PERFECTING THE JET ENGINE PROFILE Lastly, advances in computing of the gap, according to engine These future aircraft concepts foresee what the aeroplanes of power have led to engineers condition, on a second-by- are not only radically different, tomorrow will look like, but all on the project developing new second basis. Systems such as but all point towards a need the signs are that they will burn A BUSINESSLIKE algorithms for electronically active tip clearance control are for closer integration between less fuel and emit less carbon monitoring and controlling the paving the way to an intelligent the airframe and the engine, dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. engine. Active tip clearance engine that will ‘morph’ to its even designing the aircraft and control is a key example. Here, operating conditions. the engine as a single, fully See Professor Philip Ruffles’ control software has been integrated entity. talk: Past, present and future developed to monitor and alter Danish physicist Niels Bohr – sustaining the traditions APPROACH TO the gap between the tip of a AIRCRAFT OF reportedly said that “prediction of Sir Henry Royce at http:// turbine blade and its casing. THE FUTURE is very difficult, especially tv.theiet.org/technology/ The turbine tip seal gap is in the Ultimately, tomorrow’s engines about the future”. We cannot transport/13479.cfm magnitude of the width of a will largely be defined by future human hair. It minimises airflow aircraft designs. New concepts losses and keep the blades and in development include Boeing’s BIOGRAPHY LEARNING casing cool. However, the gap blended wing body, Lockheed Professor Philip Ruffles CBE FREng FRS enjoyed a distinguished width normally varies throughout Martin’s box-wing and Northrop career in engineering at Rolls-Royce, becoming director of flight, as the casing and blade Grumman’s flying wing designs. engineering and technology from 1997 to 2001. He led on heat up and cool down and All of the proposed aircraft are the development of the Trent aero engine, which won the SIR CHRISTOPHER SNOWDEN FREng FRS as the blade is subjected to designed to halve landing and MacRobert Award. Professor Ruffles was also awarded and the centrifugal forces. take-off emissions of nitrogen Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering and With active clearance control, oxides by reducing the take-off Few engineers have moved between business and academia as became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001. sensors in the EFE continuously thrust requirements. They also fluently and as often as Professor Sir Christopher Snowden. This monitor the width of this gap aim to cut fuel consumption and feed data back to the by nearly 50%, compared with Ingenia would like to thank Dr Rebecca Pool, science and technology experience has put him in demand in many areas, not least with engine’s electronic control unit. aircraft flying today, with a large writer, Ian Doherty, Strategic Marketing Manager at Rolls-Royce, and policymakers. He tells Michael Kenward that his multidisciplinary Crucially, the control system can proportion of this benefit being John Whurr, Chief Project Engineer – Future Programmes, Rolls-Royce, use this data to alter the width delivered by the engines. for their help in producing this article success has not blunted his desire to get to grips with new technology and share his knowledge with a wider audience. When it was put to Christopher Snowden MULTIDISCIPLINARY that he should try for the position of vice- Pursuing both business and academic chancellor of the University of Surrey in activities has long been a personal mission 2004, he had his doubts. He was running for Snowden. It stems from early work a very successful business and was not experience when he was in his early sure that the university would welcome twenties. On leaving University of Leeds a business outsider. Snowden was chief with a degree in electronic engineering, he executive of Filtronic ICS at the time, but his wanted to do something practical and go friends told him that he was regarded by straight into industry. He got a job as an most as an academic as well and after much applications engineer at Mullard and raised consideration he decided to take on the the idea of getting more qualifications. The university position. company’s response was that “experience is It turned out to be a good decision much more valuable.” However, when new for both parties: for the past seven years, recruits with further degrees leapfrogged Snowden has overseen the University of him into more senior positions, he decided Surrey’s steady rise up the academic league to look further afield. A 10 Watt microwave power MMIC amplifier, which in 2004 achieved the world record for the highest tables, making it to number 12 in the Even though he had a house with power density and efficiency © C. Snowden Guardian newspaper’s universities league a mortgage, Snowden returned to table, 30 places up since his appointment. university. He had already won a prize for It brings the university near the top-10 an undergraduate project on a distortion position that Professor Sir Christopher free audio amplifier and had sold the idea Airframers are looking to the future with designs that can accommodate open rotor (above) or geared turbofans © concept by Royal Aeronautical Society with Snowden (he was knighted in 2012) set to BT. Now, for his next degree, he chose rendering by Kaktus Digital himself as a goal on taking up the post. microwave communications engineering. 46 INGENIA INGENIA ISSUE 53 DECEMBER 2012 47 SIR CHRISTOPHER SNOWDEN FREng FRS PROFILE “At the time, that was quite unexplored,” Snowden oversaw the introduction of new semiconductor BACK TO ACADEME he explains. “This was pre-mobile phones. By then, Leeds had lost its edge in research, Satellites were around. There was even a technology. “By the time I left, Filtronic had a large slice of the according to the Research Assessment little bit of point-to-point [microwave], but compound semiconductor market. They were making a third Exercise, if not in the minds of the it was very much a niche area at the time.” academics. Snowden realised that he Snowden returned to Leeds for his of the world’s switches for mobile phones.” would have to make changes. He drew on Masters because it enabled him to do his business experience. “I had learnt a lot a joint Masters with the University of about technical management, so I thought Sheffield, the only two in the country to do maybe I could use some of these skills here.” so. “I really liked the idea of sampling the Leeds had good industry contacts, but expertise of two universities and enjoyed it was not publishing enough good papers my Masters, which stimulated me to and had a poor record at winning funding subsequently pursue a PhD at Leeds with from the Research Councils. Snowden the aim of strengthening my employment slimmed the research down from six credentials, even though this meant I had groups, all in different areas, and set up to pay for a large part of my studies.” This at Caltech in California. “That gave me an curve of things like the breakdown voltage two research institutes, one in microwaves was before companies routinely sponsored appetite for working in the States.” The against the geometry parameters of the and photonics and another in integrated workers through research degrees, image of US universities is that of high transistor. I said: ‘I think that this would communications systems. He also set up although he was delighted to secure pressure hothousing, but Snowden found follow your experimental data.’” The a department for teaching and for staff some sponsorship from the MESL that it could also be a relaxed environment company remained sceptical, so Snowden who didn’t want to work in those areas. Group in Edinburgh. to work in. The plan worked. Leeds came out in the Two-and-a-half years later, with a freshly- gave it the model with an invitation to ‘try it The opportunity to move properly to the top group of the 2001 RAE league tables, minted career-enhancing PhD, the next yourself’. “The next day they rang up, very US came in 1989. Microwave Associates, obvious step would have been to take up excited. They said, yes, it actually laid on a position it has retained since that time later M/A-COM, invited him to manage a a job in industry. However, a colleague top of their data.” Together, they used the (coincidentally Surrey is ranked second in project that it ran with Filtronic, a business at Leeds suggested that Snowden apply model to design a new transistor. electronics to Leeds in the last Research set up by David Rhodes, who had worked for a lectureship at the University of York. Snowden’s model has become an Assessmenr Exercise). alongside Snowden at Leeds. M/A-COM Snowden had taught during his PhD but industry standard that is still in use. Now Thanks to Snowden’s business contacts, invited Snowden to be its technical director. lectureships usually went to postdocs with known as the quasi-two-dimensional AMP, the company that had taken over MA/ He didn’t rise to the bait immediately, so a few research papers under their belts. “I model, the idea has also proved to be a COM, invited him to return to the US as the Gerry Di Piazza, M/A-COM’s senior vice didn’t really think that this was likely to pan model for delivering publications: Snowden company’s vice president of technology.