Conjugate heat transfer for two-dimensional, developing flow over an array of rectangular blocks, representing finite heat sources on parallel plates, is considered. Incompressible flow over multiple blocks is modeled using the fully elliptic form of the Navier–Stokes equations. A control-volume-based finite difference procedure with appropriate averaging for the diffusion coefficients is used to solve the coupling between the solid and fluid regions. The heat transfer characteristics resulting from recirculating zones around the blocks are presented. The analysis is extended to study the optimum spacing between heat sources for a fixed heat input and a desired maximum temperature at the heat source.