Contact Dr Shaun Forth

Areas of expertise

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computing, Simulation & Modelling
  • Explosives and Munitions
  • Operational Analysis and Simulation

Background

Shaun started his career as an applied mathematician and was awarded his PhD on analysis of  morphological and hydrodynamic instabilities in binary alloy solidification, by Bristol University in 1990.

He then spent 5 years at BAE Systems' Sowerby Research Centre developing computational fluid dynamics algorithms and software for transonic and supersonic aerodynamics with an emphasis on methods for shocks and adaptive meshing.

In 1994 Shaun joined Cranfield University as a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Shrivenham and then built up an international reputation in the field of Algorithmic (Automatic) Differentiation (AD). Under EPSRC funding, Shaun and co-workers were the first to implement Griewank and Reese's vertex elimination algorithm for AD using compiler-like source transformation methods demonstrating how this approach could greatly improve the efficiency of automatically generated code for calculating Jacobians. From 2001, Shaun developed the MAD package for AD of computer programs written in the MAD programming language. MAD has featured in many publications and is commercially licensed by the University for distribution by the TOMLAB optimisation software company. Shaun also applied AD techniques to industrial computational fluid dynamics solvers for partners such as: QinetiQ, BAE Systems Ltd, Airbus UK. 

Between 1998 and 2006 Shaun was involved in the development of the research codes Air3D and Air3Dfft, which are well known in the blast loading and hazard assessment community. This work was performed in conjunction with civil engineers and former colleagues Dr Peter Smith and Dr Tim Rose. This work has now been superseded by the development of the commercialised ProSAir package.

Shaun was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2007, largely for his research contributions to AD.

Shaun co-chaired the AD2016 International Conference on Algorithmic Differentiation at Christ Church, Oxford and guest co-edited a special edition of Optimization Methods and Software for papers arising from the conference. This followed his work as co-editor of Recent Advances in Algorithmic Differentiation, the Proceedings of the AD2012. He has also conducted examined PhD thesis on AD research for universities in the UK and Europe.

In 2020, Shaun transferred to an Education and Scholarship career pathway.

Current activities

Shaun continues to undertake consultancy in Terrorism Risk Assessment, Modelling and Mitigation. He commercialised the ProSAir computational blast loading tool, a Cartesian Mesh CFD solver specialised for assessing blast loads on structures. ProSAir is available for both Commercial and Academic use and is a successor to the Air3D research code. 

Recently, Shaun has worked with colleagues and insurers Pool Re and Guy Carpenter on developing the UK’s first terrorism risk model for the insurance industry. As part of this project, Shaun and colleague Stephanie Burrows modelled the blast loading arising on buildings from truck bombs in central business districts of several cities to assess the maximum likely insurance loss from such an event. 

Shaun and Stephanie have now started, and gained initial UKRI Research England support for, the Terrorism Risk Assessment, Modelling and Mitigation Seminar Series (TRAMMSS). The first virtual seminar was attended by over 60 participants from both universities and the security, engineering and insurance sectors. 

Shaun is currently leading collaboration with Vardogyir on further developing and UK commercialisation of their Terrorism Risk Assessment and Mitigation software tools. 

Shaun teaches mathematics and engineering simulation across multiple MSc and specialist courses.

Clients


  • Vardogyir - Terrorism Risk Assessment, Modelling and Mitigation
  • Insensitive Munitions European Manufacturers' Group (IMEMG) - validation of heating simulation.
  • Pool Re and Guy Carpenter - developing models for terrorism risk assessment.
  • Airbus UK and BAE Systems - use of Algorithmic Differentiation to develop an adjoint unstructured finite volume CFD solver.
  • BAE Systems - CFD tools for blast prediction.
  • TOMLAB Optimization (USA) - commercialisation of the MAD package for Algorithmic Differentiation in MATLAB.

Publications

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

Books