#11 – Dr Priyanka Dhopade on jet engine optimisation and women in engineering

Priyanka Dhopade received her PhD from the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia and was the recipient of the Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship award, awarded annually to the 35 most outstanding female aerospace PhD students worldwide. Since 2013 she has been researching the thermodynamics of jet engines in the Osney thermofluids institute at Oxford University. Priyanka is an expert in computational fluid dynamics modelling of heat transfer, aerodynamics and aero-elasticity in jet engines. She is currently leading the modelling campaigns for various projects in collaboration with industry partners relating to turbine and compressor tip clearance control, turbine internal cooling and active flow control. In this episode, Priyanka and I talk about:

• the challenges of improving the efficiency of current gas turbines
• the intricacies of fluid dynamics modelling
• and a topic particularly close to her heart, the diversity challenge in STEM fields.

If you want to learn more about the topics discussed in this episode, then you can find show notes with links to more in-depth material on the aerospace engineering blog. 

If you value the podcast and want to support it then please share it with your friends and family, or support it directly on Patreon, where patrons of this show receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special episodes. Thanks a lot for listening!

This episode is brought to you by KDC Resource—the experts in engineering recruitment for the aerospace and defence sector. For more than 15 years, KDC has been matching the very best engineers with the biggest names in the industry; from Airbus Group and GKN Aerospace, to Cobham and BAE Systems. KDC’s deep talent pool of aerospace engineers means they are perfectly poised to meet your particular needs with the ideal candidate. In a time of unprecedented engineering skills shortage, KDC Resource will give you an edge over your competitors in the recruitment market.