Rate My Professor Mark Runacres

Mark Runacres is Professor of Fluid Dynamics in the Faculty of Engineering at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where he holds positions as Professor in Engineering Technology and Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, and serves as Chair of the Department of Engineering Technology. He earned his PhD in Physics in 1997 and MSc in Applied Mathematics in 1990, both from Vrije Universiteit Brussel. A member of the FLOW research group since 2013, Runacres specializes in unsteady fluid dynamics, with particular emphasis on wind energy, computational fluid dynamics, physical modeling, and data-driven modeling of fluid flows. His research interests also extend to astrophysical flows and vortex-induced vibration. Active in distributed wind energy research since 2007, he contributed to IEA Wind Task 27 on small wind turbines in strongly turbulent environments and currently participates in IEA Wind Task 41 on distributed wind energy. He chairs the European Academy of Wind Energy Small Wind Turbines Technical Committee.

Runacres has published extensively on topics including airfoil aerodynamics, dynamic stall mitigation, variational multiscale methods for incompressible flows, and laminar separation bubbles on low-Reynolds-number airfoils. Key publications include 'A Linearized and Segregated Variational Multiscale Method for Incompressible Flows' (International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 2026), 'Dynamic stall mitigation of a pitching aerofoil using a data-driven model' (Computers & Fluids, 2026), 'Prediction of Laminar Separation Bubble on Airfoils at Low Reynolds Number' (Flow, Turbulence and Combustion, 2026), 'User oriented guide of data-driven state-space models for fluid mechanics' (Nonlinear Dynamics, 2026), and 'Airfoil Aerodynamic Response to Sinusoidal Streamwise Gusts: Experiments and Computations' (Journal of Aircraft, 2025). He edited the book Distributed Small Wind Turbines (Institution of Engineering and Technology, year not specified in sources). Earlier works feature experimental validation of paired vertical-axis wind turbines (Renewable Energy, 2020) and techno-economic comparisons of rooftop PVs and small wind turbines (IET Renewable Power Generation, 2019). Runacres teaches courses on fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, and wind energy at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and has delivered seminars such as 'Artificial Aerodynamics'.