William Thielicke
A creative biologist with an addiction to biomimetics and technology.
About me
My focus is on aerodynamics, robotics, animal locomotion and biomimetics. During my PhD research and my work, I gained experience in experimental fluid dynamics, flow measurement techniques and with micro air vehicles.
I was born in Hamburg in 1980. Fascinated by both nature and technology, I began studying biology in Berlin before moving to Darmstadt, where I specialised in biomimetics, animal physiology and zoology. For my diploma thesis I went to the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, where I graduated in 2007.
After graduating, I joined the University of Applied Sciences Bremen as a research assistant – working on wind and water tunnel experiments in aerodynamics and locomotion – while simultaneously starting my PhD research on the flapping flight of birds at the University of Groningen. I completed my PhD in 2014.
During my research I initiated two open-source projects – an award-winning micro air vehicle system and the particle image velocimetry tool PIVlab. Today I work at Optolution Messtechnik GmbH, where I can combine my main interests: fluid dynamics, PIV, CAD design and drones. I have also lectured on biomimetics at the universities of applied sciences in Bremen and Nordhausen.
Along the way, my drone projects and competition wins have occasionally drawn the attention of the press and of German national television – a few of those clips live on my YouTube channel.
I live in Lörrach, together with my partner and our three beloved daughters.
Work
Flow measurement and fluid dynamics – once the subject of my research, now my profession.
Since 2018 I have been working at Optolution Messtechnik GmbH in Lörrach as applications and project engineer. Optolution specialises in in-situ laser-optical flow measurement – the idea is to bring the measurement system directly to the real-world application instead of taking samples to a laboratory. The job lets me combine exactly the things I care about: fluid dynamics, particle image velocimetry, CAD design and drones.
What I do
My main task is the development of Particle Image Velocimetry components. We use modern electronics and build very compact, high-power systems with lasers up to 400 W. Unlike most (if not all) other lasers in the PIV market, ours are built with PIV as the primary application in mind. All our systems are developed, designed and assembled in our small lab in Lörrach.
My main tasks include:
- Developing the hardware, software and firmware for the PIV product line.
- Building the lasers, synchronizers and cameras.
- Developing PIVlab, our PIV analysis software.
- Carrying out service flow measurements for customers.
- Developing, building and using our wind measurement drone “OPTOkopter”.
PIVlab – the particle image velocimetry software
PIVlab is an open-source tool for Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) – a laser-based method to measure whole-field flow velocities in fluids. Developed during my PhD together with Eize Stamhuis, it has since become the most popular PIV software worldwide: cited in over 6,000 publications on Google Scholar and referenced in 1,920 works on OpenAlex (as of 2026). It is available as open-source code on GitHub and was selected as 'Pick of the Week' by MathWorks.
Full PIV software comparison report →
Videos: video of an analysis · tutorial video (YouTube).
Earlier positions
From 2014 – 2018, I was working as senior mechanical design engineer at the TobyRich GmbH. I was responsible for the mechanical design, aerodynamics and manufacturing of the Moskito, Smartplane PRO and Smartplane PRO FPV. I also extensively worked on designing the flight controller, on sourcing all components, and coordinated the production in China. Besides these main tasks, I contributed renderings, video edits etc.
In 2018, I was working as a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Nordhausen (locomotion, biomimetics), and in 2017 as lecturer at the Bremen University of Applied Sciences (animal locomotion, aerodynamics).
From 2008 – 2014, I was working as a scientific research assistant at the Bremen University of Applied Sciences (Department of Biomimetics). My main tasks were wind and water tunnel related research (aerodynamics, locomotion), supervision of practical trainings of the students, and the design of scientific equipment.
Publications
A list of my peer-reviewed publications (kept in sync with my Google Scholar profile), followed by selected talks and magazine articles.
