LUMEN Summer 2020 - Flipbook - Page 23
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Associate Professor
Richard Kelso
LEFT
Shaun Fitzgerald
F
lown home from hospital to the
family farm just days after his
birth, it’s no surprise
PhD candidate Shaun
Fitzgerald has always been interested
in aerodynamics and aviation.
“On a farm, nobody's an engineer. But
everybody is a farmer and they are the
world's natural engineers. They design
and build everything,” Shaun said.
Working closely with Associate
Professor Richard Kelso for the past six
years, Shaun contributed to both the
2016 and 2020 Olympic bikes used by
Cycling Australia.
Undertaking his honours with alumnus
Henry Atkins in 2015, the duo
investigated the aerodynamics of the
frame, crank set, shoes and seat posts,
and developed the socks being worn by
the Australian team.
Now in the fourth year of his PhD,
Shaun is focused on understanding
what the athlete experiences inside
the velodrome.
“Because they're indoors, everybody
thinks it's still air, nothing's moving.
"But the reality is more complicated
with variations due to a cyclist
cornering, a large swirling airflow from
other riders, and turbulence.
“I need to understand all those variables
so we can go into the wind tunnel and
replicate them all and say, 'that design is
optimised for the environment'.”
Success
is in the air
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2020
21
