Mechanical Engineering

www.VOILAb.eng.ed.ac.uk

Ignazio Maria Viola is Professor of Fluid Mechanics and Bioinspired Engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of Edinburgh; Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University; Adjunct Professor at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna; and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA). 

He publishes in Nature, Nature Communication, eLife, Renewable Energy, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Ocean Engineering, etc. For his publications, Viola was awarded two RINA Medals of Distinction and one Medal of Exceptional Merit, a Gold Rating for the Best Journal Article by the International Marine Energy Journal, as well as the Covid-19 Hero Medal of the School of Engineering of the U. of Edinburgh for significant contribution to solving Covid-19 challenges. 

Overall Viola has contributed to securing research grants in the excess of £18M of which £6M were allocated to his institution and £7M as Principal Investigator. He leads an ERC Consolidator Grant fellowship DANDIDRONE (€2m, 101001499), an ARIA grant SEED (£0.5m), the EPSRC project MORPHING BLADES (£1m, EP/V009443/1), and several other grants funded by industry, the Royal Society, etc. Viola is Co-Investigator and Director of Responsible Research and Innovation of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Wind & Marine Energy Systems & Structures (£6m, EP/S023801/1).  

He is the Functional Vice President Alt. of Knowledge Management of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), and a member of several Executive Committees, including the Group on Energy Research and Applications of the American Physical Society, the UK Fluids Network, the UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network, and he is a member of the Academic Board of the National Robotarium. 

Viola is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sailing Technology (SNAME), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (ASME), and the Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy (Springer). He is a member of the Executive Committee of the conference series ECCOMAS International Conference on Computational Methods in Marine Engineering (MARINE), and Innovation in High-Performance Sailing Yachts (Innov'Sail). 

Curriculum Vitae

Research Group: VOILAb

• 2008, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Experimental and Numerical Aerodynamics of Sailing Yachts, Politecnico di Milano
• 2001, Master of Engineering, Naval Architecture, Università degli studi di Genova

CEng, Chartered Engineer Registered by the Engineering Council (UK), no. 584133 (2010) Dott. ing., Italian State Examination to practice as ‘Ingegnere’ (engineer) (2001) EUR ING, European Federation of National Engineering Associations, no. 31153 (2010) FRINA, Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, no. 00174260 (member since 2009)

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Sailing Technology, SNAME (2016-date) Associate Editor, Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, ASME (2023-date) Associate Editor, Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, Springer (2023-date)

Functional Vice President Alt. of Knowledge Management, Society of Naval Arch. and Marine Eng. (2024-date) Executive Committee, Group on Energy Research and Applications, American Physical Society (2023-date) Executive Committee, UK Fluids Network (2020-date) Executive Committee, UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network (2024-date) Academic Board, National Robotarium (2024-date)

• Fluid Mechanics
• Marine Energy
• Naval Architecture

Aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, including

• Aerodynamics
• Biomechanics
• COVID Aerodynamics
• Sail Aerodynamics
• Wind and Tidal Energy

• Research group: VOILAb
• Research Explorer (paper repository)
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Edinburgh Fluid Dynamics Group

1985, BE, Mechanical Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway 1987, MEngSc, Mechanical Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway  1991, PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, USA

Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Chartered Engineer, Member of Engineers Ireland Member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers Member of Society for Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE)

Inaugural Sir Bernard Crossland Medal for Engineering Innovation, Engineers Ireland, 2008 Institution of Mechanical Engineers Donald Julius Groen Prize, 2012 Údarás na Gaeltachta / TG4 Gaeltacht Business Award 2007 - Innovation Category Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Award for Successful Licensing from NUI Galway ATRP Project, 2007 Fulbright Scholars Programme Award at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, 1995 Engineers Ireland Smith Testimonial, 1994

Khushboo Pandey — University of Edinburgh Research Explorer

Mark Linne is an experimentalist who has worked in reacting flow-fields (sprays, combustion and fuel cells) and advanced flow-field measurement techniques (laser and x-ray based) since earning a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. He has worked as a laser development scientist at Spectra-Physics Inc. where he developed the first commercially available diode-pumped solid state lasers (now an ubiquitous technology, for which he was awarded 2 patents). He was a professor at the Colorado School of Mines (in the US), The University of Lund (in Sweden), Chalmers University (in Sweden) and now the University of Edinburgh. Throught his career Linne has been active in the development of fiberoptic-based absorptipn/fluorescence probes; short-pulse degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) and pump/probe absorption spectroscopy; novel gated-integration and phase sensitive detection imaging techniques; early particle image velocimetry and cavity-enhanced absorption techniques; time-gated ballistic imaging for sprays; and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for interfacial electrochemistry. Linne is currently working on short pulse coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) in collaboration with Sandia Labs, and on novel approaches to thermodynamic state changes (trans-critical) in liquid/gas systems (e.g. fuel sprays). He has also served as a manager of Combustion Chemistry at Sandia National Labs' Combustion Research Facility and he was the Director of the Combustion Engine Research Center at Chalmers University. Linne is now the Chair of Combustion Engines in Edinburgh with the task to lead the development of a new lab that focuses on novel internal combustion engines for hybrid vehicles, as range extenders for electric cars, for heavy-duty Diesel engines, and marine engines. The lab has a specialty in direct-injected engines and so it also focuses on spray physics. A new Small Research Facility is under development. Linne is also the Head of the new Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids.

• PhD Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1985
• BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1975

• Course organizer for MECE09034 Thermofluids 3, a 20 credit class combining fluid mechanics (taught by Dr. Matthew Borg) and heat transfer (taught by Prof. Linne).

