DR. BJOERN ELSAESSER
DR. BJOERN ELSAESSER
SENIOR LECTURER
Bjoern joined the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPACE)
at Queens University Belfast in 2009. He was appointed as a Senior Lecturer on a
post funded by the Institute for a Sustainable World (ISW). Bjoern has experience
in various aspects of civil and environmental engineering with particular expertise
in wave mechanics and coastal hydrodynamics. He was involved in projects
investigating waves generated by high speed ships, feasibility studies for
breakwater design and development of wave power converter. He obtained a PhD
in coastal engineering in December 2004 and is co-author of several papers and
journal publications on coastal engineering and environmental issues and
contributed as an external expert to the PIANC MarCom 41 guidelines on High
Speed Ship Wash. He was the joint recipient of the Lloyds saver ships awards in
2003 for the development of a training software for the save operation of High
Speed Craft in coastal waters. While at RPS he was responsible for numerical
modelling and physical modelling as well as analysis of hydraulic, wave, current
and meteorological data. He is author of a large number of commercial strategy
studies and project reports. His current teaching responsibilities include fluids and
hydraulics labs, design at level 3 & 4, advanced hydraulics & coastal engineering
as well as contribution to the MSc courses in water resource management,
environmental engineering & environmental impact studies.
Profession:
Civil Engineer
Professional
experience:
12 years
KEY COMPETENCE
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Position:
Numerical modelling in coastal engineering, waves and currents.
Physical modelling in coastal and hydraulic engineering.
Dispersion and turbulence modelling, water quality & ecological processes
Numerical modelling in river hydraulics and rainfall run-off.
Acquisition, data analysis and processing of marine, monitoring, survey and
meteorological data.
Survey, deployment and monitoring in the aquatic environment.
Project management
EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS
Diplom Ingenieur, Civil Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany,
2000
PhD in Coastal Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast, 2004
Member of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, 2004
Visiting Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, 2005
Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, 2009
EXPERIENCE RECORD
2009 – Present
Employer: Queens University Belfast
Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering Department with responsibility for Coastal
Engineering, 3rd and 4th year Design and Hydraulic Engineering aspects of B.Eng
and M.Eng courses. Bjoern is the manager of the wave tank facilities in Portaferry
and Belfast all part of QUB with responsibility for developing research and
commercial use of these assets. He is currently developing a coastal process
modelling team within the Environmental Engineering Research Cluster at
SPACE.
His research is focusing on climate change and the coastal environment,
environmental impacts of marine renewable energy and as well as modelling and
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Senior Lecturer
Key Qualifications:
Diplom Ingenieur
(TH)
PhD
CEng
Professional
Memberships:
MIEI
FHEA
DR. BJOERN ELSAESSER
validation of transport processes in coastal waters. He is currenlty manager of a
two grants funded through the Technology & Strategy Board, one FP7 project, a
number of student & fellowships and is supervising three PhD students and four
research fellows.
2003 – 2009
Employer: RPS Group Plc
Bjoern joined as a Senior Engineer in 2003 and developed the physical and
numerical modelling capability within RPS Consulting Engineers Belfast. This
included the assessment of climate change impacts and new approaches to water
quality assessments and estimation of runoff and stream flow contribution. As an
associate he was also involved in the management of business, marketing and
staff matters in relation to the team. The key technical expertise included:
Coastal Engineering
Work in coastal engineering included the modelling, both numerical and physical,
of waves generated by fast ships, the propagation of wash over variable
bathymetry into the surf zone and its effects on littoral processes, turbidity, mixing
and aeration. Experience extends to the performing and supervision of
hydrographical and beach surveys; water quality and biodiversity studies using
biological indicators and key species to classify the wave climate and human
impact. The knowledge encompasses the design of specialist wave climate
monitoring equipment, the deployment, retrieval, and the data analysis. This
includes the development of analysis methods and tools, which are now used as
standard by other consultants and institutions.
