Our case studies showcase academic research from across the Department that has had an impact on the world or local community, and feature some of our current academics, research staff, Alumni and students.
Tamara Sopek, PDRA, Hypersonics Group
RESEARCHER
Dr Tamara Sopek is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Hypersonics Group at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute. Hypersonics is the study of very fast and highly energetic flows encountered by space vehicles, planetary probes and air-breathing engines called scramjets. Dr Sopek's expertise lies in hypersonic ground-testing in high-speed facilities such as shock and expansion tunnels, where she uses laser diagnostics to measure flow properties and study aerothermodynamic phenomena. She also uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate these flows.
Alumni turns to nature to help save the planet
ALUMNI
How does L’Occitane en Provence, a business steeped in the poetry of the natural world, deal with the grim realities of climate change? Engineering Alumni Adrien Geiger, L’Occitane’s first ever Group Sustainability Officer, explains.
Could South African mine wastes provide feasible storage for CO2?
CLIMATE CHANGE
The SAT4CCS project, led by researchers from the universities of Pretoria, Oxford and Cape Town, aims to assemble detailed information on tailings across South Africa. The aim is to identify the total potential for sequestration in the South African mining sector.
Environment-sensing legged robot navigates by learning from its mistakes
ROBOTICS
A team of researchers at the Oxford Robotics Institute are working on the control of legged robots. They are developing solutions for these legged robots to be able to perceive their environment and make intelligent decisions to move from one point to the other.