Ravi Pethiyagoda

Dr. Ravi Pethiyagoda is a Lecturer in Mathematics at the School of Information and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle. His research focuses on fluid mechanics, computational mathematics, and free-surface flows, with particular emphasis on ship wave dynamics and tsunami propagation. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Queensland University of Technology (2016) and has conducted postdoctoral research on droplet impaction on plant leaves and nonlinear ship wave patterns.

His work includes advancing numerical methods like Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) techniques to solve complex fluid dynamics problems. He has contributed to understanding the apparent wake angle, time-frequency analysis of ship wakes, and compressible ocean wave propagation. Current PhD supervision spans wave scattering, fluid dynamics with surface tension, and ocean wave problems.

Key research areas include: numerical methods for nonlinear ship wave problems, analysis of wake patterns, spectrogram-based wave signal interpretation, and tsunami wave dynamics under variable bathymetry. His interdisciplinary studies bridge mathematics, physics, and engineering, with applications in oceanography and agricultural fluid dynamics.