Robert Samuel Birch

Currently, in the UK, I am a registered Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE) and an Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Liverpool from where I graduated in Mechanical Engineering (1980) and gained my PhD (1987). I am also an Honorary Visiting Researcher to the University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL) GREENS group in Florianópolis, Brazil, where I am participating in research in the area of sustainability. After serving a formal apprenticeship in the engineering manufacturing industry (1970-74) I followed a career as a designer and graduate engineer (1974-82) in precision manufacturing associated with the nuclear, aerospace and surgical industries. In 1982 I joined the University of Liverpool as a Research Assistant to the well-known Professor Norman Jones specialising in research on the dynamic behaviour of structures and materials subject to shock and impact loading. After gaining my PhD, I continued a career in research and teaching with the University of Liverpool as Principal Experimental Officer and Research Fellow until 2018 when I joined the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) in São Paulo, Brazil, as a Visiting Researcher on a Newton Fellowship award. My range of experience includes research in the areas of dynamic behaviour of materials, structural impact, crashworthiness, vibration and hearing protection for high-amplitude impulse noise. During my career with the University of Liverpool I also carried out teaching duties at graduate and post-graduate Masters level in the areas of structural integrity and design. I also have a wide experience working with major UK industries on commercial consultancy projects and have participated in international research projects in Europe, India and Bulgaria. I have developed close links with Brazil where I have made several visits and extended sabbaticals as a Visiting Researcher (PV) to universities there. My early career in industry as an intern and later as a graduate was spent working on engineering design and high-precision manufacturing related to the aerospace, nuclear and bioengineering sectors which included work in early designs and manufacturing of surgical implants such as replacement knee and hip joints. After graduating from the University of Liverpool, UK, I joined the British Aerospace company (1982) where I carried out numerical modelling analysis work on airframe temperatures and pressures associated with the use of advanced composite materials for Jaguar, Tornado and Typhoon fighter aircraft. Following this period in industry, I joined the University of Liverpool?s School of Engineering to carry out research in structural crashworthiness investigating the dynamic collapse of thin-walled structures that also became the subject of my PhD research work. During this time, I was awarded the IMechE William Sweet-Smith prize in recognition for my scientific publications in this area dealing with the energy loss corrections and the precise measurement of impact loads. I was instrumental in establishing and managing the internationally recognised Blast and Impact Research Centre whose purpose was to focus on research on structural collision. I have since gone on to advise on setting up similar laboratories at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil and IIT Delhi in India and carried out numerous consultative research projects for major international companies such as Shell, BP, British Aerospace and British Gas on analysis of structures subject to impact loading. I have also partnered in two major European Framework research projects studying the crashworthiness of commercial aircraft. My activities at the University of Liverpool also included teaching engineering design, structural integrity and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate project work. Other activities included coordinating graduate employability initiatives as a member of the University?s Industrial Liaison Board