From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adrian Leland Rees Thomas (born 1963)
[2] is a professor of
biomechanics at the
University of Oxford
[3] and Director of Studies in Biological Sciences at
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford running the Animal Flight Research Group. He is co-founder and
Chief Scientific Officer at Animal Dynamics
[2]
[4] and is also chairman of the flight section of the Bionis International
Biomimetics Network.
[5]
Education
Thomas was educated at
Abingdon School and studied
zoology at Oxford
[6] as an undergraduate from 1981 to 1984. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree at
Lund University in 1995 on the
flight feathers of birds.
[7]
Career and research
Thomas was appointed a
fellow of Lady Margaret Hall in 1998 and professor of biomechanics in 2006. He founded the University of Oxford Animal Flight Research Group in 1996.
[8] His mechanical analogue of
dragonflies was developed by his company, Animal Dynamics Ltd, to make small
unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones or
ornithopters ) to outperform
quadcopters .
[9]
[10] His work has been funded by the
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory , the research arm of the
British Ministry of Defence , and the
United States Air Force . The company is an Oxford
University spin-off started in 2015 with co-founder Alex Caccia.
[2] The company has expanded into the
biomechanics of fish to develop a machine powered by the same type of flapping propulsion.
[11]
His research investigates
insect flight
[12]
[13] using
dragonflies ,
[14]
butterflies ,
[15]
desert locusts
[16] and
hawkmoths .
[1] Thomas has supervised several Doctor of Philosophy students including Graham Taylor,
[17] Simon Walker
[18] and Richard Bomphrey.
[19]
Thomas was a British champion in paragliding in 2006 and 2009.
[20] He is an executive board member of the
British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association .
[2] He was an aerodynamics consultant with
Airwave Gliders GmbH, who manufactured
paragliders ,
hang-gliders and
ultralight aircraft .
[21]
References
^
a
b Willmott, A. P.;
Ellington, C. P. ; Thomas, A. L. R. (1997).
"Flow visualization and unsteady aerodynamics in the flight of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta" . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 352 (1351).
Royal Society : 303–316.
doi :
10.1098/rstb.1997.0022 .
ISSN
0962-8436 .
PMC
1691930 .
^
a
b
c
d
e Anon (2015).
"Adrian Leland Rees THOMAS" . London: Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom.
Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017 .
^
Adrian Thomas publications indexed by the
Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
^
"Projects under development at Animal Dynamics Ltd" . animal-dynamics.com . Archived from
the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017 .
^
"Adrian Thomas" . Department of Zoology, Oxford University. Archived from
the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017 .
^
Al-Khalili, Jim (2017).
"Adrian Thomas on the mechanics of flight" . BBC.
^ Thomas, Adrian Leland Rees (1995).
On the tails of birds (PhD thesis). Lund University.
OCLC
36788832 .
^ Anon (2017).
"Oxford Animal Flight Group" . University of Oxford. Retrieved 8 December 2017 .
^ Macaulay, Thomas (2017).
"Meet Animal Dynamics, the UK startup creating military drones inspired by dragonflies" . techworld.com .
^ Excell, Jon (2016).
"Insect inspiration: UK defence drone mimics dragonfly flight" . theengineer.co.uk .
^ Anon (2015).
"Flapping about: Biomechanics: Replacing a propeller with a flapping fin could help a team of zoologists set a new speed record on the water" .
The Economist . Retrieved 2 November 2017 .
^
Ellington, Charles P. ; Berg, Coen van den; Willmott, Alexander P.; Thomas, Adrian L. R. (1996). "Leading-edge vortices in insect flight". Nature . 384 (6610): 626–630.
Bibcode :
1996Natur.384..626E .
doi :
10.1038/384626a0 .
ISSN
1476-4687 .
S2CID
4358428 .
^ Taylor, Graham K.; Nudds, Robert L.; Thomas, Adrian L. R. (2003). "Flying and swimming animals cruise at a Strouhal number tuned for high power efficiency". Nature . 425 (6959): 707–711.
Bibcode :
2003Natur.425..707T .
doi :
10.1038/nature02000 .
ISSN
1476-4687 .
PMID
14562101 .
S2CID
4431906 .
^ Thomas, Adrian L. R.; Taylor, Graham K.; Srygley, Robert B.; Nudds, Robert L.; Bomphrey, Richard J. (2004). "Dragonfly flight: free-flight and tethered flow visualizations reveal a diverse array of unsteady lift-generating mechanisms, controlled primarily via angle of attack".
Journal of Experimental Biology . 207 (24): 4299–4323.
doi :
10.1242/jeb.01262 .
ISSN
0022-0949 .
PMID
15531651 .
^ Srygley, R. B.; Thomas, A. L. R. (2002). "Unconventional lift-generating mechanisms in free-flying butterflies". Nature . 420 (6916): 660–664.
Bibcode :
2002Natur.420..660S .
doi :
10.1038/nature01223 .
ISSN
1476-4687 .
PMID
12478291 .
S2CID
11435467 .
^ Taylor, Graham K.; Thomas, Adrian L. R. (2003). "Dynamic flight stability in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria".
Journal of Experimental Biology . 206 (16): 2803–2829.
doi :
10.1242/jeb.00501 .
ISSN
0022-0949 .
PMID
12847126 .
^ Taylor, Graham K. (2002).
Animal flight dynamics : mechanics of stability and control (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford.
OCLC
499340532 .
EThOS
uk.bl.ethos.270179 .
^ Walker, Simon M. (2007).
Insect flight : kinematics and aerodynamics (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
OCLC
234139822 .
EThOS
uk.bl.ethos.670125 .
^ Bomphrey, Richard J. (2004).
The aerodynamics of insect flight (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
OCLC
64587460 .
EThOS
uk.bl.ethos.410318 .
^ Borsattino, Carlo (2011).
"Gin Welcomes Adrian Thomas" . flybubble.com . Retrieved 2 November 2017 .
^
"Cross-Country Magazine" . 15 September 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2017 .
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