My Google Scholar profile · my ResearchGate profile
Publications
G.R. Jassal, W. Thielicke & B.E. Schmidt (2025), An optical flow algorithm with automatic parameter adjustment for fluid velocimetry, Journal of Open Research Software
W. Thielicke & S. Risius (2024), Educational experiments with Particle Image Velocimetry in a small Prandtl water tunnel, STAB/DGLR Symposium
C.A.G. Pré, W. Thielicke, R.E. Diaz Jr, B.P. Hedrick, R.M. Elsey & E.R. Schachner (2023), Validating osteological correlates for the hepatic piston in the American alligator, PeerJ
W. Thielicke (2022), Pulse-length induced motion blur in PIV particle images, Proceedings of the Fachtagung Experimentelle Strömungsmechanik 2022
W. Thielicke & R. Sonntag (2021), Particle Image Velocimetry for MATLAB: Accuracy and enhanced algorithms in PIVlab, Journal of Open Research Software
W. Thielicke, W. Hébert, U. Müller, M. Eggert & P. Wilhelm (2021), Towards accurate and practical drone-based wind measurements with an ultrasonic anemometer, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
W. Thielicke & E.J. Stamhuis (2018), The effects of wing twist in slow-speed flapping flight of birds: Trading brute force against efficiency, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 13(5):056015
W. Thielicke & E.J. Stamhuis (2015), The influence of wing morphology on the three-dimensional flow patterns of a flapping wing at bird scale, Journal of Fluid Mechanics (768)
W. Thielicke (2014), The Flapping Flight of Birds – Analysis and Application, PhD thesis, University of Groningen
W. Thielicke & E.J. Stamhuis (2014), PIVlab – Towards user-friendly, affordable and accurate digital particle image velocimetry in MATLAB, Journal of Open Research Software 2(1):e30
W. Thielicke, A.B. Kesel & E.J. Stamhuis (2011), Reliable Force Predictions for a Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle: A "Vortex-lift" Approach, International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles 3(4)
W. Thielicke, A.B. Kesel & E.J. Stamhuis (2013): Der Schlagflug der Vögel: Der Einfluss von Flügelprofil und Schlagfrequenz auf dreidimensionale Strömungsmuster. In: "Bionik: Patente aus der Natur" (Eds.: A.B. Kesel & D. Zehren): S. 344-349, ISBN: 978-3-00-040885-4
W. Thielicke, E.J. Stamhuis & A.B. Kesel (2011): Applying bird wing morphology to flapping wing micro air vehicles (MAVs). In: "Bionik: Patente aus der Natur" (Eds.: A.B. Kesel & D. Zehren): S. 100-108, ISBN: 978-3-00-033467-2
W. Thielicke & E.J. Stamhuis (2009): Scalability of unsteady aerodynamics in flapping flight for MAV applications. In: "Bionik: Patente aus der Natur" (Eds.: A.B. Kesel & D. Zehren): S. 350-354, ISBN: 978-3-00-027193-9
Talks
W. Thielicke & U. Müller (2019), 3D-Windmessung durch innovative Drohnen-Technologie, HTCO Seminar Zukunft Stadtklima, Stuttgart / Germany
W. Thielicke & K.P. Neitzke & R. Jubeh (2019), Die Show der Flugroboter, Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, Nordhausen / Germany
W. Thielicke (2019), PIVlab – Visualisierung und Evaluation von Strömungen für Forschung, Industrie und Lehre, MATLAB EXPO 2019, München / Germany
W. Thielicke & K.P. Neitzke (2017), Die Zukunft der fliegenden Roboter, Lange Nacht der Zukunft, Nordhausen / Germany
W. Thielicke (2016), How optimal are multirotors?, INTERCON UDEP, Piura / Perú
W. Thielicke (2016), Multidisciplinary multirotor madness, INTERCON UDEP, Piura / Perú
W. Thielicke & K.P. Neitzke (2015), Die Indoor Flugshow mit Flugrobotern, Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, Nordhausen / Germany
W. Thielicke (2015), Multikopter: Optimal oder optimierungsbedürftig?, Multikopter Fachtagung. Ammersbek / Germany
W. Thielicke (2014), The Flapping Flight of Birds – Analysis and Application, 7. Bremer Bionik Kongress, Bremen / Germany
W. Thielicke & K.P. Neitzke (2013), Fliegen am Limit und dahinter, Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, Nordhausen / Germany
W. Thielicke, A.B. Kesel & E.J. Stamhuis (2012), The influence of wing design and flapping frequency on the 4D flow pattern of a model wing at bird scale, The Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting, Salzburg / Austria
W. Thielicke, A.B. Kesel & E.J. Stamhuis (2011), Vortex-lift modeling provides reliable force predictions for flapping-wing MAVs, International Micro Air Vehicle Conference, ‘t Harde / Netherlands
W. Thielicke (2011), Vorderkantenwirbel beim Schlagflug, 2. Symposium zum Vogelflug und Bionik, Wasserkuppe / Rhön / Germany
W. Thielicke, A.B. Kesel & E.J. Stamhuis (2011), Unsteady Aerodynamics of Flapping Flight, Graduiertenkolleg Bionik, Bonn / Germany
W. Thielicke, A.B. Kesel & E.J. Stamhuis (2011), Instationäre Aerodynamik des Schlagflugs, Bionik-Seminar, Bremen / Germany
W. Thielicke (2010), Der Flug der Vögel, Tierische Höchstleistungen - Sommerprogramm Universum Bremen, Bremen / Germany
W. Thielicke, E.J. Stamhuis & A.B. Kesel (2010), Applying bird wing morphology to flapping wing micro air vehicles (MAVs), 5. Bremer Bionik Kongress, Bremen / Germany
A.B. Kesel & W. Thielicke (2009), Bionik: Lernen von den Besten – Vom Fliegen und Schwimmen, Nacht der Wissenschaften, Hamburg / Germany
Magazines
W. Thielicke (2016), Schneller ans Ziel, mehr Tempo durch aerodynamisches Tuning, Drohnen, Das Copter-Magazin 03/16
W. Thielicke (2012), Ein BOLT für alle Fälle - So entsteht ein Hexacopter, RC Flight Control 03/2012
W. Thielicke (2011), FPV around the world - Kamerun, RC Flight Control 02/2011
Multirotors
Multirotors are my long-running hobby. Building them from scratch taught me electronics, hardware, software and control loops – and the designs went on to win several awards.
Back in 2007, I decided that I want to learn how to use microcontrollers and how to work with electronics and control loops. I needed an interesting project to keep my motivation high, therefore I started to make multirotors in my spare time. In all the tri- and hexrotors, several revisions of a very tiny custom flight controller are used. The electronics, software and hardware are built completely from scratch.
These are my main achievements in the 'multirotor world' (click the images for videos / links):
