William Crowther

William Crowther is a Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at The University of Manchester. He holds a PhD in Experimental Aerodynamics from the University of Bath and has been at Manchester since 1997, progressing from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer (2006), Reader (2011), and full Professor. As Director of the Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Programme since 2011, he specializes in Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), flow control, and experimental aerodynamics. His notable projects include the FLAVIIR flapless aircraft (2009), the Tumbleweed unmanned helicopter, and biodiversity surveys in the Amazon using UAVs (2012-2013). He leads major grants like HOMEOffshore (offshore wind farm inspection) and CASCADE (accelerating UAV adoption). He has supervised 25 PhD students and managed £5M in research funding.

• Professional Memberships: Chartered Engineer (CEng), Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Fellow of the Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
• External Roles: External Examiner at University of Limerick (2015–2018)

Research focuses on UAV design, flow control systems, and aerodynamic innovation. His MAGMA gas turbine UAV prototype gained international recognition. Current work includes autonomous systems for scientific and commercial applications.