Roger Tanner

Roger Tanner is Professor Emeritus in the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Sydney, where he held the prestigious P.N. Russell Chair of Mechanical Engineering from 1975 until his retirement in July 2020. He also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research from 1993 to 1997. Tanner earned his BSc in Mechanical Engineering with First Class Honours from the University of Bristol in 1956, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1957 through the King George VI Memorial Fellowship, and a PhD from the University of Manchester in 1961, focusing on lubrication and viscoelasticity. His academic career began as an Assistant Lecturer at Manchester (1958–1961), followed by Senior Lecturer and then Reader positions at the University of Sydney (1961–1966). He then advanced to Associate Professor and Professor at Brown University (1966–1975), where he conducted pioneering work on the die-swell phenomenon and computational rheology, before returning to Sydney.

Tanner's research specializations center on rheology, non-Newtonian fluids, viscoelasticity, fluid mechanics, and computational fluid dynamics, with significant contributions including the first realistic finite element calculation of viscous jet swelling (die-swell) in 1974 and the co-development of the Phan-Thien–Tanner (PTT) constitutive model for viscoelastic fluids in 1977. He authored the influential book Engineering Rheology in 1985 and has published approximately 300 papers, amassing over 13,000 citations. His impact on the field is evidenced by major awards such as the Edgeworth David Medal (1967), A.G.M. Michell Medal (1999), Gold Medal of the British Society of Rheology (2000), and fellowships including the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE, 1976), Australian Academy of Science (FAA, 1979), and the Royal Society of London (FRS, 2001). Tanner's advancements in modeling fluid behavior from microstructure and applying finite element methods to industrial processes like extrusion have profoundly influenced mechanical engineering and rheology.

Professional Email: roger.tanner@sydney.edu.au