Staff profile

Please check out my personal webpage for more information: www. majidbastankhah.com

I received a BSc (2009) followed by a MSc (2012) both in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Iran. I then moved to the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, where I completed a PhD (2017) in Mechanical Engineering. I was a postdoctoral researcher in the Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy (WiRE) Laboratory at EFPL in 2017-2018. Since November 2018, I have been with the Department of Engineering at Durham University as an Associate Professor since July 2022, and prior to that as an Assistant Professor in 2018- 2022. 

In my research, I employ theoretical, numerical and experimental approaches to study aerodynamics of wind turbines and wind farms. My research aims at narrowing the gap between theory and practice, and it contributes towards addressing important wind-farm optimisation challenges that the wind energy industry currently faces. I conduct laboratory experiments to study scaled-down wind turbines and wind farms under fully controlled conditions. I complement these studies with mathematical modelling to extract useful information that can be applied outside the laboratory in real world problems. The models developed in these works are widely used both in research and industry and implemented in several wind energy software packages such as FLORIS of NREL and PyWake of DTU, among others. I am currently the Durham's PI and the work-package leader of the UK-US bilateral research project (Innovate UK - N89640) working on the subject of wake steering for floating wind turbines, as part of a big consortium comprising several industrial (DNV, Equinor, NREL, MPS) and academic (Durham University, Cornell University) partners. 

Apart from doing research, teaching has been an important part of my academic career, and I enjoy teaching thermo-fluid courses and design new modules in both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Motivated master students and prospective PhD students who are interested in wind energy aerodynamics are welcome to get in touch directly for more information on available projects.

Honors and Awards

(2021) Teaching Excellence award
Department of Engineering, Durham University

(2017) Earth Sciences and Engineering Award for the best publication in the field of environmental engineering, EPFL, Switzerland.

(2014) Outstanding Poster (OSP) Award (link), EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria.

(2014) Best Poster Presentation, 21st Symposium on Boundary Layers and Turbulence, Leeds.

(2013) Best Poster Award, Green days, EPFL, Switzerland

(2009) National Gold Medal in the Mechanical Engineering Olympiad, Iran.

(2009) Ranked 1st in the Nationwide M.Sc. Entrance Exam in Mechanical Engineering among more than 15000 participants, Iran.

• Wind Energy Aerodynamics
• Experimental Fluid Mechanics
• Turbulent Flows
• Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows

• 2021: USE OF WIND FARM CONTROL ON FLOATING PLA(£121109.67 from Innovate UK)

• 2021: Special Issue Editor in the journal of Energies:
• 2020: Guest Editor in Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy:
• 2019: Session chair in Wind Energy Science Conference (WESC), Cork, Ireland:

Conference Paper

• M. Bastankhah, C. Shapiro, S. Shamsoddin, D. Gayme & C. Meneveau (2021), Curled wake shape evolution downstream of yawed wind turbines: a theoretical study, Wind Energy Science Conference (WESC). Hanover, Germany.
• M. Bastankhah, B.L. Welch, L.A. Martinez-Tossas, J. King & P. Fleming (2021), Analytical solution for the cumulative wake of wind turbines in wind farms, Wind Energy Science Conference (WESC). Hanover, Germany.
• M. Bastankhah & M. Abkar (2019), Wake Flow Structure Behind Multi-rotor Wind Turbines, Wind Energy Science Conference (WESC). Cork, Ireland.
• M. Bastankhah & F. Porte-Agel (2018), Different aspects of wind turbine interaction with turbulent boundary-layer flows: A wind tunnel study, 55th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES2018). Madrid, Spain.
• M. Bastankhah & F. Porte-Agel (2018), Interaction of miniature wind turbines with turbulent boundary-layer flows, Wind Energy Science and Wind Tunnel Experiments. Oldenburg, Germany.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porte-Agel, Fernando (2016), Analytical modeling of turbine wakes in yawed conditions, European Geosciences Union (EGU). Vienna, Austria.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porte-Agel, Fernando (2014), A new analytical model for wind turbine wakes, International Conference on Aerodynamics of Offshore Wind Energy Systems and Wakes (ICOWES 2013). Lyngby, Denmark.
• Bastankhah, Majid, Dios Romero, Isabele & Porte-Agel, Fernando (2014), Optimization of wind farm performance based on yaw angle control, 21st Symposium on Boundary Layers and Turbulence (BLT). Leeds, UK.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porte-Agel, Fernando (2014), A wind-tunnel investigation of wind-turbine wakes in different yawed and loaded conditions, European Geosciences Union (EGU). Vienna, Austria.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porte-Agel, Fernando (2014), Effects of positive versus negative yaw angles on wind-turbine performance: an application of BEM theory, European Geosciences Union (EGU). Vienna, Austria.

Journal Article

• LoCascio, Michael J., Bay, Christopher J., Bastankhah, Majid, Barter, Garrett E., Fleming, Paul A. & Martínez-Tossas, Luis A. (2022). FLOW Estimation and Rose Superposition (FLOWERS): an integral approach to engineering wake models. Wind Energy Science 7(3): 1137-1151.
• LoCascio, Michael Bay, Christopher Bastankhah, Majid Barter, Garrett, Fleming, Paul & Martinez-Tossas, Luis (2022). FLOWERS: An integral approach to engineering wake models. Wind Energy Science
• Bastankhah, Majid, Shapiro, Carl R., Shamsoddin, Sina, Gayme, Dennice F. & Meneveau, Charles (2022). A vortex sheet based analytical model of the curled wake behind yawed wind turbines. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 933: A2.
• Speakman, Gustav A., Abkar, Mahdi, Martínez‐Tossas, Luis A. & Bastankhah, Majid (2021). Wake steering of multirotor wind turbines. Wind Energy 24(11): 1294-1314.
• Bastankhah, Majid, Welch, Bridget L., Martínez-Tossas, Luis A., King, Jennifer & Fleming, Paul (2021). Analytical solution for the cumulative wake of wind turbines in wind farms. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 911: A53.
• Porte-Agel, Fernando, Bastankhah, Majid & Shamsoddin, Sina (2020). Wind-Turbine and Wind-Farm Flows: A Review. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 174: 1-59.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Abkar, Mahdi (2019). Multirotor wind turbine wakes. Physics of Fluids 31(8): 085106.
• Aubrun, S., Bastankhah, M., Cal, R.B., Conan, B., Hearst, R.J., Hoek, D., Hölling, M., Huang, M., Hur, C, Karlsen, B., Neunaber, I., Obligado, M., Peinke, J., Percin, M., Saetran, L., Schito, P, Schliffke, B., Sims-Williams, D.B., Uzol, O., Vinnes, M.K. & Zasso, A. (2019). Round-robin tests of porous disc models. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1256: 012004.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando (2019). Wind farm power optimization via yaw angle control: A wind tunnel study. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 11(2): 023301.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porte-Agel, Fernando (2017). A New Miniature Wind Turbine for Wind Tunnel Experiments. Part I: Design and Performance. Energies 10(7): 908.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando (2017). Wind tunnel study of the wind turbine interaction with a boundary-layer flow: Upwind region, turbine performance, and wake region. Physics of Fluids 29(6): 065105.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando (2017). A New Miniature Wind Turbine for Wind Tunnel Experiments. Part II: Wake Structure and Flow Dynamics. Energies 10(7): 923.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando (2016). Experimental and theoretical study of wind turbine wakes in yawed conditions. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 806: 506-541.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando (2015). A wind-tunnel investigation of wind-turbine wakes in yawed conditions. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 625: 012014.
• Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando (2014). A new analytical model for wind-turbine wakes. Renewable Energy 70: 116-123.