DisCoVor 2026 features a lineup of distinguished keynote speakers, each bringing unique insights into the realm of vortex-dominated flows. We are proud to announce that Prof. Holger Babinsky from the University of Cambridge and Dr. Sophie Ramananarivo from École Polytechnique will be joining us to give keynote talks. Their presentations will encompass a diverse array of topics, including experimental methodologies, computational advancements, and theoretical developments. Stay tuned for titles and abstracts of their keynote talks to be presented at DisCoVor 2026.
Keynote Talks and Speakers
Holger Babinsky
Holger Babinsky studied Aerospace Engineering at Stuttgart University in Germany. He obtained a PhD in hypersonic aerodynamics from Cranfield University (UK) in 1994. After 18 months as Research Associate at the Shock Wave Research Center of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan he returned to the UK to take up a position in the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. He is now Head of Fluid Mechanics, Energy and Turbomachinery as well as a Fellow of Magdalene College. His main areas of research are in the field of experimental aerodynamics and associated measurement techniques. Apart from shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions which he has studied for more than 30 years, he also works in unsteady aerodynamics, road vehicle aerodynamics, and flow control for aircraft wings and engine inlets. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Aeronautical Journal, the world’s oldest aerospace science journal, as well as an Associate Editor of Experiments in Fluids. He has co-authored (with Professor John Harvey, ex Imperial College) the first textbook on shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions, which has since been translated into Chinese.
Sophie Ramananarivo
Sophie Ramananarivo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanics at École Polytechnique (IP Paris, France), where she has been since 2017. Her research focuses on fluid-structure interactions and elasticity, combining experiments with reduced-order modeling. Her earlier work explored questions related to animal flight and swimming, such as the role of flows in shaping fish schools and bird flocks. She also investigated different forms of coupling at the microscopic scale, studying interactions between microscopic swimmers and their colloidal environment. Since 2019, she has developed a new line of research on the coupling between origami and kirigami structures and fluid flows, supported by two consecutive grants (ANR JCJC and ANR PRC). This research opens new avenues for adaptive, flow-responsive materials, whose emergent behavior arises from the interplay between structural nonlinearities and flow dynamics.
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