"[6] He has authored and co-authored research articles[7] and two books titled Engines and Fuels for Future Transport (which he co-edited) and Racing Toward Zero: The Untold Story of Driving Green, which received the 2022 Independent Press Award for Environment.

He is the Director of the Computational Chemistry Consortium[1] and has been a member of the Board of Advisors for the Central States Section of the Combustion Institute since 2014,[22] and the Chair of the ASME ICE Division Executive Committee since 2024.

[27] He also presented a linear stability analysis of a liquid sheet considering gas effects, surface tension, and viscosity, determining a transition point for simplifying the dispersion relation and correctly forecasting spray characteristics for pressure-swirl atomizers in multi-dimensional simulations.

[30] Senecal was involved in the development of a new CFD code, employing a modified cut-cell Cartesian technique and advanced numerical methods to simulate complex engine processes.

[37] Senecal pioneered the use of genetic algorithms (GAs) coupled with CFD to achieve more efficient and cleaner engines and received press coverage for his work.

[38][39][40] He developed the KIVA-GA code to optimize combustion chamber geometry in diesel engines, achieving reductions in emissions and fuel consumption by adjusting nine input variables simultaneously.

In his book co-authored with Felix Leach, Racing Toward Zero: The Untold Story of Driving Green, he discussed sustainable transportation, covering propulsion systems, low-carbon fuels, and regulatory measures, emphasizing the importance of a balanced approach that incorporates both internal combustion engine and electric vehicle technologies to achieve low emissions efficiently.

At the time of publication, they showed that a mix of powertrain technologies is the best path toward reducing transportation sector emissions until the U.S. grid can provide electricity for the all-electric fleet infrastructure and vehicle operations with a carbon intensity that produces a net environmental benefit.