Puja completed her Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering from Sathyabama University, Chennai, India in 2009. She graduated with distinction every semester and was awarded the fourth place on graduation. She completed her Masters in Space Engineering & Rocketry, with a specialisation in aerodynamics from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India in 2012. She completed her PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India in 2022. Her PhD thesis focusses on understanding the mechanism of unsteady flow and thrust generation past an oscillating cylinder-filament system. She received Microvec Best Image Award and the AIAA 2020 Quantitatively Descriptive Flow Visualization Award for the excellent quality flow visualisation data during her doctoral work. After graduation, she joined fluid dynamics laboratory at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India as a Senior Project Engineer. In 2023, she joined VOILAb as as Research Associate in the Fluid Mechanics of Morphing Blades. The aim of the project is to use novel methods such as flexible and passive pitching blades to identify optimum conditions that reduce the thrust and power fluctuations on wind and tidal turbines. She is leading the tests at the Flowave Ocean Energy Research facility.

Jawahar completed his B.E. in aeronautical engineering from Rajalakshmi Engineering College, affiliated with Anna University, Chennai, India. He received the Lady Parvatham Trust Award in 2008 for securing the top mark among all engineering branches. He was awarded the First Rank and a University Gold Medal from Anna University for securing the highest mark among 776 candidates. He joined Birla Institute of Technology Ranchi, India, for his M.E. in Space Engineering and Rocketry. He studied the effect of the apex flap on flow past the double delta wing. After his graduation in 2012, he worked as an assistant professor at Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai, where he earned the Best Teacher Award for his dedicated teaching and motivation. His doctoral dissertation, titled Three-Dimensional Flow Past Wings and their Relationship with Bluff Body Flows, has been carried out under the supervision of Prof. Sanjay Mittal. He received the Outstanding Thesis Award for the best thesis in PhD program from Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy in 2023. He joined VOILAb in 2023 as Research Associate in Fluid Mechanics to work on the Dandidrone project. He is currently focusing on understanding the fluid-structure interaction and gust response of free-falling bodies to underpin the design of flying sensors that are passively transported and distributed by the wind.

After a Master degree in Aerospace Engineering with a foundation in fluid dynamics, Soumarup undertook a PhD in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (India), where he studied three-dimensionalities in flow past a bluff body. He experimentally studied the flow around bluff bodies. He won the Best Artistic Flow Visualization award of the AIAA Aviation 2022 conference held in Chicago (USA) and the Excellence in Leadership for Student Affairs at the 56th Convocation held at IIT Kanpur (India). Following his PhD, he did a postdoctoral stint at the University of Michigan, USA, studying the flow over hairy surfaces. In 2024, he joined VOILAb as a Research Associate in Fluid Mechanics to work on the Dandidrone project, focusing on the fluid-structure interaction and gust response of free-falling bodies. These studies aim at underpinning the design of flying sensors that are passively transported and distributed by the wind.

Junchen completed his Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bath in 2020 with first-class grades in every year. After that, he earned his PhD degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the same institute in March 2024. His Ph.D. thesis focused on experimental aerodynamics, specialising in fluid-structure interactions and flow control, where he developed a passive flow control method for stalled flow using compliant flags attached to the aerofoil and wing surfaces. During his study, he has developed a comprehensive skill set in experimental measurements, such as particle image velocimetry, digital image correlation, and constant-temperature anemometry measurements, etc. Upon completing his PhD, Junchen was appointed a Research Associate in Experimental Fluid Mechanics in VOILAb in April 2024 to work on the ProTeCt project led by Dr Yabin Liu, VOILAb's alumni, on the use of blades with permeable tips to control tip vortex and cavitation, as well as the Morphing Blades project led by Prof. Viola, aiming to mitigate unsteady loads on tidal turbines through flexible trailing edge and passive pitch.

Aditya earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California San Diego, where his research focused on experimental fluid dynamics. His work specifically involved studying the combustion dynamics of counterflow flames and the behavior of droplet impacts on vibrating surfaces. His earlier education was completed in India, where he obtained his B.Tech from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology and a M.E. from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. Before his PhD, Aditya worked as a Project Associate at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he was responsible for the development of a new class of fuel injectors. In July 2024, Aditya joined VOILAb as part of the ERC-funded Dandidrones project. His role involves experimentally investigating the flight dynamics of natural dandelions to inform the design of novel micro-flyers. Outside of work, Aditya enjoys spending time outdoors, often hiking or engaging in wildlife photography.

Ahmet completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Middle East Technical University in 2018. He then pursued a PhD at the University of Alberta, specializing in computational fluid dynamics. In 2024, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis, which explored the hydrodynamics of multiple pitching foils inspired by fish schools. During his PhD, he investigated the flow interactions between the wakes of these pitching foils, contributing to the understanding of bio-inspired propulsion mechanisms. After completing his doctorate, Ahmet joined VOILAB, where he expanded his research to examine the gust response of free-falling permeable bodies, addressing critical challenges in unsteady aerodynamics and fluid-structure interactions. His current research spans a diverse range of interdisciplinary topics, including hydrodynamics, numerical modeling, bio-inspired flows, and vortex instabilities.

Kuba joined VOILAb in 2021 as a PhD student through the CDT in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures. He’s obtained his BSc in Physics from Swansea University in 2020 being awarded the Best Graduating BSc Student prize from his year group. He completed his MSc in Sustainable Energy and Environment at Cardiff University, where he studied conventional and alternative energy systems, engineering thermodynamics and finite-element-modelling methods. For his dissertation he studied the effects of changing tidal turbine blade geometries at different tip-speed-ratios using blade-element-momentum-theory to optimise an existing blade design and set constraints for a theoretical adaptive blade. The results aimed to indicate the degree of twist changes that the blade would have to assume to maximise torque production at different turbine rotations and stream-flow speeds. Kuba has subsequently joined VOILAb to work on the Morphing Blades project.

Doudou joined VOILAb as a PhD student in August 2022 through the CDT in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures. Her PhD focuses on the aerodynamics of dandelion-inspired drones (dandidrones). She obtained her MSc degree in Aerospace engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, in 2021. In her final-year project, Doudou investigated the impact of actively morphing blades on cycloidal rotors (https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1226/1/012014). Prior to that, she was awarded a BSc degree in Aircraft Power Engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, in 2018.

Bappa was a Marie Curie Early-Stage Researcher at Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy, where he worked on additive manufacturing and sensor packaging for water quality monitoring from 2019 to 2022. In 2019, he completed his MSc in Smart Systems Integration - an Erasmus+ Joint International Master Programme. He received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication from Anna University, India in 2015. Between 2015 and 2017, he worked as Application Developer at BNY Mellon Technology, India. He joined VOILAb as a PhD student in 2022, where his research focuses on manufacturing of miniatuarised drones inspired from the diaspore of the dandelion.

Mridu graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2021 from PES University, India, where he was awarded the Prof. CNR Rao Scholarship for being in the top 20% of the cohort, and, received distinction awards every semester. He received his Master's degree from Cranfield University, UK, in 2022, during which he worked on a novel approach to evaluate anisotropic turbulence in RANS/URANS turbulence modelling. In addition, for his dissertation, he analysed turbulent reacting flows and evaluated the feasibility of a DNS/LES hybrid solvers for simulating turbulent flame kernels. He is currently undertaking a PhD at VOILAb working on ship hull hydrodynamics.