Rob is a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He completed his MEng in Mechanical Engineering with German at the University of Sheffield in 2005 and his PhD in 2010. His research interests span dynamics, structural health monitoring and, more recently, energy applications.
The underlying theme of Rob's research is the development of tools for integrating experimental and numerical data to overcome challenging engineering problems. This encompasses techniques for model validation, uncertainty quantification, machine learning, and optimal decision making under uncertainty.
His research has historically focused on application to a range of problems within structural dynamics, and particularly Structural Health Monitoring. Within SHM, this has included developing methods for overcoming the lack-of-data problem that acts as key barrier to wider adoption of machine learning based approaches to damage identification.
In recent years, his focus has moved to applications with the energy field, and in particular the role that distributed thermal and electrical energy storage may play as part of the transition to a low-carbon energy grid. This work has included the development of hierarchical control methodologies incorporating model predictive control, and evaluation of how they may be employed for optimal decision making over differing time horizons such that the potential of novel storage technologies may be fully exploited.
