Dr Svetlana Tkachenko

Dr Svetlana Tkachenko graduated with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at UNSW in 2018. Svetlana's PhD involved numerical modelling of buoyant turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer in a model of a double-skin building facade with photvoltaic (PV) modules on the outer skin, which suggested that higher wall emissivity on inner surfaces of such a facade leads to improvement in surface-to-surface wall radiation and resulting passive cooling rates.

After graduation, Svetlana has participated in research projects with industrial partners in the areas of aerodynamics for rotary wing aircraft, automotive applications for disk brakes, building ventilation for a three-storey building with passive evaporative downdraft cooling. In these projects, Svetlana has created a numerical model, and collaborated with fellow researchers, to devise improvements to the design of these systems, which would increase their resulting performance.

Dr Svetlana Tkachenko currently is a post-doctoral fellow at UNSW Faculty of Engineering, undertaking numerical modelling of fluid flow and heat transfer in the areas of renewable energy, building ventilation, and air conditioning. Her numerical modelling includes multi-phase modelling, study of new materials, and collaboration with industry to identify the requirements, limitations, and working objectives.