Salman Ansari

Salman Ansari, who already was classed as one of Britain’s top young engineers from University of Surrey by winning the Rolls-Royce Section Award, in a ceremony held at the House of Commons, has now also won the Kings Norton Medal for the most outstanding doctoral student at Cranfield University.

Currently a post doc research officer with the Department of Aerospace, Power and Sensors, Salman explains that his work, an extension of his PhD work, is observing the aerolasticity of insect-like flapping wings. “When a wing flaps through air it experiences forces that tend to deform it. This deformation changes the forces on the wings, which in turn changes the deformation. This interaction between the aerodynamic forces and the structural elasticity is aeroelasticity.”

His thesis, entitled, “A nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic model for insect-like flapping wings in the hover with micro air vehicle applications”, awarded him the KN prize for being the most outstanding doctoral student. His external examiner, someone not given to hyperbole, remarked that Salman’s thesis was one of the best, if not the best PhD he had examined in his 30-year career”.

Originally from Pakistan, Salman has spent a considerable time in Gambia, West Africa, where his father worked as a doctor for a Muslim mission. He came to the UK to continue his education, first graduating from the University of Surrey in 1999 with a BEng (First Class Hons) in Aerospace Engineering before joining Cranfield at Shrivenham in 2000 to take up his PhD on insect-like flapping wings.

Salman’s ultimate dream is to be an ambassador for peace.