Please note:
Prof. Reitz is not accepting new graduate students, postdocs, or advisees at this time.
Professor Reitz's research interests include internal combustion engines, chemical kinetics and sprays. A major research focus of his group is the development and application of advanced computer models for the design of fuel injected engines, including diesel and spark-ignited engines. His group has also pioneered a high efficiency, low emissions, dual-fuel engine technology, known as Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI)
Prof. Reitz performs engine experiments using fully instrumented single-cylinder research diesel engines equipped with high-pressure electronic fuel injection systems. The experimental results are used to study the effect of fuel injection characteristics (such as variable rate and multiple injections) on diesel engine soot and NOx emissions, as well as to develop injection strategies for Low Temperature Combustion engines. The engine experiments also provide validation data for the computer models. The computer models are used in combination with genetic algorithm search techniques to find optimum engine designs.
Before joining the university in 1989, Reitz spent six years at the General Motors Research Laboratories, three years as a research staff member at Princeton University, and two years as a research scientist at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University.
He is a consultant to many industries and is a member of the Combustion Institute and the Society of Automotive Engineers. He has served on the executive board of the Institute of Liquid Atomization and Spraying Systems--North and South America, and is the current director of the UW-Madison Mechanical Engineering Department's Engine Research Center. He is Editor (Americas) of the International Journal of Engine Research.