Professor (Personal Chair)

Contact details

Room 401.906
City Campus
20 Symonds Street
Auckland

Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 87451
Email: r.flay@auckland.ac.nz

Biography

Professor Flay joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1984 as a Senior Lecturer. His main teaching areas are fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, aerodynamics, design and wind engineering.

His research interests are focused on the wind, and he has consulted and researched in the areas of wind engineering, wind energy, wind tunnel design, wind tunnel testing. A highlight was his design of the world’s first wind tunnel capable of producing twisted flow for testing yacht sails. This wind tunnel was used by Team New Zealand, and helped them win the America’s Cup in 1995.

Prof. Flay is Director of the Yacht Research Unit, which has a superb international reputation, and carries out a large proportion of the world’s wind tunnel testing of yacht sails. Prof. Flay is currently working on a very important project to develop the Yacht Research Unit into a much larger Yacht Engineering Research Centre of Excellence, to be located onto the waterfront of the Waitemata Harbour.

Qualifications

BE(Hons)(Mech)
PhD in Mechanical Engineering

Research interests

• Sail aerodynamics
• Wind engineering
• Wind energy
• Wind tunnel testing.

Research groups

• Yacht Research Unit
• Wind Energy Research Group

Teaching

• MECHENG 211 Thermofluids
• MECHENG 412 Aerohydrodynamics
• MECHENG 431 Engineering Design 4M
• MECHENG 714 Wind Engineering

Administration

• Deputy Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Director Yacht Research Unit
• Academic in charge of the Aerodynamics Laboratory

Professional affiliations

• FIPENZ
• FIMechE
• FRINA
• MASME