F.R.S.-FNRS Research Fellow
E-mail: bruno.fontaine@ulb.be
Career Summary:
Bruno Fontaine completed a Master’s thesis in Aerospace Engineering at ULiège in 2023, titled: “Rebuilding Optical Emission Spectroscopy Measurements in a Low-Density Plasma Facility using a Collisional-Radiative Model.”
Following the thesis, he pursued a Research Master at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI), where the research extended the Master’s work. The focus shifted toward a more comprehensive modelling approach that incorporated both flow and chemistry in the plasma plume, alongside an enhanced experimental setup allowing for spatially and spectrally resolved intensity measurements of plasma light emissions.
Currently, Bruno Fontaine is a PhD candidate in a joint doctoral program between ULB, ULiège, and VKI, funded by the F.R.S.-FNRS. The ongoing research focuses on the development of a solver for the Boltzmann-Poisson system to simulate rarefied, reactive plasma.
Affiliations:
Aeronautics and Aerospace Department, VKI
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, ULiège
Main Research Topics and Interests:
- Rarefied and plasma flows
- Boltzmann
- Collisional-radiative
- Spectroscopy
- Non-equilibrium
Academic Activities:
- Proceedings of the 33rd International Symposium, title "Spatially Resolved Collisional-Radiative Model for a Rarefied Plasma Plume", 2025
- Modeling Summer Visit at NASA Ames, 2025
Prizes and awards:
2024:
- Theodore von Karman Prize for best performance in research project and courses in the VKI Research Master
- F.R.S.-FNRS Research Fellow Fellowship
- LASEA Prize for best Master thesis
- NATO Fellowship for the VKI Research Master
- Second Prize at the AIAA Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition