Biography

I gained a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Leicester (1983), and an MSc in Theoretical Mechanics from the University of East Anglia (1984). I stayed at the University of East Anglia to do a PhD under the supervision of Dr Nigel Scott. After completing my PhD (1987), I spent around a year in industry, working for Royal Ordnance in Blackburn. In early 1989 I returned to academia, being appointed Research Fellow within the Department of Theoretical Mechanics at the University of Nottingham. During my two and a half years in Nottingham, I worked under the supervision of Dr Tony Green on a United States Air Force funded project. The project concerned the mathematical elucidation of impact response in fibre-reinforced laminates. In 1991 I was appointed a Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of the West of England. Two years later, I moved to a similar position at the University of Salford, where I became Professor of Applied Mathematics (2002) and Director of the Centre for Theory and Modelling (2005). In September 2006 I moved to Keele as a Professor of Applied Mathematics, becoming Head of the School of Computer Science and Mathematics in July 2008.

Research and scholarship

My research interests concern the propagation of waves in elastic solids and structures. Over the years this has involved a number of applications, including the impact response of fibre-reinforced laminated aircraft wings and artificial vibration of coal layers. A considerable amount of my research effort has focussed on trying to establish simplified approximate long wave theories to help elucidate the dynamic response of thin structures. This included the establishment of a novel mathematically justified methodology to enable initial value problems to be investigated. Currently, through the 3ME project, potential applications of my research within both Bio-medical Engineering and Earth Science are being investigated. This project was funded through EPSRC's Bridging the Gaps initiative.

Publications

Research themes

Theoretical Solid Mechanics

School of Computer Science and Mathematics
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5AA