Matthew McCormack presented his PhD research at Osborne Reynolds Day, an event dedicated to showcasing the best doctoral research projects in fluid mechanics in the UK. Osborne Reynolds Day is hosted by the University of Manchester in honour of England’s first full-time professor of engineering. Reynolds (born in Belfast in 1842), spent his entire 37-year career at the University of Manchester and is widely considered to be the nation’s leading engineering fluid mechanicist. This year's Osborne Reynolds Day competition took place on 19 June 2026. Eight recently completed PhD finalists were invited to present their work to a panel of judges, who select one overall winner and two runners-up. Matthew was recognised for his outstanding thesis which uncovered new instabilities and flow behaviour in electrically conducting fluids, such as liquid metals, when heated and subjected to magnetic fields. His results deepen the understanding of how turbulence develops in these flows, while also pointing towards new ways of controlling liquid-metal flows in technologies ranging from metal processing to cooling systems for nuclear fusion reactors. All finalists received certificates of their contribution to Osborne Reynolds Day and, as one of the top three presentations, Matthew also received a cash prize. The winning doctoral project was by Stefan Nixon, University of Cambridge, and the second runner-up, Javier Lorente Macías, was also from University of Cambridge. Matthew, Stefan and Javier have also been put forward as the UK’s nominations to compete in the ERCOFTAC da Vinci competition in Athens on 15 October 2026.Learn more:Osborne Reynolds Day 2026 Winners | ERCOFTAC Competition | Osborne Reynolds Day Series Tags Alumni PhD Student success This article was published on Thursday 10 September 2026
