About

I am a Chartered Engineer and mature part-time student who has worked in cross-sector consultancies, although predominantly rail, for over 20 years. I have an interest in model-based systems engineering (MBSE), assurance and safety and the inter-relationship between the law and technology. I am currently a Senior Manager at our Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering.

I spent the previous 22 years working for companies involved in research and development and consultancy, mainly in the rail industry. I was sponsored through a general engineering degree at Cambridge University by British Rail Research which later became AEA Technology Limited and for 10 years spent most of my time in the vehicle-track interaction department. This included activities such as train procurement, derailment investigation and consultancy. During this period AEA Technology supported further learning leading to a Diploma in Applied Management from Warwick Business School and an MSc (Eng) in Rail Systems Engineering from Sheffield University.

In 2002, I moved to the consultancy Altran, initially in one of their start-ups which specialised in Independent Safety Assessment and Notified Body. This small company was subsequently merged with another Altran company, Altran Praxis, which specialises in intelligent embedded systems consultancy across industry sectors. Altran Praxis is now part of Altran UK. During this period I was a project manager for consultancy projects, mainly independent assessment projects within the rail sector, and carried out consultancy, Notified Body and independent assessment assignments, including several requirements management secondments to rail industry suppliers.

I am looking forward to seeing delivery of the expected benefits from the collaboration between industry and academia on the sustained competitiveness of the local supply chain, employability within the region and growth of centres of expertise and research.

Thesis title 

A Methodology for Managing the Legal Risks Associated with Implementation of Digital Twin Use Cases in Regulated Industries

Supervisors

• Professor Paul Wood
• Dr Chris Windmill

Research interests

My research concerns the notion of a “digital twin”, which is a virtual representation of an asset, system, or process linked to its physical equivalent through data which gives the opportunity to better manage and control the physical system. For example, the digital twin of a vehicle may be able to predict when maintenance or replacement of parts will be needed, avoiding unnecessary checks and avoiding breakdowns in service and can potentially go as far as automatically buying in the part and scheduling the maintenance.

However, different companies can be involved in managing the digital models and data over the digital twin’s lifetime and others are involved in managing the physical assets, its communications, and sensing systems. As such, guidance is needed to assist these companies to collaborate effectively and ensure any risks are managed. The research will develop parts of this guidance, particularly linking legal protection options with digital twin architecture features and use cases.

Qualifications

• MSc (Eng) Rail Systems Engineering (Sheffield University)
• LLB (Hons) Law (Open University)