Dr. Geoffrey Spedding

Biography

Geoffrey Spedding received his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of Bristol, England. He began work as a Research Associate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California in the same year, focusing on models of insect wings and subsequently models of atmospheres and oceans. He became a full Professor in 2005 and was appointed Chair of the Aerospace Mechanical Engineering Department in January 2010. In July 2017, he returned to a normal faculty life. Spedding's current research themes include: geophysical fluids, particularly the evolution of turbulence in oceans and atmospheres and the persistence of wakes from islands and submarines; advanced imaging data analysis, specifically accurate particle imaging velocimetry techniques, and novel 2D wavelet transforms for interpolation routines with scattered data; and the aerodynamics of small flying devices, especially birds and bats in relation to engineering design space. His experiments in wind tunnels include simple fixed wings and USC flying birds and bats which he conducted at Lund University, Sweden. Over the last 10 years, he has published more than 60 full journal articles and given over 80 invited talks. His work has been highlighted by major media outlets including New York, LA, CNN, and BBC News. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2010 and awarded the Chaire Joliot at ESPCI, Paris, in 2013.

Research Interests

Awards