Konstantina Vogiatzaki

Konstantina Vogiatzaki is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science, and Fellow and Tutor in Engineering Science at Somerville. She is also an elected member of the UK branch of the Combustion Institute and of the Combustion Dynamics Group of the Institute of Physics (IoP). Konstantina leads research into multiscale computational modelling that help answer fundamental question in the broad field of fluid dynamics, phase change, turbulence, and heat transfer. She combines analytical methods, data-sets generated by supercomputers and more recently machine learning techniques to produce high fidelity models of the underlying thermo-fluid processes governing complex systems ranging from gas turbines and injection devices to carbon capture units and human organs.

Having a strong interest in sustainability she is also working in close collaboration with industries helping them with the modelling tools she develops in the faster design and optimisation of environmentally responsible energy and propulsion solutions. Her research has been supported by the UK’s EPSRC, the European Union, University Seed Funding and through industrial collaboration in the aerospace, maritime and automotive sectors. She graduated from the Department of Applied Mathematics at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and obtained her PhD from Imperial College London with a thesis entitled “Stochastic and deterministic multiple mapping conditioning for jet flames”. She was awarded the prestigious Bernard Lewis Fellowship by the Combustion Institute in 2010 for the development of a novel turbulent combustion modelling framework (namely Multiple Mapping Conditioning, MMC).

Following her PhD she worked as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Imperial College London for two years, developing LES models for spray dynamics in gas turbines, before moving to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was appointed as a Research Scientist at the Mechanical Engineering Department for two years, and she led the CFD team of the MIT’s Reacting Gas Dynamics Laboratory working towards developing numerical tools for the modelling of instabilities and fluid mixing for hydrogen fuelled systems. Before joining Oxford, she conducted academic research and teaching in different institutions in the UK and abroad including the King’s College London, University of Stuttgart, Imperial College, City University of London, and University of Brighton.

• Woman of Impact in Science, University of Brighton, 2018
• Hinshelwood Prize, Combustion Institute, awarded annually to a young member for exceptional work in any branch of Combustion,2016
• Bernard Lewis Fellowship, Combustion Institute, for high quality research in combustion by young scientist,2010
• Award for the Best Poster and the Best Oral Presentation, COCCFEA, 2007

Within my group we develop multi-scale simulation techniques combined with High Performance Computing (and more recently Machine Learning) that support the virtual design and optimisation of complex systems such as energy, propulsion and biomedical systems.

My most recent research focuses on the development of novel modelling techniques of fluid behaviour at extreme pressure and temperature conditions such as the dynamics of cryogenic fluids, flammable fluids and supercritical fluids.

My research interests are:

• Cryogenic Fluid Dynamics
• Supercritical flows
• Alternative fuels with focus on hydrogen and ammonia
• Net Zero Propulsion Systems
• Sustainable energy solutions including Cooling, Carbon Capture and Energy Storage
• Fundamental modelling of multiphase flows (droplets, bubbles, and sprays)
• CFD, HPC and ML

Current Research Projects:

• Energy Storage: 2022-2025 EPSRC Standard Grant (EP/W027712/1): SUCCES (Stored Up-valued Concentrated Cold Energy System), Project Partners: University of Brighton, Highview Power Storage Bennamann Ltd, Zotefoams 
• Carbon Capture: 2021-2025: University of Brighton PhD Studentship of Mr L. Dacanay: Investigation of spray dynamics and chemistry for high-efficiency carbon capture (Project Supervisors: Prof C. Crua, Dr I. Gass, Dr K. Vogiatzaki )
• Lung modelling for TB: 2019-2023 Doctoral Training Alliance studentship of Mr P. Papaioannou: A novel pulmonary fluid dynamics tool for early diagnosis of tuberculosis” Project Partners: Brighton and Sussex Medical School, BEAT CAE UK, University College of London, University of Cardiff, City University of London (Project Supervisors: Dr K. Vogiatzaki, Prof. Simon Waddell, Prof. M. Cercignani, Dr I. Triantis )
• Cryogenic Fluid Dynamics 2018-2023 EPSRC UKRI Innovation Fellowship (EP/S001824/1): Unveiling the injection dynamics of cryogenic energy carriers for zero-emission high-efficiency systems, Project Partners: Ricardo UK, Libertine UK, University of Stuttgart

I am always interested to hear from people who want to get involved in curiosity driven projects at DPhil level and have a strong background in any of the following fields: fluids, heat transfer, applied mathematics and computing. Please get in touch to discuss specific projects and ideas regardless of how ambitious they are (as long as they are scientifically solid!).  Note that all potential applications need to follow the Postgraduate Admission Guidelines.