Robert Smith

Biography

He have 30 years of research experience in ultrasonics, signal processing, data analysis and instrumentation, the first six years being at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) where He was involved in establishing a National Measurement System for medical ultrasound field characterisation and contributed to the preparation of international standards. In 1989 He moved to the Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) Group at the Royal Aerospace Establishment, Farnborough, later becoming the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), and then QinetiQ Ltd. Whilst there, He developed the ANDSCAN® portable scanning system and arranged for its commercial exploitation.

Research Interest

Currently undertaking an EPSRC Fellowship in Manufacturing entitled 'NDT for High Value Manufacturing of Composites'. This involves researching new non-destructive testing methods for 3D characterisation of composites and evolving a strategy for ensuring they benefit the structural integrity of aerostructures and engines, wind turbines, etc. The ultimate aim is to enable the optimum use of composite materials by providing detailed information about the actual as-manufactured inner quality, thus moving from conservative designs to lightweight high-performance optimally designed components. An additional benefit would be facilitating the use of lower-cost manufacturing methods.