Alexander Babanin

Professor Alexander Babanin is Professor of Ocean Engineering in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Melbourne. He commenced this role in early 2016 and also serves as Co-Director of the Australia-China Centre for Maritime Engineering. He additionally holds an Adjunct Professor position at Swinburne University of Technology. Babanin obtained his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia, in 1981, Master of Science in Physical Oceanography in 1983, and Doctor of Philosophy in Physics and Mathematics in 1990. His early career was at the Marine Hydrophysical Institute in Sebastopol, Russia, until he relocated to Australia in 1996. Following this, he worked at the UNSW Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, the University of Adelaide in South Australia, and Swinburne University of Technology.

Babanin's research expertise covers wind-generated waves, maritime engineering, air-sea interactions, ocean turbulence, ocean mixing, climate, remote sensing of the ocean, extreme and polar metocean conditions. He has produced 334 scholarly works, including 259 journal articles. Key publications include 'Numerical simulations of ocean surface waves in the China Seas' (2026, Ocean Modelling), 'Long-term trends and climate-mode controls on offshore wind power density off Australia' (2026, Applied Ocean Research), 'A wave-coupled movable bottom friction scheme for spectral wave modeling based on sediment grain size and ripple evolution' (2026, Coastal Engineering), 'The impact of vegetation on hydrodynamics in Port Phillip Bay' (2026, Ocean Engineering), 'A note on the settling velocity of sea spray spume droplets' (2026, Journal of Physical Oceanography), 'Swell Arrival Time in the Indian Ocean' (2026, Journal of Physical Oceanography), 'Swell propagation through ocean surface currents across the Pacific' (2026, Journal of Physical Oceanography), and 'The wave-induced heat transport in the global ocean' (2026, Ocean Modelling). In 2008, he was elected Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust).

Professional Email: a.babanin@unimelb.edu.au