Michele Ferlauto

Michele Ferlauto serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS) at the Polytechnic University of Turin. His academic career spans over a decade, during which he has consistently contributed to doctoral education in Aerospace Engineering from the 27th cycle (2011/2012) through the current 40th cycle (2024/2025). He holds teaching responsibilities for Advanced Aerospace Propulsion, Computational Fluid Dynamics of Propulsion Systems, and Fluid Dynamics of Turbomachinery courses at the master's level, along with contributions to the Space Environment, Access and Operations course in Engineering and Management.

Professor Ferlauto's research focuses on aerospace propulsion systems with particular emphasis on fluid dynamics phenomena. His primary research interests include aerospace propulsion, aero-thermal design, computational fluid dynamics, nonlinear inverse problems, and turbomachinery design. His work spans both theoretical and experimental aspects of propulsion systems, with extensive publications in high-impact aerospace journals. His research lines encompass Active Flow Control of propulsive systems and Thrust Vectoring, Compressor instabilities simulation and control, Rotating stall in compressors, gas turbine engine testing, control and simulation, Optimal Aerothermal design of Turbomachinery components, and Solution of inverse problems using Adjoint methods.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong concentration on fluidic thrust vectoring techniques, particularly through differential throttling in aerospike nozzles. His work demonstrates a sophisticated integration of computational fluid dynamics with experimental validation, showing increasing incorporation of artificial intelligence techniques for flow control and system diagnostics. The research trajectory indicates a progression from fundamental fluid dynamics studies toward more applied aerospace propulsion systems with practical implementation considerations.

Professor Ferlauto actively supervises doctoral students including Jehangir Hassan, Chengxin Liu, and Emanuele Resta, whose research focuses on fluidic thrust vectoring, non-invasive state recognition technology, and advanced propulsion systems. He has led significant research projects including AEROJET (2007-2011), a numerical and experimental environment for simulating conventional and innovative propulsion systems, and commercial consulting projects related to aerodynamics and heat exchange. His research group, the Aerospace Propulsion Group at DIMEAS, maintains strong connections with industry partners and contributes to sustainable propulsion technologies aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), and 13 (Climate action).