Dr. Philip A. Rubini, CEng, MIET, MInstP

Reader in Thermofluids and Acoustics

I have recently completed my term as Head of the Department of Engineering, from 2008 until 2011, following my appointment as Reader in the Department of Engineering at the University of Hull in April 2007. As Head of Department I reported to the Faculty Dean and provided academic leadership and management at departmental, faculty and university levels. Prior to this, for over 15 years at Cranfield University, I held positions of Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in the Department of Aerospace Sciences within the School of Engineering.

The Department of Engineering has a turnover of over £5Million. As Head of Department I had line manager responsibility for over 50 staff including academic, support and research staff, delivering a wide range of Foundation Degree, undergraduate MEng, BEng, BSc and taught postgraduate MSc degree programmes across the three broad subject themes of Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Design and Innovation to a cohort of over 500 students.

I have over 25 years of experience and an internationally acknowledged background in the development and application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to practical engineering problems. Over my career, research interests have broadened from originally concentrating upon gas turbine combustion, to now encompassing more general process systems, fire safety and heat transfer as well as low speed aerodynamics typified by Motorsport applications and a rapidly developing activity in the field of thermofluids and acoustics. Recent activity includes directly funded projects by Siemens and Jaguar-Landrover both investigating the interaction between turbulent flows and noise attenuation over resonant devices.

I originally joined Cranfield University in October 1991 having previously been responsible for the development of combustion related CFD codes within the military division of Rolls Royce plc as ‘Head of Combustion Theoretical Services Group - Military’. I also worked for several years at Queens University, Kingston, Canada, as the principal developer of a new CFD code for the Canadian steel industry in a collaborative university/industrial research activity combining both experimental and theoretical activities.

I was responsible for the development of the fire simulation CFD code, SOFIE. This project, initiated at Cranfield University, was funded by an international consortium of fire research laboratories and regulatory agencies for over a decade. SOFIE has been used by fire safety research groups in many countries worldwide. Technical support for such use continues to be provided by myself.

I am a member of the EPSRC College of Peers and regularly publish in both peer reviewed international journals and present papers subjected to prior peer review at international conferences.

I contribute to a number of modules within the BEng/MEng/MSc programmes of the department, including “Mechanical Engineering Science (thermodynamics)", "Thermofluids and Acoustics", “Computers and Applications” and "The Engineering in Society”. I am also responsible for the First Year Mechanical Engineering Laboratory programme and lead Work Based Learning II, taken by all Foundation Degree students.

Whilst at Cranfield I made a significant contribution to the academic programs within both the School of Engineering and the School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science, both in terms of course modules and research project supervision. I held a number of positions at both Faculty and Senate level including a period as an Elected Member of Senate. I served on the university wide Staff Development and Information Systems Policy Committees and was Chairman of the Information Systems Committee in the School of Engineering. I was a member of the examination boards for five MSc courses and served as a member of the School of Engineering Research Degree committee for many years.

These personal web pages provide a readily accessible view of my academic and professional career. If you would like the information in document form please contact me directly.