“My #AeroPassion is is developing cutting-edge technology that shapes the future.”
Alis' Biography
Dr. Alis Ekmekci is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). She leads the Experimental Fluids Research Laboratory at UTIAS, where she conducts experimental research in fluid dynamics, involving flow-induced noise and vibration, flow-structure interactions, unsteady separated flows, flow control and vortex dynamics. She is the recipient of the prestigious Early Researcher Award from Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation in 2015 as well as the New Researcher Award from Connaught Foundation in 2013. During her career at UTIAS, she has established strong research collaborations with several Canadian companies, including Bombardier Aerospace, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, RWDI and Multimatic. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she earned her Ph.D. and MASc. in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University in 2007 and 2003, respectively, and completed her post-doctoral research at Purdue University.
Since 2008, I have been working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). I am the founder and leader of a state-of-the-art Experimental Fluids Research Laboratory at UTIAS. I conduct experimental research on a variety of industrially-important projects. These projects range from flow-induced noise problem and its mitigation in aircraft landing gears to control of flow-induced vibration in slender structures, improving bridge aerodynamics to automobile aerodynamics.
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) has a long history of significant contributions to undergraduate and graduate education in aerospace science and engineering, as well as to the research and development in the Canadian aerospace industry. UTIAS contributes to the aerospace community particularly through excellence in research, education and innovation.
During my academic research career at UTIAS, I have had the chance of collaborating with industrial companies to solve real-world problems. As an engineer, I am so excited to see that the research I conduct has practical implications in engineering context. I also enjoy supervising and training students, who become future engineers and scientists.
One of the most interesting projects I investigate is the noise problem resulting from aircraft landing gear. I have been working with two major aerospace companies, Bombardier Aerospace and Messier-Dowty to understand the noise-generating mechanisms in landing gear and to come up with innovative solutions for noise mitigation. Landing-gear noise negatively impacts the people living close to airports, and any reduction in noise emission would reflect itself as an improvement in people’s lives.
All of the projects I work on have the potential to have significant social and economic implications. For example, success in reducing aircraft landing-gear noise not only would improve the health and well being of the populace that are currently affected by aircraft noise but also would provide the Canadian companies that I work with on this project with a competitive edge over other non-Canadian companies with noisier products.
I would like to see more and more talented bright women to become influential leaders in engineering. Through outreach programs, I try to encourage women to study engineering.
With motivation and passion, there is nothing we can’t achieve in this word. This was the motto my parents gave me throughout my life.