• Fellow of the Optical Society of America
• Member of the Combustion Institute (serving in various functions, now on the Finance Committee)
• Member of the Institute for Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems

Dr Yang's current research interests focus on Composites Engineering (materials, manufacturing and structures) and Computational Engineering (multiscale, multiphysics, multiphase coupling). With a background in manufacturing and later experience in structural and materials engineering, his cross-disciplinary research is at the interfaces of underpinning material science, emerging manufacturing technologies and advanced structural analysis and design. He also develops computational techniques and deterministic models to address multiscale, multiphysics and multiphase coupling challenges across engineering disciplines.

Google Scholar     Researchgate

• BEng in Mechanical Engineering, 2004.
• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, 2007.
• PhD in Civil Engineering, Leeds (with ORSAS scholarship), 2011.

CEng, FIMechE, FHEA

I welcome talented PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows and academic/industrial visitors from various engineering disciplines to work on composites engineering and computational engineering. 

There are various scholarship opportunities at Edinburgh, click the links below for more details:

CSC-Edinburgh scholarship

Principal's Career Development PhD Scholarships​

Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship

University of Edinburgh scholarships

Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) scholarships

Edinburgh Centre for Robotics

‪Andrew Downes‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

Andrew studied at the University of Cambridge and was awarded a degree in Natural Sciences (Physics) in 1992. He continued in Cambridge for his PhD on nano-optical microscopy which was awarded in 1996. He remained in Cambridge as a Postdoc on the analysis of metallic nanowires until 1998, when he moved to Marseille to continue work on nano-optical microscopy and spectroscopy. He returned to Cambridge in 2001 to set up a nano-optical microscope, and in 2003-4 was at UCL working on nano-optical lithography.

In 2005 he moved to Edinburgh to work on nano-optical Raman microscopy. In 2006 he set up a Coherent anti-Stokes microscope for biological samples, and in 2007 was awarded an RCUK fellowship which converted into a lectureship in 2012. Research expanded to Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy mechanical measurements, and high-speed Raman imaging of biological samples. A common theme has been novel measurements, and pushing the limits of detection. In 2020 he was promoted to senior lecturer.

A recent focus has been the use of Raman spectroscopy in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, investigating living cells and tissues and applying to accurate diagnosis.

PhD (Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 1996).

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) since 2017.

• Raman spectroscopy for analysis of biological materials, and disease diagnosis
• High-speed Raman (CARS, SRS) microscopy
• Equipment development for Raman spectroscopy and microscopy
• Nano-scale (tip-enhanced) Raman spectroscopy and microscopy

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2010 Dissertation: Transport Phenomena in Cathode Catalyst Layer of PEM Fuel Cells (Advisor: Prof Xianguo Li)
• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, 2003 Dissertation: Electrostatic Double Layer Interactions in Confined and Many-Body Geometries (Advisor: Prof Subir Bhattacharjee)
• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, BUET, Bangladesh, 2001 Thesis: Elastic-Plastic Behaviour of a Circular Rod under Combined Torque and Tension (Supervisor: Prof Abu Rayhan Md. Ali)
• BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, BUET, Bangladesh, 1998 Thesis: Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of a Solar Water Heater (Supervisor: Prof Md. Imtiaz Hossain)

Editorships Associate Editor in Electrochemical Engineering, Frontiers in Chemical Engineering (2022–date) Associate Editor, Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage (2021–date) Associate Editor in Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Membrane Reactors, Frontiers in Energy Research (2020–date)

Guest Editor for the special issue: Multiphysics, Multiphase, and Multiscale Modeling and Characterization of Porous Media in Electrochemical Energy Systems, Frontiers in Energy Research (2023) Lead Guest Editor for the special issue: Battery Management in Electric Vehicles: Current Status and Future Trends, Batteries (2022–2023) Lead Guest Editor of a special issue on Advanced Energy Materials and Research, Energies (2020–2021)

Editorial Board Member for section Battery Performance, Ageing, Reliability and Safety, Batteries (2022–date) Editorial Board Member of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (2022–date) Editorial Board Member for section D1: Advanced Energy Materials, Energies (2019–2023) Editorial Board Member for section Inventions and Innovation in Energy and Thermal/Fluidic Science, Inventions (2018–date)

Advisory Board Member, Challenges, MDPI (2020–date)

• Thermodynamics 4
• Professional Issues for Mechanical Engineers 3
• Sustainable Energy Systems Dissertation
• Mechanical Engineering Project 4

Dr Andrew Lyden is a Lecturer in Energy System Economics and Management within the Institute for Energy Systems. His research focus is on advancing open-source energy system science including data, models, and outputs. He is working on research and consultancy projects related to net-zero electricity markets, integrated multi-energy (electricity, heat, transport, food, water) markets and models, decarbonised district heating and cooling, and long-term energy storage technologies (e.g. underground thermal energy storage).

As part of his work on the INTEGRATE project (which focussing on modelling of the integration of multiple energy sources with seasonal thermal energy storage to decarbonise heat), he developed a transmission network model of the GB power system, PyPSA-GB, which can model historical years and National Grid's Future Energy Scenarios. During his PhD he worked on modelling local energy systems with particular interest on the optimal design and control of heat pumps and thermal storage. As part of this work he developed the open-source tool PyLESA (Python for Local Energy Systems Analysis). He has previously worked on numerous research and industry projects including topics such as future district heating design, community energy masterplanning, and virtual power plants.

Publications.

• PhD in Renewable Energy Systems, University of Strathclyde, UK
• MSc in Renewable Energy Systems & the Environment, University of Strathclyde, UK
• BSc in Physics, University of Edinburgh, UK

• Course organiser - Energy & Environmental Economics MSc
• Supervisor - Sustainable Energy Systems Disseration MSc