Rate My Professor Phil Clausen

Associate Professor Phil Clausen serves as Honorary Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering within the School of Engineering, College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and a PhD, both from the University of Newcastle. In his career, he has occupied key leadership positions, including Head of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and Deputy Head of School of Engineering (academic). Clausen was awarded the Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year by the Newcastle University Postgraduate Student Association in 2008. He has engaged in industry consulting through TUNRA since 2006, undertaking over 10 projects involving detailed finite element modeling for diverse industries.

Clausen's research centers on small wind turbine dynamics, fatigue testing, and blade performance issues, alongside computational biomechanics, where he creates, solves, and interprets finite element models of biological structures. His small wind turbine research has secured over $500,000 in funding since the inception of his academic career. In 2005, a colleague launched Aerogenesis Australia to commercialize wind turbine technology from the University of Newcastle, obtaining $1.245 million. Key publications include book chapters such as 'Design, manufacture, and testing of small wind turbine blades' (2023, with Evans SP, Wood DH), 'Field testing of a 5-kW horizontal-axis wind turbine' (2021, with Bradney DR, Evans SP, Pereira da Costa MS), and 'Aeroelastic modelling of a 5-kW horizontal axis wind turbine' (2021, with Evans SP); and journal articles like 'Sawfishes stealth revealed using computational fluid dynamics' (2017, with Bradney DR et al.), 'New Zealand's extinct giant raptor (Hieraaetus moorei) killed like an eagle, ate like a condor' (2021, with van Heteren AH et al.), 'Head to head: the case for fighting behaviour in Megaloceros giganteus using finite-element analysis' (2019, with Klinkhamer AJ et al.), and 'Game-play affects hamstring but not adductor muscle fibre mechanics in elite U20 basketball athletes' (2022, with Akhundov R et al.). His work has influenced renewable energy development and biomechanical insights into animal structures.