At the end of his second year as an undergraduate at Imperial College London, Aeronautics student Nnaemeka Anyamele has been supporting the work of 10x5 Wind Tunnel team, including a COVID-19 related research project, supported by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP)Nnaemeka Anyamele

"I was excited to join the 10x5 Wind Tunnel research team within the Flow Control Research Group, under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Morrison. The UROP scheme lasted 10 weeks. So far I have been working alongside researchers, helping to develop and accelerate a variety of projects and tasks at the 10x5 Wind Tunnel. These include: aerosol transmission research for cyclists, updating and developing the tunnel traverse system and software, fabricating Kagome lattice smart surface for research in boundary layer drag reduction, shadowing a PhD student working on Pulsed Jet technologies for drag reduction, among other smaller tasks." 

I hope to inspire and galvanise many young black school children to consider studying and working towards a career in STEM, especially in Aeronautical and Aerospace engineering: if I can do it, you guys can too!"

Nnaemeka Anyamele


"In the future, I hope to work in a range of applications across the field of aerodynamics and fluid dynamics. Completing a UROP in this lab, where many different research activities occur, is excellent for me to experience the variety of work that can be done in aerodynamics."

"In a lab where multiple projects take place for various research topics and with various clients, the opportunity for skills development, especially within research, is massive. This opportunity doesn't come around often and I am determined to continue to make the most of it."

"So far I have greatly enjoyed my Aeronautics degree, and all the many activities in and out of the Department that I have participated in. These include ICL Rocketry and the many other Imperial societies I am part of. While there is an evident underrepresentation of black students in STEM and in postgraduate and research roles in top universities across the country, and while at times it can be tough being one of only a handful of young black engineers in Aeronautics at Imperial, I want to show others with a similar background to me that this is achievable and that they can do it too. So I hope this video and profile highlighting my contributions to research relevant to the world (one of many projects and activities I'm working on as part of my UROP this summer), would help in efforts to combat this. I hope to inspire and galvanise many young black school children to consider studying and working towards a career in STEM, especially in Aeronautical and Aerospace engineering - if I can do it, you guys can too – and I hope to show that this is an industry that black students and professionals really can do well in."

Find out more about: the 10 x 5 Wind Tunnel, the ongoing COVID-19 research in the tunnel and ICL Rocketry (ICLR).

Nnaemeka Anyamele

UROP student project in the 10x5 Wind Tunnel