Fulvio Scarano first came to TU Delft in 2000 as a young post-doctoral lecturer in Aerodynamics and Computational Fluid Dynamics. Eight years later, Scarano, who is from Naples, Italy, has just become the first foreign professor in his section.
He has also been awarded a 1.5 million euro ‘Starting Grant’ from the European Research Council (ERC) for his research into Aeroacoustics via Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry.
Together with his research team, Professor Fulvio Scarano (39) will spend the next five years working on a new 3-D measuring technique based on laser tomography, with the ultimate aim being to visualize the sound generated by air flows. I sat down with Fulvio to find out more about his research and his exemplary career at TU Delft thus far.
What is the motivation of your research?
“Aircrafts make a lot of noise, and this bothers people and animals living in the proximity of airports. The European Commission’s Vision for 2020 states that aircraft should be greener, consume less fuel and be less noisy.”
Doesn’t the noise from airplanes come from the engines?
“Yes, the jet engine prevails, during takeoff it is essentially the only source of noise; in cruise configuration, the jet still dominates; but in landing configuration the engines are not generating thrust, so if the airframe noise could be reduced, we could reduce significantly the overall aircraft noise.”
How can your research help minimize aircraft noise?
“The idea is to find the source of the noise and correct it. Previously we could do this using microphones, and we could actually pinpoint the location of sound, but then it was essentially trial-and-error to get a quieter shape. Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry technology helps describe the aerodynamics that are causing that sound, and then we can optimize for less noise.”
How is a quieter aircraft also a ‘greener’ aircraft?
“Aside from the obvious reduction of noise pollution, a quieter aircraft is likely to be more fuel efficient, since systems that make a louder sound indicate that the flow is dissipating quite some energy in acoustic disturbance. Solving issues like acoustic emissions could go together with solving issues of drag and therefore fuel efficiency.”
What will the grant from the ERC allow you to do?
“It has given me a great deal of autonomy to lead and hire PhD researchers. For me this is important because in some countries, like my native Italy, as a young researcher you aren’t given the chance to lead and decide about allocation of resources. This kind of grant is particularly important in those situations, whereas here, given the way the system is organized, there is space given to young researchers.”
Do you think TU Delft is unique in this way?
“Had I started my career in Italy, I’d be in a position of assistant-professor for much longer. The process is much more linear, more of a closed pipeline, and it’s very difficult to move from one group to the other. Here however it’s not so hierarchical; the professor is acknowledged as the leader, but the others around him or her can access resources and develop their ideas more fully.”
Do you enjoy working at an international university?
“During my time here I’ve seen the Aerospace Faculty become very international, offering more and more courses in English and hiring more foreign researchers. I think students find this environment more stimulating, and I’m also quite proud in that sense. It’s also an investment because everyone on the staff must be proficient in English.”
What other changes have you noticed over the past eight years?
“Well, in addition to the university becoming more international, my life also has. I married a woman from Portugal and we have a son who is proficient in Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, and now he wants to learn English. Plus his favorite food is sushi! When I was his age I spoke only one language and only ate Italian food.”
How do you like Dutch food?
“I’ve tried a few things. I don’t like the grab n’ go food, but in the Netherlands the international food is very nice, especially Thai, Chinese, and Indonesian. But at my house I still cook Italian food, and my wife cooks very good Portuguese.”
Have you learned Dutch?
“I did the Delftse Methode. I found the course worked quite well; it’s very intuitive and not boring.”
How do you feel about your recent promotion to professor?
“Of course I feel very honored and proud of this position. It’s nice that being in a country as a foreigner, and being young, there is no discrimination at all. In the eight years since my PhD to the full professorship, I’ve received all that was necessary to exploit my ideas. I think anyone can make a good career here if you have the ambition for it.”
Do you have any tips for people starting their career here?
“I don’t conclude much downstream, but if you can choose what to do, don’t weigh too much the economical or circumstantial factors. Try to follow your passion, because you’ll be happier and more active than if this isn’t your passion. When you follow your passion, you’re able to look back at the path you’ve traveled and feel much less regret for things you might’ve done. It’s also important to be driven personally, but groups achieve the best results. In science, people are often afraid of results being stolen, but there’s nothing worse than trying to protect you’re work, because the ultimate goal is to share what you’re doing, to transfer knowledge. By collaborating with colleagues, you get the cascade effect, and pretty soon one plus one plus one can equal ten. If I’d gone my own way, I’d be light years behind now. So being open to collaboration is a winning point, because you discover things you wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Together with his research team, Professor Fulvio Scarano (39) will spend the next five years working on a new 3-D measuring technique based on laser tomography, with the ultimate aim being to visualize the sound generated by air flows. I sat down with Fulvio to find out more about his research and his exemplary career at TU Delft thus far.
