School of Engineering

Dr Dominic van der A

In this section
Dr Dominic van der A
Dr Dominic van der A
Dr Dominic van der A

MSc, PhD

Senior Lecturer

About
Email Address
d.a.vandera@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272806
Office Address

Fraser Noble Building (room 355)

School of Engineering

University of Aberdeen

Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK

School/Department
School of Engineering
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Biography

My main study area is coastal engineering, with a particular focus on the hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes that occur near the seabed as a result of waves. In 2005 I obtained my MSc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Twente in my home country The Netherlands. Then I moved to Scotland where in 2010 I completed my PhD here in the School of Engineering at the University of Aberdeen as part of the EPSRC funded SANTOSS project. I followed this up with Research Fellowship in Aberdeen as part of the EPSRC funded SINBAD project in which I was a co-investigator.

Since 2015 I am a lecturer in the School of Engineering where I continue my research in coastal engineering, while further expanding my fluid mechanics research interests into areas such as the interaction between wave hydrodynamics and coastal vegetation. I am an experimentalist at heart and do most of my research in our own Fluid Mechanics laboratory using state-of-the art optical and acoustic equipment to measure the fundamental physical processes.

The main aim of my research is to improve our understanding of fundamental processes in the coastal zone, and to develop new and more efficient tools that engineers can use, particularly when addressing the environmental challenges of climate change and sea level rise.

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships
  • Physical Sciences & Engineering ethics board member 
External Memberships
  • Reviewer for: Journal of Geophysical Research; Coastal Engineering; Journal of Fluid Mechanics; Geophysical Research Letters; Continental Shelf Research; Water Resources Research; Journal of Hydraulic Engineering; Journal of Hydraulic Research; Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering; KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering; International Journal of Sediment Research; Ocean Dynamics; 37th IAHR World Conference
  • Organizer 9th UK Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference (YCSEC), Aberdeen. In collaboration with Marine Scotland Science.
  • Member of International Association of Hydraulic Research
  • Member Scientific Committee of the Coastlab18 Conference, Santander, Spain
  • Steering Group Member MASTS Numerical and Experimental Hydrodynamic Modelling Forum
  • Member International Scientific Committee of The 9th International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics, Seoul, South Korea.
  • Chair of the Local Organizing Committee of The 10th International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics, Aberdeen, 25-27 June. 
Research

Research Overview

Oscillatory boundary layer flows, sediment transport processess, breaking wave hydrodynamics, beach morphodynamics, wave-structure interaction, stratified shear flows, wave-vegetation interactions

Measurement techniques I often use include optical techniques such as Particle Image Velocimetry, Laser Doppler Anemometry for detailed flow velocity and turbulence measurements and acoustic techniques (ACVP, ADV, ABS) to obtain velocities and sediment contrations in sediment-laden flows and Conductivity techniques to measure high sand concentrations within the sheet flow layer. 

Current Research

Behaviour and transport of industrial particles in sand beds mobilised by waves. PDRA Dr Otto Neshamar [2023-2025]. PI with Co-I's Prof Tom O'Donoghue, Prof Jos Derksen, Dr Sergi Arnau.  

Cross-shore wave hydrondynamics on a vegetated slope. PhD student Muhammad Yunan Fahmi [2017 - present, with Tom O'Donoghue (PI)]

The disbelief of suspension: extracting the truth from acoustic backscatter. PhD student Andrew Smerdon [2019 - present, with Tom O'Donoghue]

Multi-physics fully coupled model developments and assessments of floating offshore wind turbines. PhD student Billy Colhoun [2023 - present, with Zaibin Lin (PI)]

The interaction of waves with seaweed farms: wave attenuation and intra-farm hydrodynamics. PhD student Xinyi Zhang [2023 - present, with Tom O'Donoghue]

 

Past Research

As a postdoc and starting lecturer, I conducted most of my own experimental work on the SINBAD and HYBRID projects in the large-scale wave flume in Barcelona. HYBRID was a H2020 Hydralab+ funded Transnational Access project that involves colleagues from the University of Liverpool, the University of Twente (Netherlands), DTU (Denmark), the University of Hull, Grenoble University (France), CNRS-LEGI (France), the University of Catania (Italy), the University of Messina (Italy), and Utrecht University (Netherlands). The collaborative nature of this experiment is summarized in the photo below, which shows the "Transnational" measurement frame used in the experiment.

