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Adrian Thomas (zoologist)

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Adrian Thomas
Born
Adrian Leland Rees Thomas

1963 (age 60–61)[2]
EducationAbingdon School
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (MA)
University of Lund (PhD)
SpouseSusan Thomas
ChildrenLauren Thomas
Scientific career
FieldsZoology
Insect flight
Ornithopters
Biomechanics
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford
Animal Dynamics Ltd.
University of Cambridge[1]
ThesisOn the tails of birds (1995)
Websitewww.zoo.ox.ac.uk/people/view/thomas_alr.htm

Adrian Leland Rees Thomas (born 1963)[2] is a professor of biomechanics at the University of Oxford[3] and Director of Studies in Biological Sciences at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford running the Animal Flight Research Group. He is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Animal Dynamics[2][4] and is also chairman of the flight section of the Bionis International Biomimetics Network.[5]

Education

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Thomas was educated at Abingdon School and studied zoology at Oxford[6] as an undergraduate from 1981 to 1984. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Lund University in 1995 on the flight feathers of birds.[7]

Career and research

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Thomas was appointed a fellow of Lady Margaret Hall in 1998 and professor of biomechanics in 2006. He founded the University of Oxford Animal Flight Research Group in 1996.[8] His mechanical analogue of dragonflies was developed by his company, Animal Dynamics Ltd, to make small unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones or ornithopters) to outperform quadcopters.[9][10] His work has been funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the research arm of the British Ministry of Defence, and the United States Air Force. The company is an Oxford University spin-off started in 2015 with co-founder Alex Caccia.[2] The company has expanded into the biomechanics of fish to develop a machine powered by the same type of flapping propulsion.[11]

His research investigates insect flight[12][13] using dragonflies,[14] butterflies,[15] desert locusts[16] and hawkmoths.[1] Thomas has supervised several Doctor of Philosophy students including Graham Taylor,[17] Simon Walker[18] and Richard Bomphrey.[19]

Thomas was a British champion in paragliding in 2006 and 2009.[20] He is an executive board member of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.[2] He was an aerodynamics consultant with Airwave Gliders GmbH, who manufactured paragliders, hang-gliders and ultralight aircraft.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b Willmott, A. P.; Ellington, C. P.; Thomas, A. L. R. (1997). "Flow visualization and unsteady aerodynamics in the flight of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 352 (1351). Royal Society: 303–316. doi:10.1098/rstb.1997.0022. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 1691930.
  2. ^ a b c d e Anon (2015). "Adrian Leland Rees THOMAS". London: Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  3. ^ Adrian Thomas publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  4. ^ "Projects under development at Animal Dynamics Ltd". animal-dynamics.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Adrian Thomas". Department of Zoology, Oxford University. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  6. ^ Al-Khalili, Jim (2017). "Adrian Thomas on the mechanics of flight". BBC.
  7. ^ Thomas, Adrian Leland Rees (1995). On the tails of birds (PhD thesis). Lund University. OCLC 36788832.
  8. ^ Anon (2017). "Oxford Animal Flight Group". University of Oxford. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  9. ^ Macaulay, Thomas (2017). "Meet Animal Dynamics, the UK startup creating military drones inspired by dragonflies". techworld.com.
  10. ^ Excell, Jon (2016). "Insect inspiration: UK defence drone mimics dragonfly flight". theengineer.co.uk.
  11. ^ Anon (2015). "Flapping about: Biomechanics: Replacing a propeller with a flapping fin could help a team of zoologists set a new speed record on the water". The Economist. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  12. ^ Ellington, Charles P.; Berg, Coen van den; Willmott, Alexander P.; Thomas, Adrian L. R. (1996). "Leading-edge vortices in insect flight". Nature. 384 (6610): 626–630. Bibcode:1996Natur.384..626E. doi:10.1038/384626a0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4358428. Closed access icon
  13. ^ Taylor, Graham K.; Nudds, Robert L.; Thomas, Adrian L. R. (2003). "Flying and swimming animals cruise at a Strouhal number tuned for high power efficiency". Nature. 425 (6959): 707–711. Bibcode:2003Natur.425..707T. doi:10.1038/nature02000. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 14562101. S2CID 4431906. Closed access icon
  14. ^ Thomas, Adrian L. R.; Taylor, Graham K.; Srygley, Robert B.; Nudds, Robert L.; Bomphrey, Richard J. (2004). "Dragonfly flight: free-flight and tethered flow visualizations reveal a diverse array of unsteady lift-generating mechanisms, controlled primarily via angle of attack". Journal of Experimental Biology. 207 (24): 4299–4323. doi:10.1242/jeb.01262. ISSN 0022-0949. PMID 15531651. Free access icon
  15. ^ Srygley, R. B.; Thomas, A. L. R. (2002). "Unconventional lift-generating mechanisms in free-flying butterflies". Nature. 420 (6916): 660–664. Bibcode:2002Natur.420..660S. doi:10.1038/nature01223. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 12478291. S2CID 11435467. Closed access icon
  16. ^ Taylor, Graham K.; Thomas, Adrian L. R. (2003). "Dynamic flight stability in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria". Journal of Experimental Biology. 206 (16): 2803–2829. doi:10.1242/jeb.00501. ISSN 0022-0949. PMID 12847126. Free access icon
  17. ^ Taylor, Graham K. (2002). Animal flight dynamics : mechanics of stability and control (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 499340532. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.270179.
  18. ^ Walker, Simon M. (2007). Insect flight : kinematics and aerodynamics (PhD thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 234139822. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.670125.
  19. ^ Bomphrey, Richard J. (2004). The aerodynamics of insect flight (PhD thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 64587460. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.410318.
  20. ^ Borsattino, Carlo (2011). "Gin Welcomes Adrian Thomas". flybubble.com. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Cross-Country Magazine". 15 September 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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