Over the years my research has developed in several areas.
- My initial PhD training, supervised by Professor Keith Miller (see obituary), at Cambridge was in the fatigue of metals: a theme which has continued until now. Two major interests in this area have been the effect of fatigue cracks on notches and fatigue crack shape development.
- Increasingly I have been drawn into railway engineering, in which fatigue at the wheel rail interface and in railway vehicle components generally is extremely important. My interest in fatigue led me to be asked to Chair the investigations into rail "gauge corner cracking" following the Hatfield accident in 2000.
- More recently, my interests have turned to energy related problems, particularly in transport, to resource depletion and sustainable development.
- My interest in mountaineering led to a keen interest in crevasse formation and the mechanical properties of ice.
- I assisted the Health and Safety Executive Laboratories in their investigations of technical aspects of the Hillsborugh soccer stadium disaster, which led to several publications in this and associated areas.
- More general interest in history has generated publications on the building of dams for water supply in the UK, on aspects of UK/Japan links, particularly in engineering and a wide range of other topics.
I have had many letters published in the press. Several of these have been concerned with railway matters.
Stop press 18 March 2009, comments on plan to scrap and replace cars