On the second week of September, the first Fluids UK Conference took place at the Imperial College in London. Several researchers across the UK and overseas gathered together to share their investigations in a very wide range of disciplines across fluid dynamics. A large number of researchers from the Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics (AFM) and the Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI) groups of the University of Southampton were also present in the event.

I am Bernat Font Garcia a first year PhD student and I recently attended my first conference as a speaker. I was part of a big group coming from the University of Southampton, one of the universities which brought more researchers into the event.
A total of 96 presentations were delivered during the three days of the conference. Presenters were either PhD students or post-docs, mostly. Each presenter had 10 minutes to explain the topic and 2 minutes were scheduled for questions. It was a challenging exercise to condense one year of work into such a short amount of time, although I can image this was even more difficult for students in the last year of the doctorate or post-docs researchers!
The topic of my presentation was: “A two-dimensional model for three-dimensional symmetric flows”. Using the well-known backward-facing step test case, the aim is to obtain the steady solution of the three-dimensional case at the symmetry plane using a two-dimensional model. Hence, instead of carrying a three-dimensional simulation, the solution is achieved by the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations plus additional terms. The main outcome of this work is the notable reduction of the computational time required to achieve the three-dimensional solution for symmetric or spatially-periodic flows.

Overall, it was very inspiring to get to know what topics are currently being investigated in fluid dynamics and to meet people working within this field. Also, it was the perfect opportunity to communicate my work and conclude the first year of my doctorate.