Biography:Markus Raffel

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Markus Raffel
Markus Raffel in 2017
Born1962 (age 63–64)
Göttingen, West Germany[1]
EducationLeibniz University Hannover (Dr.-Ing.), Clausthal University of Technology (Dr.-Ing. habil.)
Occupationmechanical engineer and professor of aerodynamics
Known forexperimental fluid mechanics, flights in authentic replicas of Otto Lilienthal gliders
AwardsHelmholtz Prize (1996),[1] Howard Hughes Award (2004), Otto Lilienthal Research Award (2017), Leonardo da Vinci Award (2023)[2]

Markus Raffel (born 1962)[1] is a German aerospace engineer and professor of aerodynamics at Leibniz University Hannover. He is also the head of the Helicopters Department at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Göttingen,[3] where he conducts research in flow visualization,[4] rotorcraft aerodynamics,[5] and experimental fluid mechanics.[6]

Life and career

Raffel studied mechanical engineering at the Clausthal University of Technology and at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology until 1990. He received his doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing.) in engineering from the Leibniz University Hannover in 1993, and completed his habilitation in fluid mechanics at Clausthal University in 2001.[1]

Raffel has worked at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) since 1991,[1] primarily at the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology in Göttingen. He serves as head of the Helicopters Department at the same institute.[7][8] Since 2007, he has been a full professor of aerodynamics at Leibniz University Hannover, a position jointly held with DLR.[3][1]

Raffel has collaborated with national and international institutions on various research initiatives related to rotorcraft aerodynamics, transonic wind tunnel testing,[9] and optical flow measurement technologies.[10] He is lead author of a number of books, including the widely distributed 2018 textbook Particle Image Velocimetry: A Practical Guide[11] and the 2022 The Flying Man: Otto Lilienthal—History, Flights and Photographs.[12]

Research and work

Raffel works in flow diagnostics, including particle image velocimetry (PIV),[13] background-oriented schlieren (BOS),[14] and differential infrared thermography (DIT).[15] As part of the DLR and together with NASA, he researched ways to reduce helicopter noise.[16]

Raffel has led research programs exploring the aerodynamics and flight characteristics of historical Otto Lilienthal glider replicas. He and his team successfully constructed replicas of flight pioneer Otto Lilienthal's 1890s gliders standard soaring apparatus (Normalsegelapparat), his large bi-plane (Großer Doppeldecker), and his experimental monoplane (Experimentiergerät).[17][18][19] Since 2018[20] and together with the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Anklam,[21] Raffel himself has conducted several flights with the gliders. The goal was to confirm the flight performance and potential static stability of Lilienthal's gliders, the efficacy of Otto Lilienthal's control surfaces and the wing warping mechanism.[22]

During his employment at DLR, Raffel worked on a number of topics during research stays at international research establishments and contributed to the advancement of optical flow measurement techniques. At the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), he collaborated on dual-plane PIV, enabling three-dimensional analysis of turbulent flows.[23] He worked on background-oriented schlieren methods (BOS) for large-scale visualization of complex flow fields at ETH Zurich.[24] At the Aix-Marseille University, he investigated micro-PIV techniques to study flows at the microscale.[25] His experimental work also extended to flight testing Otto Lilienthal's gliders at Caltech, combining historical flight reconstruction with aerodynamic analysis.[26] Further collaborations at the University of Alberta focused on PIV wind tunnel seeding strategies,[27] while subsequent work at NASA Ames included stereoscopic PIV recordings of helicopter rotor wakes in large-scale facilities.[28]

According to Google Scholar, Raffel has authored or co-authored over 400 publications, with more than 17,000 citations including 16 patents as of 2025.[29][30]

Honors and recognition (selection)

  • 1996: Helmholtz Prize for work on measurement techniques[1]
  • 1998: DLR Science Award
  • 2004: Howard Hughes Award from the American Helicopter Society[2]
  • 2005: Post Rouge of the French National Center for Scientific Research[31]
  • 2017: Otto Lilienthal Research Award from DLR[2]
  • 2023: Leonardo da Vinci Award from the International Society on Flow Visualization[32]
  • 2024: Lilienthal Prize by the town of Anklam[33]
  • 2024: STAB-Prize for research and development in the field of fluid mechanics[34]

Raffel was named an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2025.[35]

Selected works

  • Raffel, M., Willert, C., Wereley, S., & Kompenhans, J., Scarano F., Kähler C. J. (3rd edition 2018). Particle Image Velocimetry: A Practical Guide. Springer. ISBN 9783319688510
  • Raffel, M., Lukasch, B. (2022): The Flying Man: Otto Lilienthal—History, Flights and Photographs. Springer. ISBN 9783030950323

