fifth Symposium on Fire and
Forest Meteorology, American Meteorology Society, 16-20 November, 2003, Orlando, FL
37. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan, Y. Nakamura, H.R. Baum, “Effects of g-jitter on microgravity combustion,” Western
States Section/The Combustion Inst., Oct. 15-16, 2001, Salt Lake City, UT.
38. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan, Y. Nakmura, H.R. Baum, “Effects of g-jitter on selected microgravity combustion
systems,” Sixth International Microgravity Combustion Workshop, May 22-24, 2001, Cleveland, OH.
39. T. Kashiwagi, W.E. Mell, Y. Nakamura, S.L. Olson, H.R. Baum and K.B. McGrattan, “Multidimensional effects on
ignition, transition, and flame spread in microgravity,” Sixth International Microgravity Combustion Workshop, May
22-24, 2001, Cleveland, OH.
40. H. Ross, D. Urban and W.E. Mell, “Secondary fires in microgravity environments,” Sixth International Microgravity
Combustion Workshop, May 22-24, 2001, Cleveland, OH.
41. T. Kashiwagi, W.E. Mell, H.R. Baum, “Theoretical Study on Ignition, Transition, Flame Spread in Multidimensional
Configuration in Zero Gravity,” Microgravity Combustion International Seminar, Proceedings, August 19-20, 1999,
Japan, pp 68-76, 1999.
42. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan and H.R. Baum, “g–jitter effects on microgravity combustion,” Fifth International
Microgravity Combustion Workshop,” May 19–21, 1999, Cleveland, OH.
43. T. Kashiwagi, W.E. Mell, H.R. Baum and S.L. Olson, “Ignition, transition, flame spread in multidimensional
configurations in microgravity,” Fifth International Microgravity Combustion Workshop,” May 19–21, 1999,
Cleveland, OH
44. H. Baum and W.E. Mell, “Radiation and Velocity Fields Induced by Localized Temperature Fluctuations,” First Joint
Meeting of the U.S. Sections of the Combustion Institute, March 14-17, 1999, GWU, Washington, DC.
45. T. Kashiwagi, J.W. Gilman, W.E. Mell and H.R. Baum, “New Flame Retardant Approach and Burning Model in the
Cone Calorimeter,” 14th Joint Panel Meeting of the UJNR Panel on Fire Research and Safety, May 26 - June 3, 1998,
Japan.
46. W.E. Mell and H.R. Baum, “Simulation of Fires with Radiative Heat Transfer,” Seventh International Conference on
Numerical Combustion, March 30 – April 1, 1998, York, Britain, SIAM.
47. W.E. Mell, H.R. Baum and K.B. McGrattan, “Simulation of Fires with Radiative Heat Transfer,” Second International
Conference on Fire Research and Engineering,” August 3-8, 1997, Gaithersburg, MD, Society of Fire Protection
Engineers, Boston, MA. pp. 26-36, 1998
48. T. Kashiwagi, W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan, H.R. Baum, S.L. Olson, O. Fujita, M. Kikuchi and K. Ito, “Ignition,
Transition, Flame Spread in Multidimensional Configurations in Microgravity,” Fourth International Microgravity
Combustion Workshop,” pp. 411–416, May 19–21, 1997, Cleveland, OH, NASA Conference Publication 10194.
49. H.R. Baum and W.E. Mell, “A Radiative Transport Model for Large Eddy Fire Simulations,” Eastern States Section/
The Combustion Inst., pp. 179–182, Dec. 9–11, 1996, Hilton Head, SC
50. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan, H.R. Baum, A.W. Johnson and W.M. Pitts, “Large Eddy Simulations of Buoyant Plumes,”
Sixth International Conference on Numerical Combustion, pp. 129–130, March 4-6, 1996, New Orleans, LA., SIAM.
51. G. Kosály and W.E. Mell, “Reynolds Number Similarity in Nonpremixed Reaction Flows,” 48th Ann. APS Div. of Fluid
Dynamics meeting, November 1995, Irvine, CA.
