David S. Ancalle, P.E.

I am an engineer with a passion for fluid mechanics. This field of study has given me the opportunity to work in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, and education. I made this website to share my work and interests with future clients, collaborators and students.

As a water resources engineer, I specialize in water, wastewater, and stormwater design. Some of my recent projects have involved runoff mitigation, sewer modeling, floodplain mapping, bridge design, water quality assessments, and erosion studies. I work mostly in Georgia, Florida, & Puerto Rico but I'm always looking to expand my geographical reach. I am a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and manage a team of talented engineers and students.

As a biofluids researcher, I study how mammals use fluids for protection, nutrient/waste transport, lubrication, and communication. I like to go where my curiosity takes me, which has led to unusual, interesting, and seemingly irreverent research projects. The interdisciplinary nature of my work has allowed me to collaborate with physicists, chemical engineers, medical doctors, and mechanical engineers.

While I enjoy the work I do, I find it more rewarding to share it with students. I am a teacher at several institutions, and have taught courses in engineering, humanities, and mathematics. I currently teach at Kennesaw State University and at Gwinnett Technical College, and I previously spent a year teaching elementary and middle-school math.

The photo in my header is the Yalu River Broken Bridge. You can see the city of Sinuiju, North Korea at the other side of the river.

News and Updates

April 2022

  • My poster "Physics of flatulence" won the Best Paper Award in Animal Bioacoustics at the Acoustical Society of America!

March 2022

  • A book I reviewed was published! Check out Plesha, Gray, & Constanzo's "Engineering Mechanics" (3rd ed).
  • I presented a talk on earwax at the Physics of Living Systems Lunch and Learn organized by the Georgia Tech School of Physics.

February 2022

  • I was nominated by my department and selected by my school (along with 6 other faculty) to represent KSU at the upcoming Teaching Professor Conference in Atlanta.

January 2022

  • Vaughn Claussen has joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion.
  • José Collazo has joined our consulting team at CA Engineering for an internship.
  • Luke Maran has joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion for a research internship.

December 2021

  • Kyliyah Daniel has joined my consulting team as a undergraduate intern.
  • I presented a poster titled "Physics of flatulence" at the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) annual meeting in Seattle, WA.

November 2021

  • Undergraduates Charles, Nelson, and Krys presented their posters at the regional meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (rSICB) in Atlanta, GA.

October 2021

  • Charles Finn and I traveled to Bangor, ME to present a poster titled "Earwax deters crawling insects and aids in self-cleaning" at the annual meeting of the Society of Rheology (SoR).

September 2021

  • Krys Quiroz has joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion for a research internship.

August 2021

  • I accepted a position as Lecturer for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Kennesaw State University. Among my new duties, I will be the faculty advisor for the ASCE Student Chapter.

July 2021

  • Marco Taveras has joined my consulting team as an undergraduate intern.
  • I gave an informal talk on my research at Georgia Tech titled "Mammal Biofluids and their Functions"
  • I presented my research at the Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) Early Career Faculty Symposium. My talk was titled "Function of Biofluids in Mammal Orifices".
  • We presented a workshop on water treatment plants for an invited talk at the Jornadas Académicas Virtuales del Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Oruro (CICO). Our talk was titled "Plantas de Tratamiento de Agua: El Caso de la Planta de Tratamiento de Cunningham".

June 2021

  • I was one of the 11 fellows selected for the Graduate Teaching Fellowship offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning at Georgia Tech!

May 2021

  • Joseph Walter and Robert Zhang have joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion for a summer internship, which they completed in August 2021.
  • Hunter Grant and Florencia Cloitre have joined my consulting team as undergraduate interns.
  • Eric Smith has completed his undergraduate internship and will continue in my team as a full-time project engineer.

March 2021

  • I was awarded a grant for Affordable Learning Georgia to develop a math course for engineering students.
  • I passed my PhD Qualifying Exams! My topics were fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.

January 2021

  • Charles Finn has joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion for a research internship, which he completed in Dec. 2021.
  • Nelson Jiang has joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion for a research internship.
  • I was one of the 11 recipients of the BOLD Graduate Fellowship offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning at Georgia Tech!

December 2020

  • Rami Okasha has joined my consulting team for a Spring internship, which he completed in May 2021.

November 2020

  • Miguel Zadorosny presented our work on earwax at the regional meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (rSICB).

August 2020

  • Miguel Zadorosny has joined our team at the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion for a Fall research internship, which he completed in Dec. 2020.
  • I joined the Hu Lab for Biolocomotion at Georgia Tech, where I will pursue a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
  • Hattie Walrod has joined my consulting team for a Fall internship, which she completed in January 2021.

May 2020

  • I completed a year of teaching math with Art of Problem Solving Academy! I will now focus on my other teaching appointments and consulting. I'm very thankful to Damian, Vince, and the rest of the staff for my time at AoPS.
  • Bill Ngo and Eric Smith have joined my consulting team for a year-long internship, which they completed in May 2021.

January 2020

  • I accepted a two-year contract as a Limited Term Instructor of Civil Engineering at Kennesaw State University.

September 2019

  • I volunteered for the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival at Emory University.

August 2019

  • I joined Art of Problem Solving Academy as a part time math teacher.

July 2019

  • I was one of the 27 educators from around the world selected to attend the Religious Literacy Summer Institute for Educators at Harvard University.

January 2019

  • Joseph Leach has joined my consulting team for a year-long internship which he completed in January 2020.

November 2018

  • I gave a guest lecture at the University of North Georgia. My seminar was titled "Improving stormwater quality with Best Management Practices"

July 2018

  • I joined Gwinnett Technical College as an Adjunct Instructor of World Religions.

January 2018

  • I have decided to start my consulting business in water resources engineering.

August 2017

  • I joined Kennesaw State University as a Part Time Instructor of Civil Engineering.

My Work

ENGINEERING

Water Resources

I am a licensed Professional Engineer with extensive experience in water, wastewater, and stormwater modeling.

RESEARCH

BIOMECHANICS

I am a PhD student in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. I study the mechanics of biofluids in mammal orifices.

TEACHING

STEM and Liberal Arts

I have taught math in middle school, religions in college, and engineering in university. I have also developed courses for higher education.