Faculty Profile

Steven Van Sciver is a Distinguished Research Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Director of Magnet Science and Technology at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL). He joined the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the NHMFL in 1991, initiating and teaching in the graduate program in Magnet and Materials Engineering and in cryogenic thermal sciences and heat transfer. Since 1997 Dr. Van Sciver has been Director of Magnetic Science and Technology at the NHMFL. In this capacity he manages the group of about 70 professional staff and students that develop high field magnet systems for the NHMFL. Dr. Van Sciver is a Fellow of the ASME and the American editor for the journal Cryogenics.

Prior to joining Florida State University, Dr. Van Sciver was Research Scientist and then Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Engineering Physics and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1979 to 1991. He was also Associate Director of the Applied Superconductivity Center. Dr. Van Sciver received his PhD in Low Temperature Physics from the University of Washington-Seattle in 1976.

Dr. Van Sciver is author of over 150 publications in low temperature physics, liquid helium technology, cryogenic engineering and magnet technology. He is also author of the textbook, Helium Cryogenics, published by Plenum Press (1986).

• "Steady-State Pressure Drop and Heat Transfer in He II Forced Flow at High Reynolds Number" S. Fuzier and S. W. Van Sciver Cryogenics 41, 453 (2001)
• "He II Level Measurement Techniques" D. Celik, D.K Hilton, T. Zhang and S.W. Van Sciver, Cryogenics 41, 355 (2001)
• "Techniques for the Detection of Second Sound Shock Pulses and Induced Turbulence in He II" D. K Hilton and S.W. Van Sciver Cryogenics 41, 347 (2001)
• "Application of PIV to Counterflow in He II" D. Celik, T. Zhang and S.W. Van Sciver, Advances in Cryogenics Vol. 47, 1372 (2002)
• "A Study of the Temperature Dependent Drag Coefficient on a Sphere in Flowing He II" Y. S. Choi, M. R. Smith and S. W. Van Sciver, Advances ion Cryogenics Vol. 47, 1335 (2002)
• "Numerical Simulation of Two-Phase Helium II Stratified Flow in Cryogenic Units of TESLA" X. Yu, S. Wolf, B. Peterson and S. W. Van Sciver, ).., IEEE Trans. on Appl. Super. Vol. 12, 1368 (2002)
• "An Experimental and Numerical Study of He II Two-Phase in the Tesla Test Facility" Y. Xiang, ..(S. W. Van Sciver).., Cryogenics Vol. 42, 719 (2002)
• "Optimization of Operating Temperature in Cryocooled HTS magnets for compactness and Efficiency" H. M. Chang, Y. S. Choi, and S. W. Van Sciver, Cryogenics Vol. 42, 787 (2002)
• "Tracer Particle Generation in Superfluid Helium through Cryogenic Liquid Injection for Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Applications" D. Celik and S. W. Van Sciver, Exper. Thermal and Fluid Science, Vol. 26, 971 (2002)
• "Quantum Turbulence in He II Second Sound Shock Pulses" D. K. Hilton and S. W. Van Sciver, Physica B, (Accepted)