Engineering PhD student takes part in a parabolic flight campaign at the European Space Agency
![Ali Alqahtani](/media/livacuk/schoolofengineering/newsmain440px/Ali_parabolic-2.jpg)
The Engineering PhD student Ali Alqahtani travelled to Bordeaux (France) to participate in the 77th Parabolic Flight Campaign of the European Space Agency (ESA). During a parabolic flight, the centrifugal force on the aircraft balances gravity, so that passengers on board become weightless as if they were in space. Over a period of one week, Ali completed 93 parabolas across three flights to test the performance of a novel two-phase passive heat transfer device in the absence of buoyancy.
A novel two-phase passive heat transfer device
![Photo of team](/media/livacuk/schoolofengineering/newsmain440px/Team-2.jpg)
Team photograph
Ali Alqahtani is a member of Dr Volfango Bertola's research group