Speakers and Programme
Plenary Speakers
Dr Moritz Linkmann, University of Edinburgh
The physics of the energy cascade in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
Moritz Linkmann is a Reader in the School of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. Starting at the University of Vienna, Austria, as a pure mathematician with interests in differential geometry and number theory, he moved towards fluid dynamics by completing a PhD in Theoretical Physics at Edinburgh in 2016, investigating the self-organisation of turbulence, particularly in magnetohydrodynamics, through a combination of analytical theory and numerical simulation. He then held postdoctoral positions at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, focusing on theoretical aspects of large-eddy simulation, and in Marburg, Germany, studying turbulence in wall-bounded parallel shear flows. He joined the University of Edinburgh as faculty in 2020 and is now Co-Director of the new Centre for Plasma Theory, a cross-School initiative between Mathematics and Physics. His research centres on multiscale nonlinear dynamics in fluid and plasma systems. He combines computational methods for solving partial differential equations, numerical stability analysis, and machine-learning principles with analytical approaches including asymptotic and functional analysis, dynamical systems theory, and statistical physics. Current interests include magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, magnetoconvection, turbulence in polymer-laden flows, and an increasing focus on plasma turbulence.
Dr Martin Muir, Airbus
A Challenge of Two Timeframes - Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation in the Preliminary Overall Aircraft Design Cycle for Commercial Aviation
Dr Martin Muir, Head of Optimisation and Multiphysics for Airbus Digital Airframe Advanced Capabilities. A graduate of the University of Leeds with a 15 year history in the development, deployment and use of modelling, simulation and optimisation spanning everything from bicycle components to spacecraft, in fields including structural. multidisciplinary, multiphysics and multiagent based modelling, across the technology spectrum.
Professor James Sprittles, University of Warwick
Droplet dynamics in the presence of gas nanofilms: merging, wetting, bouncing & levitation
Dr Jennifer Tweedy, University of Bath
Fluid dynamics of the eye
Jennifer Tweedy is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath. She studied for her PhD at the University of Cambridge, followed by positions at the University of Nottingham and Imperial College London. A career-break followed, and she has worked the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath since 2021, where she has held Emmy Noether and Royal Society-funded Daphne Jackson Fellowships. Her research is mainly on application of fluid dynamics and continuum mechanics to physiology and medicine, mainly working on the eye and blood flow.
Professor Christina Vanderwel, University of Southampton
Experimental studies of Urban Aerodynamics and Air Pollution Dispersion
Christina Vanderwel is Professor of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southampton and Head of the Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Research Group. She received her PhD from the University of Ottawa in 2014, focusing on turbulent dispersion, and was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship in 2015 to work on turbulent boundary layers over multiscale roughness. She now holds a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (2020–2027) focusing on air pollution dispersion in urban flows. She serves on the committees of the UK Wind Engineering Society, the UK Fluids Network, and the UK National Wind Tunnel Facility.
Outline Programme (subject to change)
Tuesday 8 September 2026
08:15 – 09:30
Registration and coffee in Parkinson Court
09:30 – 09:45
Introduction and welcome
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
09:45 – 10:30
Session 1
Plenary 1
- Droplet dynamics in the presence of gas nanofilms: merging, wetting, bouncing & levitation
Professor James Sprittles, University of Warwick
10:30 – 10:45
Group photograph on the Parkinson Steps
10:45 – 11:15
Refreshments, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
11:15 – 13:15
Parallel sessions 2 to 4
- Session 2 – INS: Fluid dynamic instabilities, transition and turbulence 1
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 3 – AER: Aerodynamics, aeroelasticity and aeroacoustics 1
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 4 – FRE: Free surface and multiphase flows 1
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
13:15 – 14:00
Lunch, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
14:15 – 16:15
Parallel sessions 5 to 7
- Session 5 – INS: Fluid dynamic instabilities, transition and turbulence 2
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 6 – AER: Aerodynamics, aeroelasticity and aeroacoustics 2
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 7 – FRE: Free surface and multiphase flows 2
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
16:15 – 16:45
Refreshments, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
16:45 – 17:25
Session 8 – UKFN Thesis Prize Lecture
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
- Elasto-inertial instabilities and turbulence in Taylor Couette flows
Theofilos Boulafentis
University College London, UK
17:25 – 18:00
Poster Flash Presentations
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
18:00 – 19:00
Poster Session Drinks Reception
Parkinson Court
19:00 onwards
Evening free (for delegates to make their own arrangements)
Wednesday 9 September 2026
09:00 – 09:45
Session 9
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
Plenary 2
- A challenge of two timeframes - multidisciplinary design optimisation in the preliminary overall aircraft design cycle for commercial aviation
Dr Martin Muir, Airbus
09:45 – 10:10
Refreshments, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
10:10 – 12:30
Parallel sessions 10 to 12
- Session 10 – INS: Fluid dynamic instabilities, transition and turbulence 3
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 11 – AER: Aerodynamics, aeroelasticity and aeroacoustics 3
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 12 – COM: Complex fluids 1
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
13:30 – 14:15
Session 13
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
Plenary 3
- Fluid dynamics of the eye
Dr Jennifer Tweedy, University of Bath
14:20 – 15:20
Parallel sessions 14 to 16
- Session 14 – CFD: Computational fluid dynamics 1
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 15 – ADV: Advanced techniques including AI, machine learning and data-driven approaches 1
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 16 – BIO: Biological flows including health applications (including biofluids) 1
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
15:20 – 15:50
Refreshments, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
15:50 – 17:10
Parallel sessions 14 to 16 continued
- Session 14 continued – CFD: Computational fluid dynamics 1
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 15 continued – ADV: Advanced techniques including AI, machine learning and data-driven approaches 2
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 16 continued – BIO: Biological flows including health applications (including biofluids) 2
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
19:00 – 22:30
Conference Dinner
The Queens Hotel, City Square, Leeds City Centre (delegates to make their own way there)
Thursday 10 September 2026
09:05 – 09:50
Session 17
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
Plenary 4
- The physics of the energy cascade in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
Dr Moritz Linkmann, University of Edinburgh
09:50 – 10:20
Refreshments, posters and exhibition in Parkinson Court
10:20 – 12:00
Parallel session 18 to 20
- Session 18 – CFD: Computational fluid dynamics 2
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 19 – ENV: Environmental flows (including coastal, riverine and urban fluid mechanics) 1
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 20 – IND: Industrial applications (including microfluidics, mixing and 3D printing) 1
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch in Parkinson Court
13:00 – 14:00
Parallel sessions 21 to 23
- Session 21 – CFD: Computational fluid dynamics 3
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building - Session 22 – GEO: Geophysical flows 1
Room LG10, Michael Sadler Building - Session 23 – IND: Industrial applications (including microfluidics, mixing and 3D printing) 2
Room LG19, Michael Sadler Building
14:00 – 14:45
Session 24
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building
Plenary 5
- Experimental studies of urban aerodynamics and air pollution dispersion
Professor Christina Vanderwel, University of Southampton