Programme

Odqvist lecture

The Odqvist lecture will be presented by Staffan Lundström of Luleå Technical University.

What we still do not understand about porous media flow and why it matters

Porous media flow is often treated as “solved”, meaning that pore-scale physics is averaged to obtain Darcy-type laws, which are then used for simulation and design. Yet in many settings, the dominant errors arise from what is hidden in this ladder of models, like geometry, interfacial physics, multiscale structure, and limitations in how flow and saturation are measured. In this Folke Odqvist lecture, several issues will be discussed that remain poorly understood in porous-media flow. As supporting examples, the lecture draws on: (i) capillary-driven transport in hierarchical, anisotropic porous structures, where irregular multiscale pore networks complicate prediction even when basic scalings are clear; (ii) transitional flows in simple porous structures; and (iii) convective heat and mass transfer in simplified porous structures.

Staffan Lundström is Chair Professor of Fluid Mechanics at Luleå University of Technology, leading a ~35-person Fluid Mechanics group and heading a division of more than 50 researchers and PhD students. His research centers on flow in porous media, particularly for composite manufacturing, alongside broader fluid mechanics contributions relevant to hydropower and sustainable energy systems. He directs the Swedish Centre for Sustainable Hydropower (since 2022), coordinates the Horizon Europe Store2Hydro project (2023–2027), and holds leadership roles in additional Centres of Excellence and major hydropower initiatives. Within LTU he has held several trusted leadership positions and has supervised 23 PhD graduates plus multiple licentiate degrees and early-career researchers. His work has been recognized with major awards and he has contributed to policy discussions and public outreach through national media and parliamentary engagement.

Plenary lectures

Three plenary lectures, covering a range of mechanical topics, will be given by Elena Gutierrez-Farewik, Stefan Lindström and Clara M. Velte.

Elena Gutierrez-Farewik: Biomechanics-driven technologies for restoring and enhancing mobility

Lanie Gutierrez-Farewik is Professor of Biomechanics at KTH Engineering Mechanics, Director of the Promobilia MoveAbility Lab, President of the Swedish Society of Biomechanics, and Deputy Head of the Department of Engineering Mechanics. She holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Orthopedics from Karolinska Institutet. She has nearly a decade of clinical experience in gait analysis in children and adults with movement disorders. Her research aims to advance how human movement is understood, predicted, and enhanced through biomechanics-driven technologies. Current focus areas include movement analysis methods, data-driven approaches, predictive modeling, and active wearable assistive devices to improve mobility in people with disabilities.

Stefan Lindström: Incremental Fatigue Damage Modeling for Load-Bearing Aircraft Structures

Stefan Lindström is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Mid Sweden University, with research centered on mechanics-based modeling and experimental methods. His work spans engineering mechanics and chemical engineering, with applications in materials science and structural analysis. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Mid Sweden University and holds the Swedish docent degree in Engineering Mechanics from Linköping University. After postdoctoral research at Harvard University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, he has pursued cross-disciplinary research on biogenic and biobased materials as well as fatigue and service-life assessment of structural components. His current interests include incremental fatigue damage modeling and its integration into the design process for high-performance applications, alongside interpretable machine-learning approaches applied within forest industry.

Clara M Velte: Turbulence Beyond Equilibrium

Clara M. Velte works in experimental, numerical, and theoretical fluid mechanics and turbulence at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Her recent scientific contributions are summarized in her Doctor Technices (DrTechn.) dissertation, the highest academic distinction in engineering and technological sciences. She currently heads the ERC Starting Grant–funded DTU Turbulence Research Laboratory and the Poul Due Jensen Turbulence Centre of Excellence. Her research spans fundamental turbulence physics and modelling, with strong links to applications including maritime propulsion and wind energy. A particular focus of her work is non-equilibrium turbulence and its relevance for engineering flows.

A detailed programme will be announced during the spring, following the acceptance of abstracts.