Publications

C. Le Roy, I. Bharathi, T. Engels, F. Muijres, Diptera flight diversity is shaped by aerodynamic constraints, scaling, and evolutionary trade-offs, link (biorxiv), link (open access), HAL, PLOS Biology 24(7): e3003473, 2026

D. Kolomenskiy, L. Nadezhda, T. Engels, S. Farisenkov, V. Kireev, A. Polilov, Comparative analysis of flight muscle function in microinsects Megaphragma viggianii (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and Paratuposa placentis (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae), Integrative and Comparative Biology 66, icag087, link, doi, 2026

P. Yu, R. Godoy-Diana, B. Thiria, D. Kolomenskiy and T. Engels. Aerodynamic consequences of wing damage in dragonfly flapping flight. J. R. Soc. Interface 23 (234): 20250659, HAL, link (open access), doi, 2026

A. Sarig, T. Engels, F.-O. Lehmann, G. Ribak, Muscle power output reflects elevated viscosity in the propulsion system of flying miniature wasps, J. R. Soc. Interface, 22 (233): 20250416, HAL, link (open access), doi, 2026

C. Le Roy, N. Tervelde, T. Engels, F. T. Muijres, Adaptations in wing morphology rather than wingbeat kinematics enable flight in small hoverfly species, HAL, doi, link (open access), eLife 13:RP97839, 2025

M. Jaffar-Bandjee, T. Engels, T. Steinmann, G. Krijnen, J. Casas, Olfactory performance explains duality of antennal architectural designs in Lepidoptera, Proc. R. Soc. B 292: 20242946, HAL, doi, 2025

T. Engels, H. Truong, M. Farge, D. Kolomenskiy and K. Schneider. Computational aerodynamics of insect flight using volume penalization, review, Comptes Rendus Mécanique, 1-20, link (open access), doi, 2022

S. Farisenkov, D. Kolomenskiy, P. Petrov, T. Engels, N. Lapina, F.-O. Lehmann, R. Onishi, H. Liu, A. Polilov, Novel flight style and light wings boost flight performance of tiny beetles, Nature, 602, 96-100, biorXiv, link (open access), video report, article in Le Monde (French), 2022

H.-N. Wehmann, T. Engels, F.-O. Lehmann, Flight activity and age cause wing damage in house flies. J. Exp. Biol., 225 (1): jeb242872, link, story in ‘Inside JEB’, 2022

H. Truong, T. Engels, H.-N. Wehmann, D. Kolomenskiy, F.-O. Lehmann, K. Schneider, An experimental data-driven mass-spring model of flexible Calliphora wings, Bioinspir. Biomim., 17(2), 026003, link, arXiv, 2022

T. Engels, K. Schneider, J. Reiss, M. Farge, A wavelet-adaptive method for multiscale simulation of turbulent flows in flying insects, Commun. Comput. Phys., 30, 1118-1149, link, arXiv, 2021

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, F.-O. Lehmann, Flight efficiency is a key to diverse wing morphologies in small insects, J. R. Soc. Interface 18 20210518, link (open access), 2021

F.-O. Lehmann, H. Wang, T. Engels, Vortex trapping recaptures energy in flying fruit flies, Nature Sci. Rep., 11, 6992, link (open access), 2021

P. Krah, T. Engels, K. Schneider, J. Reiss, Wavelet Adaptive Proper Orthogonal Decomposition for Large Scale Flow Data. Advances in Computational Mathematics 48:10, link, arXiv, 2021

H. Truong, T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, Influence of wing flexibility on the aerodynamic performance of a tethered flapping bumblebee, Theor. Appl. Mech. Lett. 10 (6), 382-389, link, arXiv, 2020

D. Kolomenskiy, S. Farisenkov, T. Engels, N. Lapina, P. Petrov, F.-O. Lehmann, R. Onisihi, A. Polilov, Aerodynamic performance of a bristled wing of a very small insect, Exp. Fluids 61, 194, link (open access), 2020