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Helmholtz-Preis – Preisträger 1996" (in en). Helmholtz-Fonds e. V. (PTB). https://www.helmholtz-fonds.de/helmholtz-prize/helmholtz-prizewinners/awarding-ceremony/news/preistraeger-1996-schnelle-dreidimensionale-stroemungsmessung/?L=1&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=d7d31d4745c23024b1b540ee2f8fc0e9. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Flight-Testing Stability and Controllability of Otto Lilienthal’s Monoplane Design from 1893" (in en) (PDF). Journal of Aircraft. 2019. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/1.C035399. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matthias Diekhoff (2022-07-20). "Neue Lilienthal-Biografie reicht bis in die Gegenwart" (in de). Nordkurier. https://www.nordkurier.de/regional/anklam/neue-lilienthal-biografie-reicht-bis-in-die-gegenwart-1127181. 
  4. ↑ Markus Raffel (2015-03-06). "Background-oriented schlieren (BOS) techniques". Experiments in Fluids 56 (3): pp. 60. doi:10.1007/s00348-015-1927-5. ISSN 1432-1114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-015-1927-5. 
  5. ↑ Alexander J. Heintz; Clemens Schwarz; Christian Wolf; Markus Raffel (2024-01-04). "Influence of Configurational Parameters on the Vortex System of a Rotor in Hover". AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) AIAA SciTech Forum. doi:10.2514/6.2024-0896. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2024-0896. 
  6. ↑ "Investigation of three-dimensional dynamic stall using computational fluid dynamics". Google Scholar. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=de&user=ZRNYRjsAAAAJ&citation_for_view=ZRNYRjsAAAAJ:UeHWp8X0CEIC. 
  7. ↑ "DLR-Forscher machen Krach sichtbar: Viel Lärm um "tanzenden" Helikopter" (in de). Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine. 2022-12-30. https://www.hna.de/lokales/goettingen/goettingen-ort28741/krach-wird-sichtbar-viel-laerm-um-tanzenden-helikopter-92001723.html. 
  8. ↑ Dirk Eidemüller (2011-04-08). "Kompakt". Die Welt: pp. 22. 
  9. ↑ Hughes Richard; Wolfgang Geissler; Markus Raffel (2001). "Simultaneous density and velocity measurement for rotorcraft research in a transonic wind tunnel". CD: 27th European Rotorcraft -Forum (Moscow): pp. 29.1–29.10. https://elib.dlr.de/13813/. 
  10. ↑ Markus Raffel (June 2018). "Optical Measurements of Helicopter Rotor Flows" (in en). DLR. https://elib.dlr.de/121024/. 
  11. ↑ "Aerodynamic research – Examples from present and past (seminar series at UCSD, May 2025)". University of California, San Diego. 2025-05-14. https://maeweb.ucsd.edu/seminar/2025/aerodynamic-research-examples-present-and-past. 
  12. ↑ "The Flying Man. Otto Lilienthal – History, Flights and Photographs". Springer Verlag. August 2022. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-95033-0.pdf. 
  13. ↑ Markus Raffel; Christian Willert; Fulvio Scarano; Christian J. Kähler; Steven T. Wereley; Jürgen Kompenhans (April 2018). "Particle Image Velocimetry – A Practical Guide (3rd Edition)". 1. Springer Verlag. ISBN 978-3-319-68851-0. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-68852-7#about. 
  14. ↑ Markus Raffel (2015). "Background-oriented schlieren (BOS) techniques". Experiments in Fluids 56 (3): pp. 1–17. ISSN 0723-4864. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00348-015-1927-5. 
  15. ↑ Markus Raffel; Christoph B. Merz (September 2014). "Differential Infrared Thermography for Unsteady Boundary-Layer Transition Measurements" (in en). AIAA Journal 52 (9): 2065–2073. doi:10.2514/1.J053235. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J053235. Retrieved 2025-08-20. 
  16. ↑ John McHale (2011-04-13). "Rotor noise reduction methods being investigated by DLR and NASA engineers" (in en). Military & Aerospace Electronics. https://www.militaryaerospace.com/commercial-aerospace/article/14225421/rotor-noise-reduction-methods-being-investigated-by-dlr-and-nasa-engineers. 
  17. ↑ "Flight-Testing Stability and Controllability of Otto Lilienthal's Monoplane Design from 1893" (in en) (PDF). Journal of Aircraft. 2019. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/1.C035399. 
  18. ↑ Markus Raffel; Felix Wienke; Andreas Dillmann (March 2021). "Flying Qualities of Otto Lilienthal's Large Biplane". Journal of Aircraft 58 (2): pp. 413–419. doi:10.2514/1.C036022. ISSN 0021-8669. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.C036022. 
