معرفی
Ben Thornber is a Professor of Thermofluids in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast. He previously served as Associate Dean Research for the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney, leading research strategy and equity initiatives. His research focuses on fundamental challenges in flow, turbulence, and combustion, with applications to rotorcraft, scramjets, wind turbines, and automotive aerodynamics. He has developed advanced numerical models and methods, attracting significant research funding from councils and industry. Thornber is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and actively promotes outreach, including collaborations with the Science Museum and ABC News. His group’s work spans high-speed propulsion, turbulent mixing, and aerodynamic optimization, with notable contributions to Richtmyer-Meshkov instability studies and detached-eddy simulations.
Thornber holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and has supervised numerous students, including alumni like Dr. Michael Groom (CSIRO Fellow) and Dr. Zeeshan Rana (Cranfield University Senior Lecturer). His research portfolio includes over 60 peer-reviewed articles, with recent emphasis on spherical implosions, actuator surface modeling, and wind farm aerodynamics. He advocates for diversity in STEM, particularly encouraging underrepresented groups to pursue PhDs in fluid dynamics and CFD.
- Education: PhD in Aerospace Engineering (University of Sydney)
- Affiliations: Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow, European Space Research Technology Centre (ESTEC)
- Key Projects: LUMEN Demonstrator Heat Transfer, Ship-Helicopter Dynamic Interface Modeling, DLR Collaborations
His scientific outreach includes media appearances and educational initiatives, emphasizing public engagement in engineering and fluid dynamics. Current research trends highlight compressible mixing, turbulence modeling, and high-performance CFD solver development for industrial and aerospace applications.
- Grants & Awards: Athena Swan Bronze Award contributor, Multi-million-pound research funding from industry and councils