S. Krishna, M. Cho, H.-N. Wehmann, T. Engels, F.-O. Lehmann, Wing Design in Flies: Properties and Aerodynamic Function, Insects 11, 466, link (open access), 2020

T. Engels, H.-N. Wehmann, F.-O. Lehmann, Three-dimensional wing structure attenuates aerodynamic efficiency in flapping fly wings. J. R. Soc. Interface 17, 20190804, link (open access), 2020

H. Truong, T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, A mass-spring fluid-structure interaction solver: application to flexible revolving wings. Computers & Fluids, 200:104426, link, arXiv, 2020

D. Kolomenskiy, S. Ravi, R. Xu, K. Ueyama, T. Jakobi, T. Engels, T. Nakata, J. Sesterhenn, M. Farge, K. Schneider, R. Onishi, H. Liu, The dynamics of passive feathering rotation in hovering flight of bumblebees. J. Fluids Struct., 102628, link, 2019

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, M. Farge, F.-O Lehmann, J. Sesterhenn, The impact of turbulence on flying insects in tethered and free flight: High-resolution numerical experiment. Phys. Rev. Fluids, 013103, link, arXiv, 2019

D. Kolomenskiy, S. Ravi, R. Xu, K. Ueyama, T. Jakobi, T. Engels, T. Nakata, J. Sesterhenn, M. Farge, K. Schneider, R. Onishi, H. Liu, Wing morphology and inertial properties of bumblebees, J. Aero Aqua Bio-mechanisms, 8:(1), 41-47, link (open access), 2019

H.-N. Wehmann, L. Heepe, S. Gorb, T. Engels, F.-O. Lehmann, Local deformation and stiffness distribution in fly wings. Biol. Open, 8:bio038299, link (open access), 2019

M. Sroka, T. Engels, P. Krah, M. Mutzel, K. Schneider, J. Reiss, An open and parallel simulation framework using block-based adaptive grids. Active Flow and Combustion Control, 305–319, link, arXiv, 2019

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, M. Farge, F.-O. Lehmann, J. Sesterhenn. Helical vortices generated by flapping wings of bumblebees. Fluid. Dyn. Res., 50(1):011419, link, arXiv, 2018

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, J. Sesterhenn. Numerical simulation of vortex-induced drag of elastic swimmer models. Theor. Appl. Mech. Lett., 7(5):280-285, arXiv, link (open access), 2017

S. Ravi, D. Kolomenskiy, T. Engels, K. Schneider, C. Wang, J. Sesterhenn, H. Liu, Bumblebees minimize control challenges by combining active and passive modes in unsteady winds, Nature Sci. Rep., 35043, arXiv, link (open access), 2016

D. Kolomenskiy, M. Maeda, T. Engels, H. Liu, K. Schneider, J.-C. Nave, Aerodynamic ground effect in fruitfly sized insect takeoff, PLoS ONE, 11, e0152072, arXiv, link (open access), 2016

Publications during my PhD

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, F.-O. Lehmann, J. Sesterhenn, Bumblebee Flight in Heavy Turbulence, Phys. Rev. Lett., 028103, arXiv, link, 2016

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, J. Sesterhenn, FluSI: A novel parallel simulation tool for flapping insect flight using a Fourier method with volume penalization, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 38(5), S03-S24, arXiv, link, 2016

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, J. Sesterhenn, Numerical Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction with the Volume Penalization Method, J. Comput. Phys., 96-115, link, PDF-File, 2015

D. Kolomenskiy, T. Engels, K. Schneider, Numerical Modelling of Flexible Heaving Foils. J. Aero Aqua Bio-mechanisms, 3(1), 22-28, link (open access), 2013

T. Engels, D. Kolomenskiy, K. Schneider, J. Sesterhenn, Two-dimensional simulation of the fluttering instability using a pseudospectral method with volume penalization, Computers & Structures, 101-112, link, PDF-File, 2012