Physical modelling projects completed in Coastal Engineering include;
 Sunderland Coastal Strategy
 Dunmore East Fishery Harbour Development
 Beirut Marina Overtopping Investigation
 Kilkeel Harbour Breakwater Study
 Inishman Pier Development
 Inisheer Pier Extension
Key numerical modelling work includes the setup of a Tidal and Surge model for
Ireland covering the entire Irish Coastal water and extending to 16°W into the
Atlantic Ocean. This model is now being implemented as a forecasting system for
Ireland by the OPW. He has been providing metocean data, tidal current and
wave climate information for site assessment for renewable energy devices such
as offshore wind farms, wave energy converters and marine current devices, as
well as the oil & gas sector. He has developed hydrodynamic models for a variety
of areas both nearshore and offshore including parts of the North and South
Atlantic & the North Sea.
Environmental Aerodynamics
Experience on air quality modelling was gained in a research project investigating
the use of shelterbelts in environmental engineering, whilst still studying as an
undergraduate at University Karlsruhe. The project, funded by the Deutsche
Bundesstiftung Umwelt, investigated the effect of shelterbelts like palisades, tree
and hedgerows on mounts to increase dispersion of odour or gasses or reduce
the spreading of solid pollutants like coal dust or powdery substances depending
on arrangement. Modelling was undertaken in the large wind tunnel of the Institute
of Hydromechanics, Karlsruhe. Expertise was gained in setting up the correct
boundary layer setup of measurement techniques like Laser Doppler Anemometry
and Particle Image Velocimetry, which was used to quantify turbulence and wind
field.
River Hydraulics and Open Channel flows
Graduating from one of the leading civil engineering faculties in Germany practical
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DR. BJOERN ELSAESSER
experience was gained with monitoring of water quality of impounded waters and
rivers, effluent and cooling water discharge. Training included advanced
techniques in hydrology and flood forecast (e.g. precipitation radar), modern
statistical tools for run off and river flow estimation and restoration and renaturalization of straightened rivers and navigation channels as well as several
soft engineering techniques like sediment nourishing and inducing roughness in
rivers to improve groundwater levels and usability for navigation. Bjoern has been
dealing with the Hydraulics and Hydrology of the Lough Neagh Basin for Rivers
Agency. This fully integrated model simulates rainfall runoff models for 5700 km 2,
and the hydraulics of 10 rivers totalling over 100 km in length and Lough Neagh,
the largest lake in the British Isles. Bjoern has developed a method to derive
rainfall runoff for ungauged catchments using lumped sum conceptual methods.
He has also been responsible for assessing water resources in the Shannon
Catchment using a combined runoff, river lake model, which simulates the key
control structures on the Shannon system using control definitions. In addition he
was the project manager of the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and
Management Study for the River Dodder, one of the three main rivers in Dublin,
Ireland. This pilot study has resulted in a number new techniques now being used
as standard methods for flood risk assessments in Ireland. He also has
contributed to the recently completed Flood Studies Update Study, funded by the
Office of Public Works.
2000 – 2003
Employer: Queen’s University Belfast
Researcher at School of Civil Engineering primarily contracted under the EPSRC
funded Ship Wash Impact Management study (SWIM). Numerical modelling
includes the development of a code to predict the wash generation and
propagation and to advise Naval Architects and Master Mariners on best design
and operation practice for fast marine craft. Studies completed have included
investigations into novel design for a mobile breakwater, the coastal processes for
the Loch Ryan User Forum, the feasibility and survivability of a breakwater design
in the English channel and various investigations into the route optimisation for
fast ferry operators with respect to wash minimization.
Assistant Project Manager during a physical study of fast ferry wash
characteristics in shallow water MCA Research Project 457 (2000– 2002),
responsible for physical modelling, data analysis of field data and numerical
modelling of naval architecture and coastal engineering data.
Assistant Project Manager, Coastal Processes in Lough Ryan (2000-2001)
responsible for field work, erosion assessment and sediment transport study
Project Manager on various commercial projects in coastal engineering including
extensive field work (metocean monitoring), survey supervision, laboratory testing
and development of equipment. Project included assessment of coastal defences
and harbour structures and sediment process studies.
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