Dr Elena Marensi University of Sheffield webpage
I am a Senior Lecturer (Associate 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)