The University of Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC) and UCT independently award Ph.D. Degree to Leon Malan

Leon Malan, from Mechanical Engineering, is awarded a Ph.D. independently from both UPMC (Paris VI Sorbonne) and UCT. The Ph.D. dissertation is entitled “Direct Numerical Simulation of Free-Surface and Interfacial Flow Using the VOF Method: Cavitating Bubble Clouds and Phase Change”, and addresses two of the grand challenges in computational mechanics today. Work on bubble cloud modelling was done at UPMC under Prof. Stéphane Zaleski (UPMC), and research on the numerical solution of flows with phase change at UCT, lead by Profs. Arnaud Malan and Pieter Rousseau. Of particular interest was the rigour of the assessment which involved two universities independently examining the work. The public defence at UPMC in Paris was a highlight. It took place in front of a jury totalling 6 members which included some of the highest cited researchers in interface modelling. After a marathon discussion lasting 2.5 hours, the Jury concluded: “The jury was also most impressed with the thorough discussion session which followed the presentation and demonstrated the excellent physical understanding, literature knowledge and overall scientific maturity of Mr Malan.” The final outcome was that all examination reports (totalling 6) unanimously conferred the title of Doctor on Leon (subject to minor corrections) at both UCT and UPMC.