Dr. Richard Kirkman received his Doctorate in fluid mechanics from the University of Utah by researching computational Reynolds number sensitivity methods in wall-bounded turbulence. He has been performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies of jet blast for 15 years. Rich works closely with the engineering and drafting team at BDI to develop novel GRE and JBD designs, as well as provide aerodynamic and acoustic analysis of GRE and JBD designs. Dr. Kirkman holds an adjunct position at the University of Utah and has served as an ‘At-Large Graduate Faculty’ for the Nuclear Engineering and Health Sciences Department at Idaho State University. He has been an advising committee member for multiple graduate students and is scheduled to teach a course on Aeronautical Propulsion at the University of Utah.
“My favorite project, thus far, is the Ground Run-up Enclosure (GRE) at the Airbus facility in Finkenwerder, Germany. The GRE design had to meet very onerous acoustic and aerodynamic requirements. Using a completely innovative and bespoke design, we developed and constructed what has turned out to be a GRE with excellent acoustic performance and 100% usability for an orientation where a quartering tailwind is the prevailing wind condition.”
Click here to learn more about the Airbus GRE project.
