Marco Marengo, Professor in Engineering, presented his inaugural lecture on Wednesday 11 March 2015 entitled Thermal management in microgravity – heat control in a floating world. (see the original lecture here at the University of Brighton). This video lecture lasts 50 minutes.

When staring at the night sky, the aspiration and temptation for human beings to go beyond the horizons and leave for the planets and stars is a dream which has been alive since the ancient times. However, the further we journey into the darkness of the universe, the force called gravity weakens. A force so usual and ubiquitous that it is neglected but it is essential for surviving in our environment.

Sedimentation, buoyancy, heat convection and hydrostatic pressure are all gravity related phenomena. What happens then to the human body when the influence of gravity is removed? How is the physics without gravity?

The interest into understanding the fluid mechanics and the heat transfer in a floating world is presented by Professor Marengo alongside the aspiration of ultimately finding attainable thermal management solutions. The lecture will also examine a special new device formulated to transport heat efficiently which has been designed, studied and experimented in microgravity conditions.