  19. ↑ Markus Raffel; Felix Wienke; Clemens Schwarz; Andreas Dillmann (November 2022). "Flight Controls of Otto Lilienthal‘s Experimental Monoplane from 1895". Journal of Aircraft 59 (6): pp. 1616–1625. doi:10.2514/1.C037047. ISSN 0021-8669. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.C037047. 
  20. ↑ Bärbel Hilbig (2018-08-25). "Leibniz-Universität Hannover: Professor fliegt wie Otto Lilienthal" (in de). Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. https://www.haz.de/lokales/hannover/professor-aus-hannover-fliegt-wie-otto-lilienthal-H4ZP6KH5VJA43JEJTYVSDV466U.html. 
  21. ↑ "DLR – Flug mit Nachbau von Otto Lilienthal" (in de). German Aerospace Center. 2019-09-18. https://www.dlr.de/de/aktuelles/nachrichten/2019/03/20190918_dlr-mitarbeiter-gelingt-flug-mit-nachbau-von-lilienthal. 
  22. ↑ Joachim Wilisch (2025-08-15). "Stölln: Markus Raffel und sein erstaunlicher Lilienthal-Stunt" (in de). Märkische Allgemeine. https://www.maz-online.de/lokales/havelland/stoelln-markus-raffel-und-sein-erstaunlicher-lilienthal-stunt-25CTLH6DGZFSNKNF5DIG65UFEI.html. 
  23. ↑ "Analytical and experimental investigations of dual-plane PIV" (in en). Optical Techniques in Fluid, Thermal, and Combustion Flow. 1995. https://authors.library.caltech.edu/records/7sxy7-w9420. 
  24. ↑ Markus Raffel (2015). "Background-oriented schlieren (BOS) techniques". Experiments in Fluids 56 (3): 60. doi:10.1007/s00348-015-1927-5. 
  25. ↑ Markus Raffel; Didier Favier; Eric Berton; Christophe Rondot; Michel Nsimba; Wolfgang Geissler (2006). "Micro-PIV and ELDV wind tunnel investigations of the laminar separation bubble above a helicopter blade tip" (in en). Measurement Science and Technology 17 (7): 1652–1660. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/17/7/003. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0957-0233/17/7/003. Retrieved 2025-09-09. 
  26. ↑ Markus Raffel; Felix Wienke; Andreas Dillmann (2019). "Flight-Testing Stability and Controllability of Otto Lilienthal's Monoplane Design from 1893" (in en). Journal of Aircraft 56 (6): 2298–2305. doi:10.2514/1.C035399. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.C035399. Retrieved 2025-09-09. 
  27. ↑ Bradley Gibeau; Drew Gingras; Jan Raffel; Markus Raffel; Sina Ghaemi (July 22–24, 2019). "Effect of internal geometry and orientation on the performance of a helium-filled soap bubble nozzle" (in en). 13th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry – ISPIV 2019 (Munich, Germany: DLR). https://elib.dlr.de/144211/. Retrieved 2025-09-09. 
  28. ↑ Markus Raffel; André Bauknecht; Manikandan Ramasamy; Gloria K. Yamauchi; James T. Heineck; Luther N. Jenkins (June 2017). "Contributions of Particle Image Velocimetry to Helicopter Aerodynamics" (in en). AIAA Journal 55 (7): 2261–2275. doi:10.2514/1.J055571. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J055571. Retrieved 2025-09-09. 
  29. ↑ "Markus Raffel – Google Scholar Profile". Google Scholar. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=de&user=ZRNYRjsAAAAJ. 
  30. ↑ "Markus Raffel" (in en). Google Patents. https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Markus+Raffel&oq=Markus+Raffel. 
  31. ↑ "VFS: Vertical Flight Society Award Winners" (in en). https://vtol.org/awards-and-contests/vertical-flight-society-award-winners?awardID=5. 
  32. ↑ "20th International Symposium on Flow Visualization ISFV-20: Highlights" (in en). International Symposium on Flow Visualization. https://www.isfv20.org/home/highlights. 
  33. ↑ Anne-Marie Pankratz (2024-10-14). "Lilienthal-Preis an Flugpionier der heutigen Zeit in Anklam verliehen" (in de). Nordkurier. https://www.nordkurier.de/regional/anklam/lilienthal-preis-an-flugpionier-der-heutigen-zeit-in-anklam-verliehen-2964473. 
  34. ↑ "Verleihung STAB-Preis 2024" (in de). German Aerospace Center. https://www.dlr.de/de/as/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/stab/stab-preis/verleihung-des-stab-preis-2024. 
  35. ↑ "AIAA Announces its Class of 2025 Associate Fellows" (in en). AIAA - Shaping the future of aerospace. 2024-09-23. https://aiaa.org/2024/09/23/aiaa-announces-its-class-of-2025-associate-fellows/. 



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