Juliana Early is a Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Wright Technology and Research Centre (WTECH) at Queen's. 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), £12.6m APC funded NEXTGENZEBS (2024-2027). 

Current PhD Students

Ms Suraksha Bishnoi Suraksha Bishnoi - Queen's University Belfast

Ms Lauren Brooker Lauren Brooker - Queen's University Belfast

Mrs Lucinda Evans Lucinda Evans - Queen's University Belfast

Mr Theofanis Lampousis

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

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

Ms Emma McGee

Mr Jonny Patty Jonathan Patty - Queen's University Belfast

Mr Jeffrey Johnston

Current Postdoctoral Research Fellows

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

Dr Eridei Amakiri Eridei Amakiri - Queen's University Belfast

Main Administrative Roles

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

Head of School, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (2021-2025)

Deputy Head of School, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (2018-2021)

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)

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)

MEE1035 Introduction to Aerospace Engineering (Module Coordinator)

MEE3064 Power and Transportation Systems 3 (Lecturer)

MEE7008 Aerodynamics (Module Coordinator)