Professor of Fluid Mechanics

Academic Division: Energy, Fluids and Turbomachinery

Research group: Fluids

Telephone: +44 1223 3 32706

Email: pad3@eng.cam.ac.uk

Research interests

Two dominant themes in geophysical fluid mechanics are waves and turbulence. Such flows are generally subject to a background rotation, strong stratification, or an ambient magnetic field, and in all three cases this allows the fluid to sustain internal wave motion. Moreover, these flows are almost invariably turbulent, and the turbulence is often central to their behaviour. So one of the keys to making progress in geophysical fluid mechanics is to understand how waves and turbulence interact. This provides much of the motivation for Professor Davidson's current research.

Teaching activity

Lecturing advanced courses on fluid mechanics (vortex dynamics and turbulence) and partial differential equations.

Other positions

On the editorial team of Journal Fluid Mechanics.

Biography

1975-1979 University of Aberdeen B.Sc.in Engineering Sc.
1979-1983 Research Engineer, T.I. Research Laboratories
1983-1986 University of Cambridge, Dept. Engineering PhD
1986-1987 Research Associate , D.A.M.T.P., Univ. of Cambridge
1987-1989 Senior Engineer, Westinghouse R&D Center, Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
1989-1994 Lecturer, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London.
1994-Present Lecturer, then Reader, then Professor, Univ. Cambridge, Dept. Engineering