Chris Pearce

Biography

I am Professor of Computational Mechanics and hold the Royal Academy of Engineering / EDF Energy Research Chair at Glasgow. I graduated from the University of Wales Swansea in Civil Engineering in 1992. This was followed by an MSc and PhD from the same University. My first academic appointment was as a lecturer at the University of Glasgow. I was promoted to Professor in 2010. I am currently Dean of Research for the College of Science & Engineering and member of the Infrastructure and Environment Research Division in the School of Engineering.

Research Interest

My major research interests are in computational mechanics. These currently include multi-scale mechanics and modelling of heterogeneous materials, modelling of quasi-brittle materials and fracture, modelling of coupled problems, computational biomechanics and high performance computing. My work with EDF Energy focuses on the rational and accurate assessment of structural integrity, delivering new approaches for modelling fracture propagation and multi-physics problems. These will improve predictions, and reduce uncertainty, of crack propagation in the reactor core’s irradiated graphite bricks, in pipes carrying coolant at high pressure/temperature and the behaviour of the prestressed concrete reactor pressure vessels.