13th UFM meeting will take place at Imperial College London. Attendance at the meeting is free as always. Please register here. Below you will find the preliminary programme. We will upload copies of the presentations after the meeting.
13th UFM meeting — Urban Heterogeneity
Joint UFM/WES Research Day meeting December 16, 2025, Imperial College London, Skempton Building, Room 301, South Kensington Campus.
The UFM and the Wind Engineering Society are delighted to invite you to the upcoming UFM/WES joint Meeting.
PROGRAMME
10.00 Arrival
10.25 Welcome (M. van Reeuwijk and B. Vazquez)
10.30 - 11:15 Keynote (Chair: J. Barlow)
Andreas Christen (University of Freiburg, DE). An observational hike from deep canyons to elevated mixed-layer heights.
11.15 - 12:30 Invited talks (Chair: D. Hackett)
James Matthews (University of Bristol/Reading, UK). Using Tracers to understand urban air flow in Bristol.
Jingzi Huang (Imperial College London, UK). Multi-scale Analysis of Heterogeneous Urban Flows across Varied Morphologies.
Jonnathan Cespedes (University of Reading, UK). Controls on wind profile variability across Bristol: the role of synoptic flow, complex terrain, and urban surface.
ChangChang Wang (University of Southampton, UK). Dispersion and urban heterogeneity.
Matteo Carpentieri (University of Surrey, UK). Wind tunnel modelling of flow and pollutant dispersion in a heterogeneous urban area.
12.30 - 12:45 Posters (Chair: J. Barlow)
12:45 - 14:00 Lunch (& Posters)
14.00 - 15:00 ECR talks (Chairs: C. Higgins + C. Vanderwel)
Mingjie Zhang (Politecnico di Torino, IT). Neighbourhood-Scale Wind Characteristics in A Nanjing Heterogeneous Area: An Aerodynamic Drag Perspective.
Cameron Southgate-Ash (University of Surrey/Reading, UK). Multiscale Roughness Effects on Turbulence in the Urban Boundary Layer.
Matthew Coburn (University of Southampton, UK). Increasing high-fidelity modelling efficiency with automation.
Ismail Beyaz (University of Surrey, UK). Experimental Investigation into the Performance of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine behind Porous Discs.
15.00 - 16:00 ECR talks (Chairs: M. Coburn + M. Placidi)
Christina Higgins (University of Surrey, UK). Laboratory simulation of combined wind- and buoyancy-driven natural ventilation flow.
Nurul Asyikin Abu Bakar (University of Bristol, UK). Wind tunnel characterisation of plumes from point sources in a turbulent boundary layer.
Xiangyu Long (Imperial College London, UK). Impacts of building facades on urban microclimates.
Donnchadh MacGarry (University of Southampton, UK). Effects of aspect ratio on flow and wind loading over arrays of tall buildings.
16.00 - 16.30 Tea/Coffee Break
16.30 - 16.45 UFM's updated Challenge Areas (M. van Reeuwijk)
16.45 – 17.30 Discussion on AI in research and practice (Chair: H. Lean)
17.30 – 17.45 Prize Ceremony & Closing Remarks (M. van Reeuwijk and B. Vazquez)
18.00 – 21.00 Drinks/Dinner (19.00) at own cost. TBC.
Further information for the WES Research Day (afternoon session)
Attendance is free of charge, and non-members of the Society are welcome to attend. We particularly encourage posters and oral presentations by MSc students, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and ECRs working on topics related to wind engineering. There will be prizes awarded for the best oral presentations by PhD students, and the top prize winners will also be offered the opportunity to present at a WES evening event in London.
Kind regards, on behalf of the UFM/WES committees,
Maarten, Christina, and Marco