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Professor Ian Turner
Professional and academic background
Professor Turner received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Queensland in 1991. In 2010 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He currently has a full-time research and teaching position at QUT, where his employment first commenced as a lecturer in 1991.
Ian’s more recent roles at QUT include:
2016-present Professor; Academic Program Director for Dean’s Scholars
2012-2015 Head of School of Mathematical Sciences
2009-2011 Head of Discipline of Mathematical Sciences
2009-2009 Acting Head of School of Mathematical Sciences
2007-2009 School Director of Research, Mathematical Sciences.
Research
Professor Turner’s multidisciplinary research highlights the applicability of computational and applied mathematics to important environmental problems such as the drying of Australian softwood and hardwood species, saltwater intrusion in Queensland coastal aquifers, and the prediction of gas composition in a coal seam gas field in the Surat Basin.
Ian’s research demonstrates a strong interaction with industry, having worked with drying engineers at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), and hydrologists and computational modellers at the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. This work is ongoing, and these research initiatives are being developed further through collaboration and jointly supervised PhD projects.
He has also collaborated widely with various local industries and government organisations (for example CSIRO, DNRM and DAF) through commercial research opportunities and ARC Linkage grants.
Recognition
Ian has received international recognition for his research in the form of awards for best research papers in:
international journals
certificates of merit for his extensive contributions in modeling the drying process
invitations as keynote speaker at national and international conferences/workshops
invited professor/researcher positions at universities in Europe
invitations to co-edit a book dedicated to numerical methods for the drying process and to contribute chapters to other books.
National Leadership Roles
2012. Chair of the 2012 Computational Techniques and Applications Conference (CTAC), QUT.
2004-2008. Chair of the national executive of the Computational Mathematics Group, which oversees the enhancement of computational mathematics within Australia.
Ian has organised and chaired national postgraduate student forums on advanced computation for the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing, for example the successful Summer Workshop in Computational Science held at QUT in 2006, which saw around 50 postgraduate students from around Australia attend.
Editorial Roles
In 2010 he was appointed as Associate Editor of the international Journal Applied Mathematical Modelling and then joined the Editorial Board in 2013.