Turbulence and research in Egypt

Conducting research in Egypt during the three-decade reign of Hosni Mubarak was challenging at best. Soon after the revolution, Egyptians experienced euphoria, and so did researchers. But then the bubble burst, and the events of recent months have made us all quite grave. In a society that now brands supporters of the ousted Mubarak regime as heretics, traitors, or terrorists, the rewards of conducting research have become uncertain. Turbulence best describes the current state of research in Egypt: fluid, unpredictable, and intermingled.

My first encounter with turbulence was when I was young, during an airplane flight. Any frequent flier has experienced these bumpy, rough conditions. In advanced engineering classes I learned that a turbulent flow is unsteady, sporadic, and mixed. The cause is usually a strong shear force, such as the presence of a wall or the injection of a jet.

In my field of work, aerodynamics, we learn that turbulence increases resistive force. That might sound negative, but it isn’t always. The resistance opposes the separation of flow over a wing, an essential feature of high-speed flight. During my master’s research, I decided to write my own computational fluid dynamics code—a kind of project that was cool back then. I struggled with all the different turbulence models and learned that turbulence adds to the viscosity of the fluid, making it sticky.

In my doctoral research, I modeled the evolution of eddies and other large coherent structures, ignoring the small dissipative structures that are essential to balance the production and dissipation of turbulence. Large structures can interact and modify one another, but without small structures their modeled behavior tends to be unphysical. Turbulence is complex: It must be measured, it is very difficult to predict, and it is a highly diffusive process. So is life.

Underpaid and marginalized

During the Mubarak era, university researchers and faculty members were underpaid and marginalized. The government feared the resistance that might arise from freethinkers and innovators, so it made sure their lives were miserable. Research and faculty staff held several jobs to sustain a modest living.

That treatment led to the demise of research institutions in Egypt. In the late 1950s Egypt was a leader in research. By the early 21st century, we had become distant followers. Fortunately, I enjoyed the benefit of traveling frequently to the US to conduct research activities in various projects. Back in Egypt, Mubarak funded a few government programs. Researchers joined them either by chance or to prove their loyalty to the regime.

I was lucky in that regard, being recruited into one of the funded projects at an elite research facility. Like large coherent structures, those facilities quickly evolve and can remain stable only for short durations since management changes are frequent and research teams are the first casualties. During the Mubarak era, merit was hardly ever the basis for awarding research funding. Personal connections were paramount.

The revolution that deposed Mubarak in 2011 was a turbulent burst, in that things changed suddenly. After being marginalized for six decades, intellectuals successfully made the case that the path to prosperity requires greater funding for research and improved education for all. Funding was improved, salaries doubled and tripled, and researchers started returning to the labs.

At last, researchers and the government were working together like the small and large structures in a turbulent flow. I received funding to work in a field that I enjoyed. I would consider research in the past year to be a mini Renaissance, despite the regime’s many mistakes. Some form of progress was indeed in sight, even though faculty members in Egypt are still underpaid compared to the rest of the world.

But the past weeks have been the most turbulent I have witnessed in my lifetime. Everyone has been dragged into the political arena. Everyone is arguing, and trying to convince the other party that his or her view is correct. The strong polarity, analogous to the shear layer in a turbulent flow, has caused strong mixing and diffusion to the point that no one is doing anything. Research has been pushed aside, along with all other activities vital to a nation. The next few weeks will prove challenging. Will things settle down? When they do settle, will they settle to be like the Mubarak era or the brief period of Renaissance under Mohamed Morsi?

I mentioned that turbulence has some benefits. Because I worked on several projects and on different topics, I have been forced to address a large spectrum of research. That impetus has provided me with knowledge in several fields of fluid mechanics, since I have never had the chance to fully specialize in one. I could not thrive in the “publish or perish” environment in the US. Still, I have become a more rounded and versatile engineering researcher, which is something I value.

I also mentioned that turbulence increases diffusion, creating a sticky fluid like honey. The difficulty of performing research in Egypt during the last decade meant that small successes—the “high” that I felt when a paper was accepted for publication, or the day I helped a graduate student defend his or her thesis—were sweet moments that made research bearable in this highly turbulent society.

A fluid is a remarkable material. When left alone it deforms and readjusts to the new container shape. If the new government truly wants an intellectual Renaissance, it should implement policies that boost funding and decouple research from politics. Then researchers can innovate, think freely, and flourish. I hope that I can re-engage in research once the flow settles.

In conclusion, two questions arise. First, who is the beneficiary of all of this turbulence? Unfortunately it is not Egypt. In my department alone, the brain drain has been horrific: Only two out of 30 PhD holders remain. Second, is it too late for me to abandon ship? I sometimes envision myself in a less turbulent environment, with dedicated staff. But then I remind myself that many students in Egypt have benefited from my knowledge. And that counts for something sweet. It is my own small force of resistance.

Basman elHadidi is an associate professor of aerospace engineering at Cairo University. His current research projects include flow control, wind turbine aerodynamics, and unsteady aerodynamics.