Brian Launder facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brian Launder
FRS FREng
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| Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UMIST/University of Manchester | |
| In office 1998–2022 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Brian Edward Launder
20 July 1939 |
| Died | Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day |
Brian Edward Launder (born 20 July 1939) is a brilliant Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the United Kingdom. He teaches at the University of Manchester. Professor Launder is famous for his important work on how liquids and gases move, especially when they are messy or "turbulent." He also developed special ways to predict this movement using computers. In 1994, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very high honor for scientists.
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Becoming an Engineer
Brian Launder started his journey at Imperial College London. He studied mechanical engineering and was the best student in his class! He even won a special award called the Bramwell Medal.
After that, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. There, he earned his master's degree and then his doctorate. For his doctorate, he did experiments about how fluids behave very close to surfaces.
Teaching and Research
In 1964, Professor Launder returned to Imperial College. He started as a lecturer and later became a Reader in Fluid Mechanics. This means he taught and did research on how liquids and gases flow.
After 12 years at Imperial College, he moved to the University of California, Davis in 1976. He worked there as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering for four years.
In 1980, he came back to the UK. He joined the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). He led the Thermo-Fluids Division for 16 years. He also served two terms as the Head of the Department.
Understanding Turbulence
Professor Launder's main research is about something called turbulence modelling. This is a way to use computers to understand and predict how turbulent flows behave. Imagine water swirling in a river or smoke rising from a chimney – that's turbulence!
He worked with W. P. Jones to create a very popular model called the "k-epsilon model." They introduced this model in 1972. It helps scientists and engineers predict how turbulent flows will act.
Professor Launder also developed another important model with his colleagues Gordon J. Reece and Wolfgang Rodi. This was the Launder–Reece–Rodi model (1975). It became one of the most tested models for understanding turbulence.
Awards and Honors
Because of his amazing work in turbulence modelling, Professor Launder has received many honors. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. These are two of the highest honors for scientists and engineers in the UK.
He has also received special awards from universities in other countries. From 2000 to 2006, he was a director at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. This center studies how climate change affects our world.
Books by Brian Launder
Professor Launder has written several important books about his research:
- Mathematical Models of Turbulence (1972) with D. B. Spalding.
- Closure Strategies for Turbulent and Transitional Flows (2002) with N. D. Sandham.
- Geo-engineering climate change. Environmental necessity or Pandora's box? (2010) with J. Michael T. Thompson. This book looks at ways to control climate change.
- Modelling turbulence in engineering and the environment. Second-moment routes to closure (2011) with Kemal Hanjalic.
