Professor Daniel Chung is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Melbourne. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechatronics combined with a Bachelor of Computer Science in 2003. He completed his PhD in Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology in 2009. Following his doctoral studies, Chung served as a postdoctoral scholar at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he researched climate physics. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Melbourne as a Lecturer in 2012 and has since been promoted to Professor.

Chung's research is interdisciplinary and centered on fluid mechanics. His academic interests include large-eddy simulation and modelling, direct numerical simulation, wall-bounded turbulence especially over rough surfaces, turbulent convection, and planetary boundary layers. Fundamental research distills complex turbulent flows into simple configurations using advanced simulations and modelling to develop predictive tools for engineering and meteorology, yielding insights into turbulence physics. He has authored numerous high-impact publications in leading journals. Key works include 'Higher-order homogenised riblet boundary conditions' with P. Luchini (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2026), 'Why do only some riblets promote spanwise rollers?' with C. J. Camobreco et al. (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2025), 'The wind-shade roughness model for turbulent wall-bounded flows' with C. Meneveau and N. Hutchins (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2024), 'Challenges and perspective on the modelling of high-Re, incompressible, non-equilibrium, rough-wall boundary layers' with R. García-Mayoral et al. (Journal of Turbulence, 2024), and 'An energy-efficient pathway to turbulent drag reduction' with I. Marusic et al. (Nature Communications, 2021). These contributions advance models for drag reduction, roughness effects, and turbulent heat transfer.

Chung has received major awards for his turbulence research, including the N. Kasagi Award in 2019 for novel numerical simulations and analysis (11th International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena), Gallery of Fluid Motion Award in 2016 (with G. Matheou and J. Teixeira), Milton Van Dyke Award in 2011 (with G. Matheou), W. F. Ballhaus Prize in 2009 for outstanding aeronautics doctoral dissertation, and R. B. Chapman Memorial Award in 2009 for distinguished hydrodynamics research, both from the California Institute of Technology.

Professional Email: daniel.chung@unimelb.edu.au