ERCOFTAC 'da Vinci Competition' 2010 


The annual da Vinci Competition is one of the most important events in ERCOFTAC’s calendar. Its importance arises from the fact that it is the principal ERCOFTAC forum for the youngest, most gifted researchers in our field in Europe to present the products of their endeavours. The hope, indeed expectation, is that these young researchers will progress to become Europe’s leaders in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion, and will act as ERCOFTAC’s most eminent ambassadors.

The 2010 da Vinci Competition was held at ERCOFTAC's Autumn Festival in Lisbon. The six finalists gave presentations of a very high standard, the winner being Oliver Buxton, from Imperial College London, for his paper on:

       'The fine scale features of turbulent shear flows'

"To be amongst the final six young researchers asked to present my work to a distinguished audience of European researchers was a real honour. All of the presentations in Lisbon were of the highest standard; it was genuinely a privilege to be part of such a varied and high quality programme. Winning the competition itself is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my academic career to date."

Instantaneous PIV streamwise velocity fields. Insets show close-ups of the large-scale (left) and small-scale (right) velocity data in the middle of the field of view

This research "makes use of state of the art laser diagnostic techniques to make fully three-dimensional measurements as well as instantaneous synchronised multi-scale measurements of the (dissipative) small scale motions possible, for the first time".

 

 

 

The da Vinci Prize - 1000 Euros, a Certificate and a medal - is awarded to the competitor judged by the jury to have demonstrated the best combination of scientific merit and presentational quality. 

Visit the 'da Vinci Competition' pages for more information.