Founded in 1993 by Professor Richard Stone, the University of Oxford’s Thermal Propulsion Systems Research Group (TPSRG) is dedicated to developing the fundamental science necessary to enable substantial emissions reductions and efficiency improvements in next generation transportation. The Group has established a strong international reputation for both applied engine research and, in particular, the development of novel optical diagnostic tools and techniques for the measurement of in-cylinder phenomena. This seminar presentation will give a short overview of the Group’s past, present, and planned future research activities, highlighting some of the unique facilities and experimental capabilities developed by the Group and key outputs and findings from the past 30 years of research in the field. Recent works in numerical simulation of abnormal combustion will also be shown.

The speaker:

Professor Martin Davy is a Mechanical Engineer with somewhat of an unusual background for an Oxford academic. After leaving school in 1978, he worked variously as: a construction labourer, in a variety of odd jobs in various motorcycle shops and car dealerships, before finding himself in the early 1990s helping to run a motor racing team in Brazil. He finally decided to consider his late father’s oft repeated advice to “get a proper job” shortly after his 32nd birthday. He subsequently completed an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at University College London in 1996 and gained his PhD from the same institution in 2000. He joined the University of Oxford in 2013 having previously held faculty positions at UCL, the University of British Columbia and Loughborough University. He is still looking for a “proper job”.