For enquiries please contact fastblade@ed.ac.uk.
Principal Investigator
Prof. Conchúr Ó Brádaigh is Head of the School of Engineering and Chair of Materials Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
- Professor ConchúrÓ Brádaigh (Inaugural Lecture Chair of Engineering Materials, University of Edinburgh)
Co-Investigators
- Dr Edward McCarthy
- Professor Dilum Fernando
- Professor Tim Stratford
- Professor Luke Bisby
- Professor Spyros A Karamanos
FastBlade Manager and Senior Experimental Officer
Dr Fergus Cuthill has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering with a PhD in snow science and material engineering, completed from 2013 to 2017. After his PhD he was PDRA within the University of Edinburgh, Institute for Materials and Processes, working on two Wave Energy Scotland (WES) funded projects (ELASTO & ROTOHYBRID). His role focused on the mechanical testing, analysis and classification of novel materials for the potential use in wave energy devices with the aim of the research being a step-change in the levelised cost of energy (LCOE). In his current role, he is focused on developing control and testing methodologies along with instrumentation and hydraulic setups for FASTBLADE.
Data Scientist
Dr Sergio Antonio Lopez Dubon is in charge of developing the facility's data structure and the data analysis's main algorithms. Moreover, he will lead the design and implementation of new data-driven algorithms to improve FASTBLADE performance and the study of the different tested specimens. This will reduce the time of new technology transfer, helping FASTBLADE be at the vanguard of fatigue testing of composites structures.
Before joining FASTBLADE, he obtained a civil engineer degree and a master's in hydrology. He worked for a hydrometeorological service for a few years, where he started to handle big data problems. Later, he enrolled in a PhD focus on long-term river morphodynamics, using a physical-statistical modelling approach, which was completed from 2014 to 2018. Following that, he worked in Italy as Data Scientist in the industry. His role centred on developing quasi-real-time control algorithms for big data environmental measurements, and the design and implementation of relational algorithms, for data-driven support decisions.
Research Assistant in Structural Testing
Mr Peter Williams has recently graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a master’s in Mechanical Engineering. During his undergraduate, he conducted a 6-month placement with FASTBLADE where he used FEA to help optimise the design of the reaction frame, specifically the mounting locations of the frame to the floor. Following on from this placement he conducted his master's project with FASTBLADE, this consisted of the full design of a new type of saddle that allows efficient load transfer from the hydraulic rams to composite tidal blades, this design is now in the process of being manufactured and implemented. He now works as a Research Assistant for FASTBLADE where he is focused on commissioning of the facility, instrumentation setup for testing of tidal blades and producing test plans/paperwork to enable us to test blades.
Assistant Engineering Technician
He comes from a heavy engineering background with a wealth of experience in electrical power generation, including wind, thermal and Energy from Waste. Since joining the team, he has been heavily involved with the set-up and commissioning of the facility with a particular emphasis on the set-up of the control, monitoring, and safety systems, along with their associated instrumentation. Graham’s focus going forward will be split between day-to-day maintenance tasks in the facility and the adaptation of our electrical and instrumentation systems to each new test specimen, tailored to our client's requirements.
Research Assistant in Structural Testing
