Professor Brian Launder FREng FRS

Brian Launder is an engineering fluid mechanician who graduated in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London in 1961 and obtained his doctorate from MIT. Thereafter, he rejoined Imperial as Lecturer/Reader before becoming a full Professor at the University of California, Davis. In 1980, he returned to the United Kingdom to head the Thermo-Fluids Division at UMIST, where he also served two terms as Head of Department. While his principal research interest throughout has been the computational modelling of turbulent flows, he has also led many experimental studies.

Following his admission to the Royal Society, Brian’s role at UMIST widened to include environmental concerns, heading the university’s Environmental Strategy Group and becoming Regional Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research for six years. The latter role stimulated his interests in climate engineering, a field in which he has both edited and authored journal articles, as well as reports published by the Royal Society.

Professional position

  • Part-time Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology, University of Manchester

Subject groups

  • Engineering and Materials Science

    Engineering, environmental, Engineering, aeronautical, Engineering, mechanical

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences

    Atmospheric physics and meteorology, Physical oceanography

Professor Brian Launder FREng FRS
Elected 1994
Committees Participated Role
Royal Society Wolfson Fellowships Committee June 2019 - May 2022 Member
International Exchanges Committee January 2019 - December 2024 Member
Sectional Committee 4: Engineering and Materials Science December 2006 - November 2009 Member
Sectional Committee 4: Engineering and Materials Science August 1995 - November 1998 Member