Tsigereda is a PhD candidate in Wind Engineering, with MSc in Structural Engineering and a BSc in Civil Engineering from the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT). She brings nearly 10 years of experience spanning across academia, industry, and research. Her research focuses on the aerodynamic and aeroelastic characterization of solar panels using both experimental and computational methods. She is currently developing and validating a large-eddy simulation (LES) workflow to assess wind loads on solar trackers, benchmarked against boundary-layer wind tunnel data.

Tsigereda’s expertise includes wind tunnel testing, CFD simulations, structural dynamics, and aeroelasticity. She has considerable experience using STAR-CCM+ on high-performance computing (HPC) platforms and conducting high-pressure frequency integration tests at Western University’s Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel. Beyond research, she brings practical experience in high-rise building design and finite element modeling (FEM) from her prior role as a structural engineer. She has strong communication and presentation skills, developed through her work as a lecturer at AAiT and by presenting at multiple international conferences during her PhD. Tsigereda has been recognized with awards, scholarships, and honors for academic excellence and research contributions in wind engineering.

Publication and conferences

Eshete, T. G., Geleta, T. N., & Bitsuamlak, G. T. (2024). Towards benchmark validation of LES for ground-mounted solar panel wind loads. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 253, 105843.

Eshete, T. G., Geleta, T. N., & Bitsuamlak, G. T. (2025). Aerodynamic Characterization of SAT Arrays to Support CFD Validation and Design Standards. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics (submitted)

Eshete, T. G., Geleta, T. N., & Bitsuamlak, G. T., “LES for solar tracker wind loads: A benchmark experiment and validation study”, 9th European and African Conference on Wind Engineering, Trondheim, Norway, June 2025. (Presenter)

Eshete, T. G., Geleta, T. N., & Bitsuamlak, G. T., ” Wind loads on solar trackers using wind tunnel and CFD”, 15th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, St. Louis, USA, May 2025. (Presenter)

Eshete, T. G., Geleta, T. N., & Bitsuamlak, G. T., “LES workflow and benchmark validation for wind loads on ground-mounted solar panel/ tracker arrays”, 9th International Colloquium on Bluff Body Aerodynamics and Applications, Birmingham, UK, August 2024. (Presenter)

Eshete, T. G., Geleta, T. N., & Bitsuamlak, G. T., “Wind loads on ground-mounted, isolated and array of solar panels using Large-eddy simulation”, 16th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Florence, Italy, August 2023. (Presenter)

Awards

2025: AWE Best Student Paper Award, 15th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, St. Louis, USA

2025: Dr. Robert Addie Graduate Scholarship in Wind Engineering, Western University, Canada

2024 & 2023: Alan G. Davenport Memorial Scholarship, Western University, Canada

2024: Third place, Civil seminar presentation competition, Western University, Canada

2018 & 2015: Award of academic excellence (magna cum laude), Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia