Professor Mark Jermy

Position: Professor, College of Engineering, University of Canterbury.
Fields: Sports aerodynamics¹, computer modelling of fluid flow, biological fluid flow including breathing, blood flow, blood spatter dynamics for forensic² science, injury biomechanics.

Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Dr Mark Jermy

Mark has always been interested in science and likes that in his career there are so many opportunities to always be learning something new.

Dr Mark Jermy has applied his expertise³ in the dynamics of flow to several fields – from cycling aerodynamics, to the behaviour of blood droplets at crime scenes, to helping develop new breathing therapies⁴ and developing new methods for computer modelling of fluid flow.

What I enjoy is that there’s always something new to learn, the work I do helps people directly, I get to travel, and I meet all sorts of people.

Inspired by Dr Who and Dad

Mark has always been interested in science. His father was an engineer and was always curious about how things worked. This inspired Mark, as did his favourite TV character, Dr Who, because he did interesting things, solved problems with science and always tried hard to make the right ethical choices.

After enjoying science and physics at school, Mark went on to do a degree in physics at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He did his PhD⁵ at the University of Kent in the UK, looking at how the structure of glass gave it its peculiar properties.

Never be daunted by people smarter or more able than you. Watch what they do, and think about how you can learn from it.

After his PhD, Mark got into fluid mechanics⁶ when he worked for the Ministry of Defence on some high-energy events (explosions!). He enjoyed that job and learnt that there’s no need to feel inferior to others – everyone’s different, and the best skill of all is being adaptable and able to learn and develop.

After a while in that job Mark wanted more variety, so he went to Cranfield University as a postdoctoral researcher, where he worked on fuel⁷ injection sprays.

Mark decided to move to New Zealand with his wife and two young daughters for a better quality of life. He was lucky when the job at the University of Canterbury came up – with only eight universities, jobs in the right field don’t come up often!

Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Wind tunnel testing

Senior Lecturer Dr Mark Jermy and PhD student Lindsey Underwood analyse the aerodynamic drag of a cyclist during testing at the wind tunnel.

One of the great things Mark finds about his job now is that, in a small country such as New Zealand, sometimes a person has to learn to be an expert in a field – and sometimes, quickly! Mark finds Kiwis to be flexible, willing to learn and with many great ideas.

Most of Mark’s spare time is occupied being a dad to his two daughters. He loves helping them discover the world. In 2010, they visited Taiwan and China together – a fascinating experience.

This article is based on information current in 2011 and updated in 2018.