52. W.E. Mell, A.W. Johnson, K.B. McGrattan, W.M. Pitts and H.R. Baum, “Measurement and Computation of Velocity
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and Concentration in Buoyant Plumes,” 48th Ann. APS Div. of Fluid Dynamics meeting, November 1995, Irvine, CA.
53. W.E. Mell, A.W. Johnson, K. McGrattan, H. Baum and W.M. Pitts, “Numerical Simulation of Buoyant Plumes,” Paper
No. 95F-221, Western States Section/The Combustion Institute, 1995 Fall meeting, Stanford University, CA.
54. W.E. Mell, K.B. McGrattan, H.R. Baum, A.W. Johnson and W.M. Pitts, “Large Eddy Simulations of Buoyant Plumes,”
Eastern States Section/The Combustion Inst., pp. 187–190, Oct. 16–18, 1995, Worcester, MA.
55. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “A Direct Numerical Simulation Investigation of the Conditional Moment Closure
Model,” 25th International Symposium on Combustion, Turbulent Combustion WIP-01, July 1 - August 5, 1995, Irvine,
CA.
56. W.E. Mell and G. Kosály, “Quasi-steady Reaction Dynamics (the influence of mixing),” 46th Ann. APS Div. of Fluid
Dynamics meeting, November 1993, Albuquerque, NM.
57. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Investigation of the Laminar Flamelet Model for Nonpremixed Turbulent
Reacting Flows,” Paper No. 93-074, Western States Section/The Combustion Inst., 1993 Fall meeting, Oct. 1993, Menlo
Park, CA.
58. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “A Direct Numerical Simulation Investigation of Closure Models for
Nonpremixed Turbulent Reacting Flows,” Paper No. 93–0104, 31st Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 11–14, 1993,
Reno, NV.
59. G. Kosály and W.E. Mell, “The Mapping Closure Approach to Scalar Mixing in Homogeneous Turbulence,” 45th Ann.
APS Div. of Fluid Dynamics meeting, November 1992, Tallahassee, FL.
60. G. Kosály, W.E. Mell and J.J. Riley, “Direct Numerical Simulation Investigation of Turbulent Reacting Flows,” Fourth
International Conference on Numerical Combustion (SIAM), December 1991, St. Petersburg Beach, FL.
61. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Investigation of Laminar Flamelet Modeling via Turbulent Simulation,” 44th
Ann. APS Div. of Fluid Dynamics meeting, November 1991, Scottsdale, AZ.
62. G. Kosály, W.E. Mell and J.J. Riley, “Laminar Flamelet Modeling of Turbulent Diffusion Flames,” 43rd Ann. APS Div.
of Fluid Dynamics meeting, November 1990, Ithaca, NY.
63. G. Kosály, W.E. Mell and J.J. Riley, “Length Scale Dependence of the PDF of a Conserved Scalar,” 43rd Ann. APS
Div. of Fluid Dynamics meeting, November 1990, Ithaca, NY.
64. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Investigation of the Scalar–to–Velocity Time–Scale Ratio in Isotropic
Turbulence,” 42nd Ann. APS Div. of Fluid Dynamics meeting, November 1989, Palo Alto, CA.
65. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály and J.J. Riley, “Length Scale Dependence of Scalar Mixing in Isotropic Turbulence,” AIChE
Annual Meeting 1989, San Francisco (Poster No. 166abb).
Other publications
1. A. Maranghides, W. Mell, K. Ridenour, D. McNamara, “Initial reconnaissance of the 2011 wildland-urban interface
fires in Amarillo, Texas,” NIST Technical Note 1708, July 2011.
2. W.E. Mell and J.R. Lawson, “A Heat Transfer Model for Fire Fighter’s Protective Clothing,” NISTIR 6299, National
Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (2000)
3. W.E. Mell, G. Kosály, O. Planche, T. Poinsot and J.H. Ferziger, “Laminar Flamelet Modeling of Turbulent Diffusion
Flames,” Proceedings of the 1990 Summer Program, Center for Turbulent Research, Stanford University, 255–270
(1990).
