Dr. Methma Rajamuni is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Science at UNSW Canberra, University of New South Wales. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Monash University, a Master of Science by Research in Applied Mathematics from Texas Tech University, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on computational fluid dynamics, investigating fluid-structure interactions, flow-induced vibrations of bluff bodies, and ember storms during bushfires. She has developed efficient and stable numerical techniques, including immersed boundary methods, lattice Boltzmann methods, spectral element methods, and finite volume methods, to study complex dynamical systems such as wake unsteadiness, bluff-body aerodynamics, birds and insect flight dynamics, acoustics, and environmental flows. Her broader interests include systems and control, optimization, robotics, and bio-mathematics. As a dedicated tertiary lecturer, she integrates her research into teaching materials for mechanical and aerospace engineering, mathematics, and statistics subjects, bridging theory with practical applications.

Rajamuni's professional career encompasses Research Fellow roles at UNSW Canberra in the School of Science (2023-2025) and School of Engineering and Information Technology (2020-2023), Research Fellow at Monash University's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (2019-2020), Teaching Associate positions at the University of Melbourne (2019-2020), Monash University (2015-2020), and Texas Tech University (2011-2014), and Lecturer in the Department of Production Engineering at the University of Peradeniya (2009-2011). She has secured major grants and awards, including the 2023 NCI Adaptor Allocation Grant as sole Chief Investigator ($12,000 annual income), 2023 UNSW Canberra Seed Funding ($27,000), Monash Graduate Scholarship and Faculty of Engineering Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2015), Monash Engineering Women's Leadership Award (2018), 1st Place in Texas Tech University's Annual Graduate Student Poster Competition Multi-Disciplinary Category 1 (2014), and the Manamperi Engineering Award for the Best Engineering Undergraduate Project of Sri Lanka 2008 (2010). Key publications include 'Effects of surface morphologies on boiling heat transfer in droplet impingement on superheated surfaces' (Physics of Fluids, 2025), 'A conservative phase-field lattice Boltzmann method for boiling heat transfer at high density ratios' (Physics of Fluids, 2025), 'Vortex-induced vibration of a sphere close to or piercing a free surface' (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2021), 'Vortex dynamics and vibration modes of a tethered sphere' (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2020), and 'Recent progress of lattice Boltzmann method and its applications in fluid-structure interaction' (Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 2023). Her high-fidelity simulations enhance understanding of natural phenomena and support real-world solutions, particularly in bushfire hazard mitigation.

Professional Email: m.rajamuni@unsw.edu.au