Summary
I am interested broadly in the fluid mechanics of sustainability. My focus is on buoyancy-driven flows in natural, industrial and built environments, motivated by the important role this field of research has to play in understanding and responding to overarching societal challenges concerning climate, energy and our environment.
I joined the Fluid Mechanics Section in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London in 2016, following previous academic appointments in Australia and the UK. I hold BE and ME degrees (Auckland) and a PhD degree (Cambridge).
I am a member of the Editorial Board of Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences and an Associate Editor of Fluid Dynamics Research.
Areas of expertise:
- Buoyancy-driven flows
- Stratified turbulence and mixing
- Convection
- Turbulent plumes and jets
- Flow energetics
- Flows in the built environment
- Ocean dynamics
with applications including:
- environment quality and air quality in indoor and outdoor settings
- efficient energy use (e.g. conditioning of buildings)
- solar and marine renewable energy systems
- circulation of oceans and lakes
Teaching (2021/22):
CIVE40010 Energy and Environmental Engineering
CIVE97159 Fluid Mechanics for the Built Environment
CIVE97063 Buoyancy-driven Flows
MECH97037 Methods for the Analysis of Energy Systems (MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures)
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Higton TD, Burridge HC, Hughes GO, 2021, Natural ventilation flows established by a localised heat source in a room with a doorway and a high-level vent, Building and Environment, Vol:203, ISSN:0360-1323, Pages:1-9
Abbasi-Shavazi E, Torres J, Hughes G, et al., 2020, Experimental correlation of natural convection losses from a scale-model solar cavity receiver with non-isothermal surface temperature distribution, Solar Energy, Vol:198, ISSN:0038-092X, Pages:355-375
Davies Wykes M, Hogg C, Partridge J, et al., 2019, Energetics of mixing for the filling box and the emptying-filling box, Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Vol:19, ISSN:1567-7419, Pages:819-831
Craske J, Hughes G, 2019, On the robustness of emptying filling boxes to sudden changes in the wind, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol:868, ISSN:0022-1120
Hughes GO, Linden PF, 2016, Mixing efficiency in run-down gravity currents, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol:809, ISSN:0022-1120, Pages:691-704
Hughes GO, 2016, Inside the head and tail of a turbulent gravity current, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol:790, ISSN:0022-1120
Wykes MSD, Hughes GO, Dalziel SB, 2015, On the meaning of mixing efficiency for buoyancy-driven mixing in stratified turbulent flows, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol:781, ISSN:0022-1120, Pages:261-275