What is the motivation of your research?
“Aircrafts make a lot of noise, and this bothers people and animals living in the proximity of airports. The European Commission’s Vision for 2020 states that aircraft should be greener, consume less fuel and be less noisy.”
Doesn’t the noise from airplanes come from the engines?
“Yes, the jet engine prevails, during takeoff it is essentially the only source of noise; in cruise configuration, the jet still dominates; but in landing configuration the engines are not generating thrust, so if the airframe noise could be reduced, we could reduce significantly the overall aircraft noise.”
How can your research help minimize aircraft noise?
“The idea is to find the source of the noise and correct it. Previously we could do this using microphones, and we could actually pinpoint the location of sound, but then it was essentially trial-and-error to get a quieter shape. Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry technology helps describe the aerodynamics that are causing that sound, and then we can optimize for less noise.”
How is a quieter aircraft also a ‘greener’ aircraft?
“Aside from the obvious reduction of noise pollution, a quieter aircraft is likely to be more fuel efficient, since systems that make a louder sound indicate that the flow is dissipating quite some energy in acoustic disturbance. Solving issues like acoustic emissions could go together with solving issues of drag and therefore fuel efficiency.”
What will the grant from the ERC allow you to do?
“It has given me a great deal of autonomy to lead and hire PhD researchers. For me this is important because in some countries, like my native Italy, as a young researcher you aren’t given the chance to lead and decide about allocation of resources. This kind of grant is particularly important in those situations, whereas here, given the way the system is organized, there is space given to young researchers.”
Do you think TU Delft is unique in this way?
“Had I started my career in Italy, I’d be in a position of assistant-professor for much longer. The process is much more linear, more of a closed pipeline, and it’s very difficult to move from one group to the other. Here however it’s not so hierarchical; the professor is acknowledged as the leader, but the others around him or her can access resources and develop their ideas more fully.”
Do you enjoy working at an international university?
“During my time here I’ve seen the Aerospace Faculty become very international, offering more and more courses in English and hiring more foreign researchers. I think students find this environment more stimulating, and I’m also quite proud in that sense. It’s also an investment because everyone on the staff must be proficient in English.”
What other changes have you noticed over the past eight years?
“Well, in addition to the university becoming more international, my life also has. I married a woman from Portugal and we have a son who is proficient in Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, and now he wants to learn English. Plus his favorite food is sushi! When I was his age I spoke only one language and only ate Italian food.”
How do you like Dutch food?
“I’ve tried a few things. I don’t like the grab n’ go food, but in the Netherlands the international food is very nice, especially Thai, Chinese, and Indonesian. But at my house I still cook Italian food, and my wife cooks very good Portuguese.”
Have you learned Dutch?
“I did the Delftse Methode. I found the course worked quite well; it’s very intuitive and not boring.”
How do you feel about your recent promotion to professor?
“Of course I feel very honored and proud of this position. It’s nice that being in a country as a foreigner, and being young, there is no discrimination at all. In the eight years since my PhD to the full professorship, I’ve received all that was necessary to exploit my ideas. I think anyone can make a good career here if you have the ambition for it.”
Do you have any tips for people starting their career here?
“I don’t conclude much downstream, but if you can choose what to do, don’t weigh too much the economical or circumstantial factors. Try to follow your passion, because you’ll be happier and more active than if this isn’t your passion. When you follow your passion, you’re able to look back at the path you’ve traveled and feel much less regret for things you might’ve done. It’s also important to be driven personally, but groups achieve the best results. In science, people are often afraid of results being stolen, but there’s nothing worse than trying to protect you’re work, because the ultimate goal is to share what you’re doing, to transfer knowledge. By collaborating with colleagues, you get the cascade effect, and pretty soon one plus one plus one can equal ten. If I’d gone my own way, I’d be light years behind now. So being open to collaboration is a winning point, because you discover things you wouldn’t have otherwise.”
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