Juliana Early is a Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Director of the WTECH Research Centre and Head of School. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Glasgow in 2006, and joined the academic staff in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast in 2007. She is a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society (MRAeS), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and achieved Chartered Engineer (CEng) status in 2010.   

Her research interests in clean propulsion technologies and optimisation have generated over 90 publications in peer reviewed journal, international conferences, technical report and book chapters. She has successfully supervised 9 PhDs to completion in the field of applied aerodynamics and clean energy, as well as mentoring 15 postdoctoral research fellows in a range of FP6/7, Technology Strategy Board, EPSRC and direct industrially funded research programmes.  She was Queen’s University Belfast Principle Investigator (PI) on the FP6 funded Unsteady Effects in Shockwave Induced Separation (UFAST 2007-2008), QUB PI on the Technology Strategy Board/Bombardier co-funded Environmentally Friendly Engine programme (EFE 2007-2012), QUB PI on the €5m FP7 funded REsearch on a CRuiser Enabled Air Transport Environment (Recreate 2011-2015) and QUB PI on the €1.8m H2020 Clean Sky 2 Adaptive Area Nozzle for Ultra High Bypass Nacelle Technology (AvAUNT 2016-2021) as well as securing funding through the NI Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) for a range of PhD scholarships.  She is a QUB Investigator on the £3.2m Innovate-UK IDP13 funded Next Generation Hybrid Electric Vehicle (NextGenHEV 2017-2021),  £3.99m Innovate-UK IDP14 funded Next Generation Battery Electric Vehicle (NextGenBEV 2018-2022) programmes, £2.62m EPSRC funded StreetZero programme (2019-2024), £1.54m APC funded Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator (2020-2021), £11.2m APC funded  NextGen Fuel-Cell Electric Buses to Accelerate a Low-Carbon Hydrogen Economy (2021-2024) and£150k Innovate-UK funded NI Green Seas (2021-2022).

Current PhD Students

Mr Tom Matthews Tom Matthews — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Mr Darryl Doyle Darryl Doyle — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Miss Rachel MacNeill Rachel MacNeill — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Mr Jonathan Louden Jonathan Louden — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Mr Thomas Bach

Mr Jeffrey Johnston

Miss Lucinda Douglas

Current Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Mr Conor O'Boyle

Dr Teresa McGrath Teresa McGrath — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Dr Luke Blades Luke Blades — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Dr Yuanjian Zhang Yuanjian Zhang — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)

Main Administrative Roles

Head of School, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Director WTech

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Environmental Impact Team Lead

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Health and Safety Team

Past Administrative Roles

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Laser Safety Officer

Programme Director - Aerospace Engineering (2011-2018)

Student Recruitment Team Lead (2012-2016). Team member (2007-2010)

School Education Committee (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) (2011-2018)

Stage Coordinator (2008-2011)

Programme Accreditation Team (2009/2010, 2013/2014)

MEE1035 Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

Students are introduced to the concepts of aircraft flight mechanics, performance and design by engaging in the actual practice of engineering through participation in two active learning projects, each of which involve working in teams:

Flight Experience Project, which involves designing a small light aircraft using simple analytical analysis using MS Excel and practical flight simulation;
Structural Design Project, which involves the structural design, analysis and testing of an idealised aircraft component , complimenting a number of additional Stage 1 modules

AER2008 Compressible Flow and Propulsion 2 (Module Coordinator)

The course introduces students to the study of compressible flows and high speed aerodynamics.  The basic theory behind compressible flow is first introduced reviewing fundamentals of gas dynamics, thermodynamics and one dimensional isentropic flows.  The principles behind the development of the shockwave (normal/oblique) and Prandtl-Meyer Expansion fan are introduced, extended to analysis of nozzle and diffuser configurations.  Shock-Expansion theory and Ackeret’s theory are also introduced.  Focus is placed on where these phenomena are encountered in aerospace engineering, with specific relevance to aircraft engine intakes and external supersonic aerodynamics. The design of the jet engine is then introduced, alongside methods for analysis to understand performance characteristics which are typically associated with high performance aerospace applications.

Past Module Responsibilities:

AER1011 Flight Physics 1 (Module Coordinator)

AER2002 Aerodynamics 2 (Module Coordinator)

AER2007 Aircraft Aerodynamics and Performance 2 (Module Coordinator)

AER2010 Propulsion 2 (Module Coordinator)

AER2012 High Speed Aerodynamics 2 (Module Coordinator)

AER2018 Aircraft Systems Engineering 2 (Module Coordinator)

AER3003 Aerodynamics 3 (Module Coordinator)

AER3006 Computational Fluid Dynamics 3 (Module Coordinator)

AER4002 Project 4 (Module Coordinator)

AER4014 Advanced Aerodynamics 4 (Module Coordinator)

MEE7003 Computational Fluid Dynamics (Module Coordinator)

MEE7008 Aerodynamics (Module Coordinator)