Dr Elena Marensi University of Sheffield webpage
I am a Lecturer (Assistant Prof.) of Fluid Mechanics in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MAC) at the University of Sheffield.
My research focuses on Transition to Turbulence in wall-bounded shear flows, Flow Instabilities, Turbulence Modelling & Control and Flow Optimisation. To tackle these problems I combine mathematical tools with high-fidelity computer simulations and data-driven algorithms. My recent research has been primarily aimed at understanding how turbulence first arises in flows through conduits and in developing control methods to tame it.
I am a member of the departmental Thermofluids Group and the cross-faculty Sheffield Fluid Mechanics Group (SFMG) My work is funded by Royal Society Collaboration Grant and EPSRC New Investigator Award.
Postdocs
- Bo Yuan (2025 – 2028) joined us in July 2025 as a PDRA working on the project: The Effect of Fouling on Entrance and Fully-Developed Pipe Flow
- Funded by Royal Society Collaboration Grant, in partnership with Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
- In collaboration w/ Rodrigo M. Pereira (Co-I, UFF), Luca Moriconi (UFRJ) and Pierre Ricco (U. Sheffield)
- Ananthu J P (2025 -2028) joined us in Novemeber 2025 as a PDRA working on the EPSRC-funded project: “Towards data-driven turbulence control: saving energy in pipelines by suppressing turbulence”
- In collaboration with Moritz Linkmann and Jacob Page from University of Edinburgh and Björn Hof from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria
PhD students
- Robbie Bennett (PhD student 2024 –) A novel dynamical system view of wall-bounded turbulence. In collaboration w/ Ashley Willis (School of Maths, U. Sheffield) and Yohann Duguet (LISN-CNRS)
- Benjamin Richards (PhD student 2024 — ) Saving Energy by an Optimised Design of Entrance Pipe Flow. In collaboration w/ Pierre Ricco (MAC, U. Sheffield)
- Magnus Bentham (PhD student 2023 — ) Machine Learning for Multiphase Flows. Co-supervised by Marco Colombo (MAC, U. Sheffield)