Background

Dr Luofeng Huang is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Mechanical Engineering, recognised as Forbes 30 under 30 Scientist in Europe. Being the Module Leader of (a) Structural Integrity, and (b) Engineering Stress Analysis, he teaches Advanced Mechanical Engineering, Renewable Energy and Offshore Engineering.

Prior to Cranfield, Luofeng completed his Master, PhD and Postdoc studies at University College London (UCL). He started his academic journey at UCL Marine Research Group and spent several years investigating ships in polar seas with floating ice (ship-wave-ice interactions). In recent years, he has adapted relevant knowledge to the design and operation of renewable energy systems in water, such as floating solar farms, wave energy converters, and offshore wind turbines. He is a Member of the IMarEST, a Chartered Engineer, and a Chartered Marine Engineer. 

Research opportunities

The research interests of Dr Huang spread across energies, structures, and fluids, especially their interactions and sustainability. He has expertise in offshore and ocean engineering, and his work has been constantly published by flagship journals in this field, such as Ocean Engineering, Marine Structures and Coastal Engineering. Dr Huang has focussed on developing his research skills in high-fidelity simulation techniques, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Solid Mechanics (CSM) and Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI). Since joining Cranfield University, he has also been leading experimental investigations of the Structural Integrity Lab and the Ocean Systems Lab, including strength, fatigue, elevated temperature tests and wave/towing tank experiments. 

Dr Huang is keen on interdisciplinary research, backed up by a wide network and trustworthy administration skills. He is always active in expanding research collaborations and happy to support high-quality PhD/Postdoc applications.

Below are a few highlights of Luofeng's research:

·        First author in one of most-cited papers of Marine Structures.

·        First author in one of few engineering-based journals that have 10+ Impact Factor.

·        First author in research that develops anti-COVID measures for ships (British Council Project).

·        First author in research that informs resistance equations and fuel-saving tools for shipping in ice floes (EU Horizon2020 Project).

Current activities

Dr Huang is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Innovate UK Project - Solar2Wave: Design of Floating Solar Farms to Overcome Tough Ocean Waves. In this project, he coordinates a large team of over 20 researchers from both academia and industry. The project aspires to place floating solar panels in coastal and offshore regions thus saving scarce land and lake space, whilst addressing a key challenge - designing a novel solar farm that can remain intact in the destructive power of ocean waves. This innovation will hopefully be provided as an affordable clean energy solution for remote Indonesian islands, where 1.5 million residents still don't have access to electricity. Solar2Wave has been featured by the BBC and the Energy Institute.

Publications

Articles In Journals