Established in 1986, the Center for Fluid Mechanics, Turbulence and Computation was founded to promote research at Brown University in fluid mechanics, the study of turbulent flows and transition phenomena, the use of scientific computation in fluid mechanics research, and topics of related scientific interest. Permanent members of the Center include faculty from the division of Applied Mathematics, the division of Engineering as well as faculty from other departments. Each year the Center attracts distinguished visiting scientists and provides a strong program for post-doctoral students, through sponsored research.

The Center sponsors research seminars in fluid mechanics. The Center has also established a scientific computation facility for fluid mechanics research which is maintained by the staff within the Center. A major goal of the facility is to enable animated, three-dimensional, color graphics for the visualization of complex fluid flows. Given the complexity of present-day research problems, this is a vital tool for the analysis of results in areas such as drag reduction and turbulence control, or the study of ocean currents. This facility is also linked to national supercomputer centers and is available to participating researchers on campus.