Richard undertook both his undergraduate Masters degree (MMath. 1996-2000) and PhD (2002-2005) within the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham in the UK. His doctoral thesis examined the influence of fluid dynamics in scanning force microscopy.

He then went on to study the small-scale fluid flows generated by swimming micro-organisms, such as motile bacteria, during a David Crighton Fellowship within the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at The University of Cambridge.

This was followed by a two year Australian Research Council Associate Researcher position within the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Adelaide (2006-2008) developing theory for describing boundary layer separation in rotating flows, before joining the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Auckland in April 2008.

Richard served as Associate Dean Postgraduate Research between 2018-2021, before taking up the Deputy Dean role in 2021. He was appointed Dean of Faculty in late 2023. 

Professional Responsibliities:

University of Auckland Executive Team

Member of the University of Auckland Senate

NZ Council of Engineering Deans

Member of Engineering New Zealand 

ASPIRE Council of Deans

QuakeCore Board member

Auckland University Engineering Association Executive Committee

Editorial Board: Applied Mathematical Modelling (https://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-mathematical-modelling/)

Editorial Board: Journal of Engineering Mathematics (https://www.springer.com/journal/10665)


Areas of Expertise:
Fluid Dynamics, Microfluidics, Collective Dynamics, Hydrodynamic Stability, Biological Fluid Dynamics

Media Keywords:
Hydrodynamics, Swimming behaviour of micro-organisms, Hydrodynamics in microscopy, Microhydrodynamics, Flow Stability