Idil Fenercioglu Aydin

I started working as a research assistant in 1999 and started conducting supersonic experiments in the Trisonic Wind Tunnel at Istanbul Technical University. For my Masters degree, I performed tests using a projectile model with various forward facing cavity depths to explore a passive cooling method to degrade the nose ablation. I spent almost a year in RWTH-Aachen Stosswellenlabor, where I participated in shock tube experiments for a DFG supported project named "Generating high particle velocities using the shock tunnel technology to applications in coating technology".

My PhD thesis study was based on a NATO-AVT Task Group’s interest on application of flapping wings to micro air vehicles. I performed my experiments the water channel facility using PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) method. After obtaining my PhD degree in 2010, I worked as a visiting Post-Doc researcher in University of Bath Aerospace Engineering Research Centre where I participated in experimental studies for flow over oscillating flexible and rigid airfoils using PIV and 3-D V3V systems.

Along with continuing my experimental research in Istanbul Technical University, I started to lecture graduate and undergraduate level modules besides supervising bachelors and masters level dissertations.

I joined University of Brighton in 2019 where I was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics.

I have worked exclusively in experimental fluid mechanics area ranging from supersonic flow velocities to subsonic flow regimes. I am interested in subjects related to missile aerodynamics, force prediction from quantitative flow visualization, flow over flapping wing micro air vehicles, flow-structure interactions, streamlined and bluff bodies in oscillation, wind turbine aerodynamics and flow over delta wings.

I am a Technical Team Member for NATO-AVT Panel Business Meetings since 2013 and recently in our task group we are studying large-amplitude gust mitigation strategies.

My current research interests are flapping wing aerodynamics with main focus on experimental realization of energy harvesting using flapping foils. In addition to fundamental research and development of flapping wing micro air vehicles, my former Master’s student and I have experimentally demonstrated that flapping foils can actually be used to harvest energy from surrounding flows. With our international collaborators, I am performing tests to design and develop a small scale renewable and sustainable oscillating-wing energy generator with anticipation to materialize an industrial product. 

The dissertation topics I supervise are mostly based on experimental studies and I am interested in supervising research students in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, energy harvesting, oscillating wings and gust mitigation topics.