Australian Combustion Dudes 5: Harvinder Sidhu

"Harvinder Sidhu arrived at ADFA in 1996 bringing along his expertise in CSTR modelling, bifurcation and lots of related dynamical systems tools." Rodney Weber.

"Dr Sidhu has,since enrolling for his PhD in 1993 at the University of Queensland, completed original work in the modelling of oscillating and chaotic chemical reactions. He has shown how to use periodic driving forces in order to influence reactant selectivity (where more than one reaction product exists, with one desirable and the other or others are undesirable). This topic has been considered from time-to-time by chemical engineers for over 30 years, but Dr Sidhu's careful approach has made much more significant progress.

He has shown, not only that significant increases in selectivity are possible in reactions which exhibit Hopf bifurcations by selecting the correct frequency of the driver, but also the existence of a large range of nonlinear phenomena which had not yet been observed and analysed systematically in chemical reactor theory. This work will impact on future reactor design. Recently he has done significant work in the occurrence of combustion waves.

In his work, which includes 9 refereed journal articles, 6 refereed conference proceedings, and many in press, he has shown that he has mastered all the areas of nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, routes to chaos, diffusive waves, etc - both the analysis and numerics thereof. He has done this with ease and is now one of the best equipped young applied mathematicians in Australasia. Clearly he is a very worthy recipient of the inaugural award of the J.H. Michell Medal; ANZIAM AWARD for Outstanding New Researchers.

To quote, in a colloquial way, from the football fraternity that Harvinder knows well... The boy done good."

Citation for the 1999 J.H. Mitchell Medal (ANZIAM Award for Outstanding New Researchers)

Harvi is renowned for his exhuberant personality. This picture finds him in an unusually reflective mood.

Harvi is an Arsenal supporter. Not many laughs there then, and not many laughs here.

School of Mathematics & Statistics, University College, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia, 28th April 1999. Photograph by Mark Nelson.

School of Mathematics & Statistics, University College, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia, 24th May 2002. Photograph by Anthony Tate.