Joseph Lai is Emeritus Professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at UNSW Canberra. He was the Associate Dean (International) at UNSW Canberra,ADFA from May 2012 to Dec 2016. Prior to this appointment, he was the Associate Dean (Research) from January 2004 to April, 2012 and Professor in Mechanical Engineering. He was the Head of School of Aerospace & Mechancial Engineering from March 2001 to June 2003. He was elected Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1993. He is a Fellow of the Australian Acoustical Society and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.  Professor Lai’s research interests are in turbulent shear flows and acoustics and vibration control, with over $3m external research funding in the last 10 years.  His current work is focussed on the aerodynamic propulsive mechanism of flapping wings as applied to micro-aerial vehicles and high altitude long endurance vehicles and wind/wave power generation, and vibro-acoustic communication in termites.

Research Experience

• Flapping wing aerodynamics for propulsion and power generation
• Turbulent shear flows - computational and experimental
• Acoustics and vibration control - computational and experimental
• Noise of electric motors
• Brake squeal
• Vibro-acoustic studies of termite foraging behaviour
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Teaching Experience

• Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor UNSW (1985 - 2016). In these positions, I have taught in acoustic noise, aerodynamics, chaos & non-linear dynamics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, structural vibration and thermodynamics.
• Visiting Professor, UCLA (2006)
• Visiting Professor, US Naval Postgraduate School (1996)
• Visiting Research Associate, University of Houston (1988)
• Lecturer/Research Fellow, University of Queensland (1980-1985)
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Additional Experience

• Publications: Books - 1; Books (edited) - 3; Book Chapters - 10; Journals - 152; Conference - 238; Other - 150.
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Consulting Interests

• Machinery noise control, architectural acoustics, environmental acoustics, structural vibation, flow induced noise and vibration.