MrAlexander Castagna

Alexander Castagna MEng FFSC MInstP AMIMechE ACGI is a research postgraduate (doctoral student) in Fire Science in the Department of Mechanical Engineering under the advisement of Professor Guillermo Rein. He is currently working on developing physical models for the solid phase burning of porous solids such as wood to better understand the dynamics of fire in timber buildings.

Alexander graduated in 2023 with a MEng in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London with first class honours. After specialising in thermofluids, he produced his thesis, titled "Artificial Neural Network-based Large-Eddy Simulations Sub-Grid Scale Model in the Near-Wall Region: an a Priori and a Posteriori Study of Turbulent Channel Flows", under the supervision of Dr Salvador Navarro-Martinez. He was part of the Dean's list and won the Governor's MEng Prize in Mechanical Engineering, awarded to the most meritous student of the cohort. Alexander also won bursaries to conduct research during the summer holidays both in 2021 and 2022, working on Finite Element Analyses of simple structures and producing a Machine Learning model to predict turbulence closure in CFD simulations.

Alexander joined Hazelab, Guillermo's research group, in 2023 to begin his doctoral studies on the fundamentals of wood combustion. His PhD studies are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Arup to investigate wood burning in the context of timber buildings, to promote their fire safety. His work on modelling charring in timber compartments has resulted in him being conferred the Award for Best Student-Led Paper at the 11th International Seminar of Fire and Explosion Hazards.

Alexader is also active in the musical environment of the College, being first violin in the Imperial College Symphony Orchestra, and performing on numerous occasions as a soloist and in chamber formations. In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Fraternity of Saint Cecilia for his dedication to the promotion of sacred music.