Head, Department of Fluid and Thermal Engineering
Director, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Laboratory
EDUCATION
B.Sc(Eng). in Mechanical Engineering with Merit, University of New South Wales, 1977;
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of New South Wales, 1984.

EMPLOYMENT
Department of Public Works N.S.W.,
Assistant Engineer 1971 - 1977;
The University of New South Wales,
Research Fellow 1977 - 1980;
Research Assistant 1980 - 1982;
Lecturer, 1982 - 1987;
Senior Lecturer, 1987 -
Associate Professor 1993 -

VISITING APPOINTMENTS
Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza". Visiting Professor, 1989

Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, in conjunction with Harwell Laboratories, UKAEA. Visiting Fellow, 1989

Max-Planck-Institut für Strömungsforschung, Göttingen. Visiting Fellow, 1993

Terza Università di Roma. Visiting Professor, 1994

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Institution of Engineers, Australia, Member;
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Member;
Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heating, Member;
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air conditioning Engineers, Member.

TEACHING AREAS
Thermodynamics

Heat Transfer

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

Computing

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Computational Fluid Dynamics

Effect of fluid properties on natural convection. Study of multiplicity of flows in fluid mechanics. Rayleigh-Bénard problem. Study of mixed convection in annuli. Turbulent convection in enclosures. Fumigant movement in stored grain. Numerical flow visualisation. Three-dimensional convection and solidification in earth and microgravity. Modelling of fire phenomena.

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

Numerical study of flows in rooms and buildings. Mixed refrigerant cycles. Performance characteristics of HFCs in existing equipment. Performance and safety characteristics of hydrocarbon refrigerants. Performance characteristics of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. Equipment testing techniques. Computer modelling of refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

E. Leonardi and J.A. Reizes, 'Convective Flows in Closed Cavities with Variable Fluid Properties', Chapter 18 in Numerical Methods in Heat Transfer, R.W. Lewis, K. Morgan and O.C. Zienkiewicz (eds), John Wiley and Sons, 1981.
C.T. Hughes, E. Leonardi, G. de Vahl Davis and J.A. Reizes, 'A Numerical Study of the Multiplicity of Flows in the Taylor Experiment', PCH PhysicoChemical Hydrodynamics, Vol. 6, No. 5/6, pp. 637-645, 1985.
M.A. Hessami, G. de Vahl Davis, E. Leonardi and J.A. Reizes, 'Mixed Convection Heat in Vertical Cylindrical Annuli', Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 30, pp. 151-164, 1987.
G.H. Yeoh, M. Behnia, G. de Vahl Davis and E. Leonardi, 'A Numerical Study of Three-dimensional Natural Convection during Freezing'. Int. J. Numer. Methods in Eng., Vol.30, pp. 899-914, 1990.
L. Chen, A. Tayler, C.M. Tolouie, E. Leonardi and M. Behnia, 'Investigating a Non-Azeotropic Mixture', AIRAH Journal, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 14-19, 1991.
F. Stella and E. Leonardi, 'Problema di Rayleigh-Bénard in Domini Limitati', Note di Informatica, IBM Semea, No. 25, 40-47, 1991.
A.K. Singh, E. Leonardi and G.R. Thorpe, 'Three-dimensional Natural Convection in a Confined Fluid overlying a Porous Layer', Trans. ASME, J. Heat Transfer, Vol. 115, No. 3, pp. 631-638, 1993.
F. Stella, G. Guj and E. Leonardi, 'The Rayleigh-Bénard Problem in Intermediate Bounded Domains', J. Fluid Mech., Vol. 254, pp. 375-400, 1993.

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS AND INDUSTRIAL CONSULTING

Technical Editor, AIRAH Journal: Australian Refrigeration Air Conditioning & Heating.

Member, Standards Association of Australia, Committees ME/16 and ME/6

Australian Representative, Commission B2, International Institute of Refrigeration.

Consultant to industry through Unisearch Ltd. in the areas of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat transfer. Through the establishment of the Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Laboratory testing facility, performance testing and prototype development of packaged air conditioning and refrigerating equipment.