Transnational measurement frame @UPC Barcelona Hydralab+

Supervision

Current Postdocs and RA's

  • Dr Oliver Foss, 2025-2027, #gravelbeach project
  • Dr Danny Dunbar, 2026, CoRRODE project 
  • Dr Otto Neshamar, 2023-2025, TAPIS project, now at Danish Technical University, Denmark
  • Dr Joep van der Zanden, 2016, SINBAD project, now at MARIN, The Netherlands

Graduated PhD students as lead supervisor:

  • Dr Danny Dunbar, graduated 2022. Co-supervisors Prof Tom O'Donoghue, Dr Pietro Scandura (University of Catania, Italy).
  • Dr Otto Neshamar, graduated 2022. Co-supervisor Prof Tom O'Donoghue.
  • Dr Davide Boscia, graduated 2021. Co-supervisor Prof Tom O'Donoghue.

Graduated PhD students as co-supervisor:

  • Dr Bugra Bayik, graduated 2021. Lead supervisor Dr Piotr Omenzetter, co-supervisor Prof Ekaterina Pavlovskaia.
  • Dr Panagiotis Skarlas, graduated 2020. Lead supervisor Prof Tom O'Donoghue.
  • Dr Mahesa Bhawanin, graduated 2016. Lead supervisor Prof Tom O'Donoghue.
  • Dr Kate Sparrow, graduated 2013. Lead supervisor Prof Dubravka Pokrajac.

Supervisees

Funding and Grants

  • CoRRODE: Coating and Residue Release from Offshore Degraded Equipment. Funded by INSITE Phase 3. 2025-2027. Co-I with Prof Alfred Akisanya (PI), Dr Srinivas Sriramula, Dr Danny Dunbar, Prof Richard Neilson (NDC), Dr Malcolm Stone (NDC),  Dr Alethea Madgett (NDC), Malcolm Stone (NDC), Dr Rebecca von Hellfield (SBS). £242k.
  • Royal Society International Exchanges - Cost Share (NSFC): Sediment transport processes of clay-silt mixtures in the wave boundary layer. 2025-2026. PI with Co-I Dr Chunyang Xu, Hohai University, China, £12k (+£12k funded by NSFC, China).
  • #gravelbeach: Gravel Barrier Resilience in a changing climate. NERC. 2023-2027. PI with Co-I's Prof Tom O'Donoghue and Prof Dubravka Pokrajac. £434k
  • TAPIS: Behaviour and transport of industrial particles in sand beds mobilised by waves. Funded by NDA-DSRL/Net Zero Technology Centre Ltd, 2023-2025. PI, with co-I's Prof Tom O'Donoghue, Prof Jos Derksen and Dr Sergi Arnau. £327k (+£147k UoA/NDC) 
  • SUPER DTP Case Studentship. The interaction of waves with seaweed farms: wave attenuation and intra-farm hydrodynamics. NERC. 2023-2027. PI with Co-I's Prof Tom O'Donoghue, Dr Adam Hughes (SAMS), Sinead Sheridan (NatureScot), Dr Rory O'Hara Murray (Marine Directorate), £63k
  • Royal Society Research Grant:  High-resolution force measurement for wave-vegetation interaction research. 2019-2020. PI. £19.9k
  • Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grant: Sediment transport in vegetated canopies under full-scale wave conditions. 2018-2019. PI. £7.1k
  • HYBRID: Hydrodynamics under breaking waves over a fixed bed 2017. EU-H2020 Hydralab+. Funding for access to large-scale CIEM wave flume, Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Co-PI. 
  • SINBAD: Sand transport under irregular and breaking wave conditions. 2012-2016, EPSRC, £606k. Researcher Co-Investigator with Prof T. O'Donoghue (PI). Collaboration with the University of Liverpool, the University of Twente, The Netherlands and several UK and Dutch industrial partners. Dutch side funded by STW, The Netherlands.
  • GLOBEX: Gently sloping beach experiments 2012. EU-FP7 Hydralab IV. Funding for access to Scheldt flume, Deltares, The Netherlands. Co-I.
  • SandTPro: Measurements of Sand Transport and its underlying processes under large-scale breaking waves. EU-FP7 Hydralab IV. Funding for access to large-scale CIEM wave flume, Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Co-I.
  • British Council Treaty of Windsor Joint Research Programme 2010, £1000. Collaboration with T. Abreu, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Portugal.
  • Royal Academy of Engineering Travel Award 2010, £700
  • Royal Academy of Engineering Travel Award 2009, £600
  • TRANSKEW: Measurements of sand transport induced by skewed waves and currents. 2007. EU-FP6 Hydralab III. Funding for access to LOWT, Deltares, The Netherlands. Co-I.
Teaching

Programmes

Courses

Teaching Responsibilities

EG2501 Design and Computing in Engineering practice

EA4012 Civil Engineering Hydraulics

EM4011 Fluid Dynamics

EG552U/V Marine & Wind Energy 

EG55F8/G8 Flow Assurance 

EG4013/14 MEng/BEng Thesis supervisor Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

EG59F1/F2/M2 Thesis supervisor, MSc in Subsea Engineering, MSc Offshore Engineering, MSc Oil & Gas Engineering, MSc Renewable Energy Engineering

Publications

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