F. (Francesca) De Domenico PhD

F. (Francesca) De Domenico PhD

Profile

Biography

Dr Francesca De Domenico is an Assistant Professor in Sustainable Aircraft Propulsion at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft.  She completed her BSc and MSc in Aerospace Engineering (both summa cum laude) at the University of Padova (Italy). Subsequently, she obtained her PhD in Engineering at the University of Cambridge (UK) in 2019. Her PhD research focused on Thermoacoustics, Combustion and Laser Diagnostics. During her PhD, she spent spend 5 months at King Abdullah University for Science and technology (KAUST) working on developing non-linear laser diagnostics techniques.  In 2019 she was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship by Gonville and Caius College (University of Cambridge). This competitive appointment for early career researchers  allowed her to pursuit her research independently, holding a PI status, expanding her skills to bioengineering. She joined TU Delft in October 2022.

Awards

  • Lefebre Prize for the best UK PD thesis in the field of Combustion physics (IOP Combustion Physics group) (2023);
  • Delft Technology Fellowship , which offers high-profile, tenure-track positions to outstanding female academic researchers (2022-);
  • Acoustic Society Award to attend the conference Internoise 2022 in Glasgow (2022);
  • Junior Research Fellowship at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Prestigious four-year stipendiary research fellowship for doing independent research, hosted at the Department of Engineering (2019 - 2023);
  • APS DFD (American Physical Society, Division of Fluid Dynamics) award (2018);
  • ASME  Student Advisory Committee Travel Award (SACTA) award (2018);
  • KAUST Visiting Students Programme scholarship (2018);
  • Osborne Reynolds Award finalist, for the six best PhD candidates working in the broad field of fluid mechanics in the United Kingdom (2017);
  • Amelia Earhart Fellowship (Zonta International); Fellowship awarded annually to 35 talented women pursuing PhD/doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences or aerospace-related engineering around the globe (2017 - 2018);
  • Qualcomm - DTA (EPRSC) studentship; Fully-funded 3.5 year PhD project at the University of Cambridge (2015- 2019);
  • Honorary Vice Chancellor's Award; Honorary Fellowship from the Cambridge Trust, University of Cambridge (2015 - 2018);
  • Medal of Honour "Alfiere del Lavoro" given by the President of the Republic of Italy to the twenty-five best students in Italy among graduates in 2010 (2010).

Expertise

Dr De Domenico’s research mission is to disruptively tackle the way in which we power aircraft and make them more sustainable by exploiting the unique physical insights provided by experimental data. Her interests include:

  • Hydrogen combustion;
  • Green aviation technologies;
  • Novel propulsion systems;
  • Design and development of experimental setups;
  • Development and application of laser diagnostics techniques for reacting flows;
  • Thermoacoustics.

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Expertise

Publications

Courses 2024

Courses 2023

Prizes

  • 2023-8-3

    Veni grant AES 2022

    Onthul met laserdiagnostiek (LITGS en LIF) de lokale NOx- en flashbackfysica van H2-vlammen (UNL2OCK H2)

    Vliegtuigen op waterstofverbranding zijn veelbelovende kandidaten om de luchtvaart koolstofarm te maken. Mijn project draagt bij aan het verwezenlijken hiervan. Ik zal 'experimentele ogen' bouwen op waterstofvlammen: een nieuwe op laser gebaseerde 'thermometer' die in staat is om de lokale temperatuur en het geproduceerde NO-gehalte te meten. Met deze nieuwe diagnose kan ik de mechanismen achter de vorming van verontreinigende stoffen en instabiliteiten op waterstofvlammen beter begrijpen, wat uiteindelijk zal leiden tot de ontwikkeling van strategieën om deze te verminderen.

    Read more Veni grant AES 2022

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