4. V. Nilsen, W.E. Mell and G. Kosály, “Investigation of the Conditional Moment Closure Model for Nonpremixed
Turbulent Reacting Flows,” University of Washington Technical Report, UW–ME–TRR–92–1.
5.
Current Grants
1. A. Maranghides (PI), W. Mell (Co-PI), R. Vihnanek, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mitigation Activities in the
Wildland Urban Interface, (WUI)” JFSP Research AFP 11-1-3-29. Develop and deploy field data collection methods
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before and after WUI fires in order to support well-founded assessment of the exposure conditions and response of
structures. The resulting database will help determine what risk assessment and risk mitigation approaches in WUI
communities work and provide a test bed for developing improved approaches.
2. W. Mell (PI), R. Rehm, G. Forney “Models for fire spread in the wildland-urban interface,” JFSP Research AFP 20071-5, $388,900 over three years. Develop and evaluate fire behavior models which range in complexity and are
applicable to wildland-urban interface fires. End date is October 2011.
3. M. Wooster (PI), G. Papadakis, W. Mell (project partner), “Quantifying pyro-convective injection heights via
observations of fire energy emissions,” Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), United Kingdom. Establish
methods for determining (with accuracy estimates) (1) the energy release from biomass fires using Earth observation
satellite data and (2) vertical distribution of emissions from the fires
Grant proposals in review
1. none currently
Other Activities
1. Ongoing Collaborations:
- Sher Shranz, Georg Grell, Steve Peckham; improving NOAA’s Fire Weather Prediction system
- Chad Hoffman, Univ. of Idaho; Influence of bug kill on fire behavior
- Russel Parsons, USDA RMRS; modeling fire spread through trees
- Bret Butler, USDAFS RMRS; fire models, crown fires, fire effects modeling.
- Mark Finney & Jack Cohen, USDAFS, RMRS; fire spread through discontinuous fire beds
- Prof. Martin Wooster, Ronan Paugham, Kings College, London; evaluation of remote sensing of fires
- Matt Dickinson, USDAFS NRS; fire effects modeling
- Prof. Mary Ann Jenkins, Atmospheric Sciences Dept., York Univ., Toronto; modeling fire/atmosphere interaction
- Jim Gould, CSIRO, Australia; field experiments (mostly past) for fire model validation
- Prof. Shankar Mahalingham, ME Dept., UC Riverside; modeling transition to crown fire
- Dave Schroeder, Provincial Forest Fire Centre, Conduct experiments in Canadian NWT for model validation.
- Prof. Valerie Young, Ohio Univ., Chem. Eng.; intracanopy smoke transport
2. (Past) Oversee projects funded by NIST’s Fire Grants program. Currently there are two grants:
1) “Enhancing the Wildland-urban interface Fire Dynamics Simulator for Modeling Fire Behavior in the WildlandUrban Interface,” Jason Trook, Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe GIS Program. A description of the project can found at
http://gis.cdatribe-nsn.gov/projects/nist.aspx
2) “Multiscale modeling of wildfires,” Prof. Steve Krueger, University of Utah, Meteorology Dept.
1. Reviewer:
- ASME
- Combustion Institute Program Review Subcommittee
- Combustion and Flame
- International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow
- International Journal of Wildland Fire
- Progress in Energy and Combustion Science
Teaching
1. Sept. 1985 – June 1992 (various quarters), while a graduate student at the University of Washington. Taught quiz
sections, tutored and graded classes (undergraduate and graduate level) in ordinary differential equations, partial
differential equations and complex analysis.
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Professional courses
1. Wildland Firefighter Course (S-130 Firefighter training; S-190 Intro. to Wildland Fire Behavior; I-100, I-200, S-134,
L-180), June 2007. Red Card is current.
2. August, 1995. ASME Short Course: Numerical Solution of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer, Portland, OR. Instructor: S.
Patankar.
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