About Me I have been at Strathclyde for over 40years! After graduating, I worked in industry and did a part-time MSc; loved the research so much I joined as a staff member soon thereafter. My background is in Mechanics and Materials using finite element analysis and mainly on industry focussed problems. Over the years, I have worked on oil, gas and petrochem pressure equipment related problems, biomedical stent device and artificial limb design, wind turbine blade erosion mechanisms – and much more. Indeed, this shows how Engineering Mechanics and Materials are used right across the engineering spectrum. In addition, I have had a number of senior roles over the years within Strathclyde as a Vice Dean for Knowledge Exchange (Industry Engagement) and externally with the IMechE as Scottish Regional Chair and also with their Pressure Systems Group. I also chair the British Standards (BSi) Committee for Pressure Vessel Design Methods. I firmly believe that what we teach in the Department and put into practice in our projects reflects Strathclyde’s motto as ‘a place of useful learning’. In my limited spare time, I play the guitar (3+ chords!), enjoy road cycling, generally keep fit and am actively involved in my local church. My Projects My current portfolio of projects reflects both my current on-going research interests and also problems currently facing industry from my IMechE and BSi contacts and are grouped accordingly. In biomedical device design, a hot topic is that of ‘bioresorbable magnesium stents’ – i.e. implantable stents which provide mechanical support but can also carry and deploy drugs yet can dissolve over time. The work involves making alloys of magnesium and the addition of rare earth materials. This changes the mechanical properties and characterising and understanding the limitation of the alloy is key before the device can go forward for approval. These projects are in partnership with Lumenology, a small innovative biomedical device company in Hillington, and will be additionally supported by a post-doc researcher.

Pressure vessels are used in almost every industry from chemical and food production, oil and gas development, through to nuclear and aerospace applications. All pressure vessels are design to international codes and standards and some of these methods are at least 60 years old. There are a four on-going design challenges set by the BSi code committee and these will be confirmed after initial discussions with the successful project students. There will be some support and engagement with the BSi secretary and the work will be reported at regular committee meetings in due course.