Statement of Research Interests

Similar to many other young researchers, I find myself moved by number of research areas

such as turbulence, aeroelasticity and drag reduction; however, I know for sure that I would

always prefer numerical approach over experimental. Therefore, I am writing this statement

with hope to become a PhD scholar at CSE lab of ETH.

After having understood the long term consequences of fossil fuel burning, I believe it is

my moral obligation to try finding new solutions for more efficient transportation. Being a

researcher in fluid mechanics, I am keen to pursue this goal using any opportunity I get. Like

I said earlier, I am interested in investigating turbulence because its complexity fascinates

me, and more importantly, because a complete understanding of turbulence will allow us to

improve the efficiencies of our systems. If I am given an opportunity of studying turbulence

at fundamental level, I would like investigate the effects of boundary and initial conditions on

small scale statistics of turbulence because for too long we have considered turbulence at small

scales to be universal which recent findings tell us to be untrue. Another approach towards

more efficient designs that inspires me is to mimic the nature, for example, a flapping wing.

Being an aerospace engineer I already have a built-in affection for flying objects and I believe

it would be a great experience to explore the flow mechanics of lift generation in flapping wings

and study the effects of adjacent solid objects on their aerodynamics performance.

Why am I applying to CSE despite knowing that I will not be carrying out research in the

topics mentioned above? I believe CSE lab is a perfect place for me to develop the necessary

skills that I will need to pursue computational research in areas of my interest. In addition to

that, I have found the proposed topics of research, fish schooling simulation in particular, to be

very interesting.

Currently, I am working as a lecturer in department of mechanical engineering at one of

the most prestigious engineering university of Pakistan. I completed my master in March 2014

and in my thesis I worked on the fundamental research of the flow-moving surface interaction;

it was a computational study using a code that I developed. I am very proud that some new

insights have been obtained and the work has been submitted to AIAA journal in December

2014. After having finished my master degree, I was working with my adviser to update my

code from k − ε turbulence model to LES. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete my work

because my father passed away in April 2014 and I had to come back to Pakistan; for the same

reason I could not submit my thesis findings for publication right after graduation. Now that

my family is stable and I have already started my career as a lecturer, I am looking for an

opportunity to substantially increase my skills.

Respected Prof. Koumoutsakos, I am glad to have found your research group; I appreciate

your achievements and contribution to computational science and I will be very proud to be

able to work with you.