Rate My Professor Aldo Rona

Dr. Aldo Rona serves as Associate Professor in Fluid Dynamics and Turbomachinery in the School of Engineering at the University of Leicester. He earned a first-class B.Eng.(Hons) from the Department of Aeronautics at City University, UK, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Southampton, UK. His research focuses on unsteady flows, compressible flows, and aeroacoustics of significance to aerospace, transport, and energy sectors, utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He employs tailored analytical methods and experimentation to validate predictions. Specific interests include turbomachinery aerodynamics, featuring novel endwall contouring to enhance gas turbine performance for propulsion and power generation, conducted in collaboration with partners in the USA, Japan, and Iraq. Additional areas encompass modelling of central airways and hemodynamics in main vessels, as well as advanced liquid cooling via nanofluids. CFD applications extend to renewable energy and sustainability, such as wind and water turbines and heat transfer enhancement with nanofluids, alongside medical evaluations of haemodynamics using CT scans and 4D MRI for pre- and post-surgical assessments.

Rona's career includes an EPSRC Research Fellowship at Southampton (1996-1997), an EU Marie Curie Fellowship at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium (1998), and a Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Secondment at Alstom Power (General Electric) in Whetstone, Leicester (2004-2005). At the University of Leicester, he advanced from Lecturer (1998-2010) to Senior Lecturer (2010-2016) and subsequently to Associate Professor. He holds Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Chartered Engineer status, and membership in the Royal Aeronautical Society. As principal or co-investigator, he has secured grants including the Sulis EPSRC platform for ensemble computing (EP/T022108/1, £3,000,000, 2020-2024), LOTUS UK-Malaysia Health Research Partnership (MRC, £322,383, 2019-2021), HPC Midlands Plus Tier 2 Centre (£3,200,000, 2016-2021), and a Visiting Professorship in Motorsport Aerodynamics (£30,000, 2015-2018). Key publications comprise 'Analysis of wind energy characteristics and wind turbine selection for residential use: a case study' (International Journal of Thermofluids, 2025), 'Guidance on using two-phase models for predicting the performance of a nanofluid minichannel heat sink' (Powder Technology, 2024), 'Reshaping the rotor hub of a 1.5-stage axial turbine to reduce pressure losses by a parametric groove' (Thermal Engineering, 2024), and 'A workflow for designing contoured axisymmetric nozzles for enhancing additively manufactured cold spray deposits' (Additive Manufacturing, 2023), among others in leading journals such as Journal of Turbomachinery and Applied Thermal Engineering.