University of Birmingham: Birmingham engineering student wins prestigious ARCHER2 image and video competition

Miss Monka worked with Bruño Fraga, Assistant Professor in Numerical Modelling at the School of Engineering, to create the image. The image was created using Dr Fraga’s in-house code MultiFlow3D in the ARCHER2 supercomputing system.

The winning image shows the spread of airborne aerosols that might contain pathogens such as COVID-19.

Aleksandra and Dr Fraga’s research is focused on using advanced computer modelling to predict airborne pathogen spread. The COVID-19 crisis shed light on the vital importance of indoor air quality. Major advances are expected in our awareness and management of indoor air quality in the coming years. Models such as the one developed by Aleksandra and Bruño constitute accurate predicting tools, which will tell us how pollutants, pathogens or simply ‘used’ air travel in space and time in our surroundings.

Dr Fraga is an Assistant Professor of Numerical Modelling in the School of Engineering. He is a prominent researcher in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics. He has developed several in-house codes and has published in some of the best journals of the field with collaborators from UK, US, and European institutions. His main expertise is the study of Turbulence, particularly in multi-phase flows, where liquids, gas and solids interact.

The full ARCHER2 system is an HPE Cray EX supercomputing system with an estimated peak performance of 28 Pflop/s. It has numerous research applications, including forecasting the dispersion of volcanic ash and gas, predicting aircraft jet noise and weather prediction.