John Cater

Biography

John completed a BE in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Auckland and a PhD at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He later travelled and spent six years in Ireland and the UK, working as a research fellow at Trinity College Dublin & Trinity College Cambridge before becoming a permanent academic at Queen Mary, University of London in the East End of London.

In 2008 John returned to The University of Auckland and joined the Department of Engineering Science as a Senior Lecturer in Fluid Dynamics, specialising mainly in modelling turbulent flows and their control. He currently researches a variety of aero-acoustical and flow problems using computational models, such as large eddy simulation, and experimental laser measurement techniques such as particle image velocimetry.

Currently supported research projects include topics in wind power generation, respiratory support devices, vocal tract flows, numerical methods for wave propagation problems and modelling for injection moulding.
 

Qualifications

PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Monash University, Australia
BE (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland

Research interests

• Aero-acoustical modelling and measurements, particularly of turbulent jets including linear and non-linear signal processing of acoustic signals.
• Development and use of Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV or LDA), hot-wire anemometry and pressure measurement techniques in turbulent internal and external flows and development of optical measurement techniques including Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF).
• Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of swirling flows, jets and wind turbines using cluster-based parallel computation.
• Synthetic jets and flow control.
• Medical flow imaging and measurement.
   

Research groups

Fluid dynamics
 

Teaching

• ENGSCI 233 - Computational Techniques and Computer Systems
• ENGSCI 331 - Computational Techniques and Computer Systems
• ENGSCI 343 - Continuum Mechanics
• ENGSCI 363 - Modelling and Design 2
• ENGSCI 712 - Studies in Mathematical Modelling and Computation
• ENGSCI 741 - Studies in Continuum Mechanics 1
• MATHS 361 - Partial Differential Equations
   

Selected publications

Cater, J. “Have we seen the last of noisy aircraft?”, J. NZ Acou. Soc. (2010), 23(1), pp27-31.

Nagels, M; Cater, J. “Large eddy simulation of high frequency oscillating flow in an asymmetric branching airway model”, Med Eng Phys (2009), doi:10.1016/ j.medengphy.2009.07.013

Cater, J; Lemco, I. “Wittgenstein’s Combustion Chamber”, Notes Rec. R. Soc. (2009), vol. 63, no. 1, pp 95-104.

Cater, J. and Williams, J. J. R. “Large eddy simulation of a long asymmetric compound open channel”, J. Hydraulics Res. (2008), Vol. 46, Issue 4.
 

Administration

Engineering Science Course Adviser
 

Professional affiliations

• Member of the European Mechanics Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Graduate Member of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ
• Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society
• Fluid Mechanics Working Group Member of the World Scientific and Engineering Academy & Society
• Principal Editor, New Zealand Acoustics (Journal of the Acoustical Society of New Zealand)