Mrs Celia Watson
Principal Research Officer
Location: Shrivenham
E: c.h.watson@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0) 1793 785032 or 785330
Department of Engineering Systems and Management
Current activities
Celia is a Principal Research Officer as a member of the Impact and Armour Group, her primary research interests are in the high strain rate effects of armour materials. Her research has encompassed work on metallic, composite, ceramic and textiles systems used for various armour applications. Recently she has been funded by MOD to investigate specific ballistic effects in ceramic armour and human factors in military NBC clothing. She also has an interest in ballistic blunt trauma and behind armour effects.
As manager of the UK Home Office test house for police body armour and her contact with the US National Institute of Justice and National Institute of Standards and Technology she is involved with NATO committees investigating behind armour effects. She is also secretary for the European Structural Integrity Society, TC5 committee and the UK Personal Armour Users Group.
Selected publications
C H Watson, An Assessment of the ballistic performance of contoured protective body armour plates, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2006, The Royal Armouries, Leeds, 2006.
M J Iremonger & C H Watson, Ergonomic assessment of Military Body Armour, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2006, The Royal Armouries, Leeds, 2006.
E Lewis, C H Watson & I Horsfall, Pencilling a novel behind armour blunt trauma injury, 22nd International Symposium on Ballistics, Vancouver, Canada, Nov 2005.
J Shattock, I Horsfall & C H Watson, Spaced Armour Against Shaped Charges, 22ndt International Symposium on Ballistics, Vancouver, Canada, Nov 2005.
I Horsfall, C H Watson, S M Champion, P Prosser & T Ringrose, The effect of knife handle shape on stabbing performance, Applied Ergonomics, 36(4):505-11 (2005).
I Horsfall, S M Champion & C H Watson, The development of a quantitative flexibility test for body armour and comparison with wearer trials, Applied Ergonomics, 36, (3), 283-292, (2005).
C H Watson, High Rate Sheet Tensile Testing, 5th International Symposia on Impact Engineering, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, UK. 2003.
C H Watson, I Horsfall & E Luk, An evaluation of the hypodermic needle threat against body armour, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2004, The Hague, Netherlands, 2004.
A Bleetman, C H Watson, I Horsfall & S M Champion, Wounding patterns and human performance in knife attacks: Optimising the protection provided by knife resistant body armour, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2004, The Hague, Netherlands, 2004.
E A Lewis, C P Johnson, C A Bir, M Wilhelm, D Sherman, J Eck, T Waliko, I Horsfall & C H Watson, An investigation to confirm the existence of pencilling as a non-penetrating behind armour injury, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2004, The Hague, Netherlands, 2004.
E A Lewis, C H Watson & I Horsfall, Behind armour blunt trauma effects after low velocity ballistic impact, 21st International Symposium on Ballistics, Adelaide, Australia, 2004.
A Bleetman, C H Watson, I Horsfall & S M Champion, Wounding patterns and human performance in knife attacks: optimising the protection provided by knife-resistant body armour, J Clin Forensic Med, 10 (4), 243-248 (2003).
I Horsfall, C H Watson & K Clarke, High rate tensile testing of automotive body steels, Presented at Prospects in Fracture, Imperial College, London, 2003.
I Horsfall, C H Watson & C G Chilese, A drop tower method for high rate fracture toughness testing of polymers, Fracture of Polymers Composites and Adhesives II, B R K Blackman, A Pavan, J G Williams (eds), pp. 221-229, Elsevier and ESIS, 2003.
E A Lewis, I Horsfall & C H Watson, Behind Armour Blunt Trauma Effects after Low Level Velocity Ballistic Impact, Proc 54th Meeting of the Aeroballistic Range Association, New Mexico, 2003.
E A Lewis, I Horsfall & C H Watson, A comparison of the behind armour blunt trauma effects between ceramic faced and soft body armours caused by ballistic impact, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2002, The Hague, Netherlands, 2002.
C H Watson, I Horsfall, S M Champion & I C Harrod, Blade sharpness and its effect on the testing of body armour, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2002, The Hague, Netherlands, 2002.
I Horsfall, S M Champion, W Wong & C H Watson, The effect of matrix type on the ballistic and mechanical performance of E-glass composite armour, Proc 19th International Symposium on ballistics, Interlaken, 2001.
I Horsfall, C H Watson & D Sim, Human generated impact, Proc Society of Environmental Engineers Convention 2000 - Shock and Impact Testing, Farnborough, 2000.
S M Champion, A M Robertson, I Horsfall & C H Watson, Stacking sequence effects on ballistic performance of dual purpose armour, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2000, Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency, Colchester, 2000.
C H Watson, I Horsfall & S M Champion, Human performance in slashing attack, Proc Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2000, Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency, Colchester, 2000.
C H Watson, I Horsfall & A M Robinson, Stacking sequence effects in multi-purpose body armour, Proc Sharp Weapons Armour Technology Symposium, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, (1999).
I Horsfall, I C Harrod & C H Watson, Knife tip sharpness and its measurement, Proc Sharp Weapons Armour Technology Symposium, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, (1999).
I Horsfall & C H Watson, Indentation behaviour of polymeric materials under dynamic and static conditions, Presented at 2nd ESIS Conference on Polymers and Composites - Fracture of Polymers, Composites and Adhesives, Les Diablerets, (1999).
I Horsfall, C H Watson & M J Aldridge, A dynamic version of the Boeing wedge test, Presented at 2nd ESIS Conference on Polymers and Composites - Fracture of Polymers, Composites and Adhesives, Les Diablerets, (1999).
I Horsfall, P D Prosser, C H Watson & S M Champion, An assessment of Human Performance in Stabbing, Forensics Science International, 102, 79-89, (1999).
I Horsfall, C H Watson, S M Champion & I C Harrod, Stab Resistant Body Armour, Proc Light Armour Systems Symposium, Shrivenham, (1997).
