Dr Carl Gilkeson

Profile

Carl Gilkeson is a Chartered engineer and Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering with over two decades of experience in applied Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He completed his undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2004. He then joined the University of Leeds to study an MSc in CFD before completing a PhD in low-speed aerodynamics. From 2009-2013 he worked as a research fellow on two projects, one on modelling ventilation and pathogen transport in hospitals and the other on climate modelling of dust devils in the Sahara desert. Since 2013 he has worked in the School of Mechanical Engineering, lecturing in the mechanics of flight, CFD, orbital mechanics and space flight. He has specialist knowledge in high-speed vehicle design with a focus on aerodynamics, design optimisation and vehicle stability.

Responsibilities

• Aerospace Theme Team Leader

Research interests

Aerodynamic simulation forms the core of Carl’s research portfolio. Over the years he has developed extensive capability to accurately model aerodynamic flows around vehicles including aircraft, HGVs, livestock transporters, land speed record vehicles and Hyperloop pods. His expertise in aerodynamics has also contributed to high-profile projects on unlimited hydroplanes which operate in ground effect, often in challenging water-piercing scenarios. He has supervised projects on historically significant marine vehicles including Crusader, Bluebird K7 and he leads an aerodynamic research programme for a world water speed record attempt which is led by a former world land speed record holder. Other research projects have contributed valuable knowledge of excrescence drag for aircraft and the development of flow control strategies for wind turbines. His aerodynamic knowledge spans the full range of flow regimes from low-speed incompressible cases all the way to hypersonic flows. This is complemented with expertise in vehicle dynamics and stability in addition to knowledge of design optimisation techniques.

Whilst his primary research interest is in high-speed vehicle design, his unique research career has covered many other areas. His PhD work on characterising ventilation in livestock trailers has produced research outputs which have informed animal welfare guidance and legislation internationally. As a research fellow, he also worked under the guidance of Professor Cath Noakes on ventilation, pathogen transport and the application of UVGI in hospital environments. Their work contributed to building guidance within the UK and across the world which influenced the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, Carl’s expertise in modelling particulates has been applied to the characterisation of airborne brake wear debris with the aim of reducing non-exhaust emissions for road vehicles. To date, he has supervised 8 PhD’s to completion and he is involved in various research activities including KTPs and other funded research.

Co-investigator (Co-I)

• Morvern KTP

Qualifications

• MEng Aerospace Engineering
• MSc Computational Fluid Dynamics
• PhD Aerodynamic Shape Optimisation

Professional memberships

• CEng, MIMechE
• FHEA

Student education

Since 2013 Carl has lectured in the mechanics of flight and orbital mechanics to 3rd year Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering students. He also developed an applied Masters-level CFD module which he has taught across multiple programmes of study since 2015. From 2026, a version of this module has been adapted for all 3rd year engineering students in the School. Carl acts as a personal tutor and he supervises a range of individual and group projects for aerospace engineering students in years 3, 4 and at Masters-level. He offers projects in low and high-speed aerodynamics with a range of applications including aircraft design, analysis of road vehicles and hydroplanes.

Research groups and institutes

• Institute of Thermofluids

Current postgraduate researchers

• Ramesh Devaramani
• Chuan He

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2491-aerodynamic-design-and-analysis-of-hypersonic-bodies-using-computational-fluid-dynamics">Aerodynamic design and analysis of hypersonic bodies using Computational Fluid Dynamics</a></li>

Funding

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/462-epsrc-doctoral-landscape-award-in-hypersonics">EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award in Hypersonics</a></li>