Designing an efficient tidal turbine blade through bio-mimicry: a systematic review

Dr Siddharth Kulkarni is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer by background specialising in engineering design and intellectual property law. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering, from Birmingham City University (BCU), which was affiliated to Rolls-Royce plc. He is currently working as a Lecturer in Engineering Design, at Coventry University. Siddharth was a Research Fellow in Design Engineering Automation, at the Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) Lab at BCU. He is a PRINCE2 registered Practitioner and was solely responsible for performing interior and exterior Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of Morgan’s LIFECar 2 prototype vehicle. Siddharth has designed and developed a Design Engineering automated closed loop system for tidal turbine blade design, analysis and optimisation under industrial supervision from Rolls-Royce plc. Siddharth has also worked as a Researcher on SILOET 1 and SILOET 2 programs at Rolls-Royce during his post doc tenure in the KBE Lab. He has published one patent and has strong experience in teaching engineering thermodynamics and engineering mathematics. Siddharth has also worked voluntarily at Westfield Sports Cars Ltd, where he served as a Product Development Mechanical Engineer and provided Mechanical design leadership in project planning and execution on autonomous vehicle delivery projects.

Craig Chapman is an Emeritus Professor of Knowledge Based Engineering Craig Chapman CEng MIED MIET has worked at an international level in Europe, USA and the UK, holding positions in industry from Director, Principal Design Engineer, Design Group Leader and Senior Applications consultant. In Academia, Craig’s career has taken him from a Senior Research Fellow, Head of the Knowledge Based Product Development Lab at Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick to an Associate Head of Research and Director of the Knowledge Based Engineering Lab at Birmingham City University. He has over 27 years of Design Systems Engineering Automation and Knowledge Based Engineering experience and been fortunate to have worked for and with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, Corus, Morgan Motor Company, JCB and with international companies on various design automation projects in the USA with Wisdom Systems as well as many SME’s, research and academic institutions through UK- & EU-funded research projects. The focus of Craig’s career has been research, development and the application of design engineering automation and the development of knowledge based engineering solutions in Virtual & Concurrent Engineering environments, enabling companies to rapidly respond to design engineering changes and explore multiple solutions with consideration to all life cycle phases.

Hanifa Shah is Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise) and Professor of Information Systems at Birmingham City University. She provides leadership and strategic direction to the research of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment where staffs are involved in research in three Centres. In the Centre for Low Carbon Research (CLCR) staff are investigating bio-energy generation, low carbon transportation, sustainable, intelligent buildings and retrofit and knowledge-based engineering. In the Institute for Digital Experience and Applications (IDEAS), staffs are contributing to research to help maximise economic and societal benefits of digital technologies. The Centre for Environment and Society Research (CESR) considers how planning policy and technology affect trends in both society and the environment in light of historical, contemporary and future contexts. She was previously at Staffordshire University and at Aston University and is currently Visiting Professor at Manchester University. She has over 30 years in-depth knowledge and experience of both the higher education sector and business. Professor Shah has been at the forefront of the development of industrial links and partnerships for research, enterprise and teaching by Universities. She has been invited to advise public and private sector organisations on strategic information technology issues and on the professional development of information technology staff and university–academic collaboration opportunities. Professor Shah’s research interests include methodologies for Enterprise Information systems research and the exploitation of mobile technologies in health informatics.

Erika Anneli Parn graduated with a degree in Architectural Technology and commenced an international career as a BIM Co-ordinator, working in China, Finland, India and UK. During this period, she worked for Chetwood Architects and oversaw the implementation of large-scale global warehouse developments and associated generative BIM models. She was employed as an Architectural Technology Lecturer at Birmingham City University in 2014 and teaches Building Information Modelling (BIM) for both under- and post-graduate students. She is currently leading on new research that utilises advanced digital technologies (such as computerisation and machine learning algorithms) to automate decision support for facilities management teams. She has published her research in over 20 leading academic journals (including Automation in Construction and Journal of Construction Engineering and Management) and has been a keynote speaker on “creating the digital built environment” and “smart city development” at several preeminent industrial and international conference events. She has accrued extensive linkages internationally and is currently collaborating on smart city development with colleagues at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Deakin University, Australia, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan, and Ryerson University, Canada. Her extensive practice-based knowledge of digital design and academic acumen make her ideally suited to supervising the Associate.

David John Edwards is a Professor of Plant and Machinery Management at Birmingham City University and has worked in both academia and industry over a 25-year career. His research interests focus mainly upon the management of plant and machinery in business throughout industry. His work has been funded through engineering councils, government bodies and an extensive network of industrial collaborations. He has published over 250 scientific research papers in leading international journals as well as numerous conference contributions and textbooks. He is a peer referee for 50 scientific journals and Editorial Board member of various journals and conference events. In 2000, he founded the Off-highway Plant and Equipment Research Centre, which today is the largest international professional body for research in this field with over 15,000 members. Whilst David enjoys pure theoretical research work, he feels most comfortable with applied work that demonstrates immediate and tangible impact. Amongst his many awards, prizes and accolades two are held most dearly, namely, Recipient of the Commander’s Coin, US Department of Defence (2011) for his work into hand-arm vibration; and Chief for Education Development, Ashanti Kingdom, Ghana (2015-present) for on-going research and education conducted in collaboration with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He is currently working for staff at the Pentagon, USA, on the development of standards for safety management in the defence, automotive and aerospace industries.