AIRAH Award winner earns coveted Cambridge scholarship

Poorya Shaghaghi, Stud.AIRAH, has added the prestigious 2025 Clare Hall Decarbonisation Studentship from Cambridge University to his already impressive résumé. The highly sought-after scholarship is only awarded to one student globally each year, with Shaghaghi coming out on top in a field of hundreds of candidates.

As the winner of the prize, Shaghaghi will relocate to Cambridge in mid-2025, where he will complete his doctoral studies at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF) over three years. He will work under the supervision of Professor Andy Woods, Head of the IEEF, as he transitions from his Master of Philosophy in Fluid Mechanics into a PhD in Earth Sciences.

Shaghaghi is currently a graduate researcher within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne.

Going with the (air)flow

Shaghaghi’s research centres around ventilation flows, specifically focusing on the balance between preventing the spread of infections and minimising energy use. With the COVID-19 pandemic still fresh in our collective memory and climate change posing an ever-present threat, research like his is more important than ever.

“Ventilation research has been actively pursued since the late 1980s, with the past 30 years primarily focusing on low-energy buildings due to concerns about energy consumption and climate change,” Shaghaghi says. “However, the spread of airborne diseases like COVID-19 has shifted attention to indoor air quality and airflow dynamics.

“Understanding how air moves within a building – particularly how it travels from an infected person to a susceptible host – is critical. Traditional ventilation standards have largely overlooked these factors, as they were not central to energy efficiency considerations.”

He says his research will give him the opportunity to expand upon his existing work and bring his research into new and exciting spheres.

“This PhD allows me to delve deep into the fundamentals of ventilation flows, exploring the efficacy of various ventilation systems for infection control while optimising energy consumption,” he says. “Cambridge is a world leader in the study of natural and displacement ventilation (also known as buoyancy-driven flows), with many design formulas historically developed by Cambridge scientists still in use today.”

An AIRAH ambassador

Shaghaghi recently won the 2024 AIRAH Student of the Year – Higher Education or Research award, having previously been nominated in 2023. He has also been active at AIRAH events, having presented his research at AIRAH’s 2024 HVAC Innovation Conference (HVAC24) in Brisbane in September.

He says the opportunity to meet enthusiastic and knowledgeable professionals through AIRAH’s networks, conferences and events has helped him develop as a young researcher and HVAC&R professional.

“The opportunity to present my work and receive invaluable feedback from experts in the field was incredibly helpful in improving my research progressively,” Shaghaghi says. “The network also allowed me to better understand industry needs and align my research accordingly to address existing gaps and enhance its impact.

“For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I learnt that a retrofit solution to decrease the risk of infection without increasing energy consumption was often required, as most buildings we occupy had already been built. This insight guided my first project, where I focused on implementing a displacement ventilation retrofit rather than redesigning entire systems.”

As he prepares to undertake his PhD, Shaghaghi is aware that he will be representing not only his country, but the Institute during his time in the UK.

“One thing I would like to emphasise and sincerely appreciate is the privilege of representing Australia and AIRAH on a global stage,” Shaghaghi says. “I believe it is crucial to conduct research that directly addresses the needs of the HVAC&R industry, and this was possible for me through AIRAH.”