Dr Ajit Chitharanjan Pillai - University of Exeter

Offshore renewable energy and offshore engineering rely on accurate characterisation and forecasting of the marine environment. Dr Pillai’s research explores the development and deployment of novel optimisation and machine-learning-driven approaches to aid in the design and operation of offshore renewable energy devices and arrays.

His work as an Academy Research Fellow explores new techniques to integrate numerical physics-based models of the ocean environment with targeted, dynamic measurement campaigns using autonomous vessels and vessel of opportunity. Using these methods, he seeks to develop a digital twin of the ocean, providing reduced uncertainty in offshore modelling while developing a new framework for working with spatial data.