Dr. Baki Farouk, J. Harland Billings professor of mechanical engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant totaling $299,998 for his project entitled, "Fundamental Studies of the Thermoacoustic Effect: Interactions of Acoustic Waves with Viscous Fluids". The three year project  is an experimental and numerical study of acoustically-driven viscous flows in resonators embedded with either a layer of closely-spaced thin plates (a stack) or with close-packed plain-weave metal screens (a regenerator) will be carried out. This research will enhance the current level of sophistication in analyzing a wide variety of acoustically-driven problems of technological importance, specifically related to the design improvement of thermoacoustic refrigerators.