Dr Neale Watson MEng, PhD

Personal Statement

Neale Watson graduated with a MEng in Aerospace Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast with a year in industry at DSTL in the rotorcraft and propulsion teams. He then obtained his PhD in 2021 in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Liverpool researching the validation and application of CFD-generated aircraft carrier airwakes for flight simulation, specifically in support of the F-35B's First of Class Flight Trials with HMS Queen Elizabeth, before becoming a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering in 2022.

His research is focused on investigating the operation of aircraft in challenging environments using modelling and simulation tools. His research topics include:

- Computational Fluid Dynamics to model and analyse the large scale unsteady airwakes cascading from ships, offshore platforms, hospitals, or elevated helipads

- Experimental velocity measurements using Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry in a large 90,000 litre recirculating water tunnel to provide CFD validation data

- Piloted Flight Simulation in a six degree-of-freedom motion flight simulator to assess effect of unsteady flows on aircraft and pilot workload.

During his time at the University of Liverpool he has contributed to a number of industrial projects including validation of airwakes of the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carriers, CFD generation of the UK Type 26 airwakes, CFD generation of the Australian Type 26 “Hunter” airwakes and analysis of their effect on shipborne rotorcraft, preparation of CFD airwakes of the Type 23 for flight simulation, and experimental water tunnel velocity measurements of the flow over the flight deck of the QEC with the lifts raised and lowered. His collaborations include working with BAE Systems, DSTL, QinetiQ, Leonardo and SEA.