Contact Dr Shaun Forth
- Tel: +44 (0) 1793 785311
- Email: s.a.forth@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
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 This work has now been superseded by the development of the commercialised ProSAir package.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
- Burrows SJ , Forth SA & Sheldon RP (2021) Partial validation of CFD blast simulation in a cityscape environment featuring structural failure, International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements, 9 (4) 365-380.
- Christianson B, Forth S & Griewank A (2018) Advances in algorithmic differentiation (Preface), Optimization Methods and Software, 33 (4-6).
- Menshikova M & Forth SA (2012) Automatic differentiation of quadrature, Optimization Methods and Software, 27 (2) 323-335.
- Forth SA & Sharma NK (2010) A sparse matrix approach to reverse mode automatic differentiation in Matlab, Procedia Computer Science, 1 (1) 1863-1871.
- Forth SA (2006) An efficient overloaded implementation of forward mode automatic differentiation in MATLAB, ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, 32 (2) 195-222.
- Shampine LF, Ketzscher R & Forth SA (2005) Using AD to solve BVPs in MATLAB, ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, 31 (1) 79-94.
- Tadjouddine M, Forth SA & Qin N (2005) Elimination AD applied to Jacobian Assembly for an implicit compressible CFD solver, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 47 (10) 1315-1321.
- Ringrose TJ & Forth SA (2005) Simplifying multivariate second-order response surfaces by fitting constrained models using automatic differentiation., Technometrics, 47 (3) 249-259.
- Forth SA, Tadjouddine M, Pryce JD & Reid JK (2004) Jacobian Code Generated by Source Transformation and Vertex Elimination can be as Efficient as Hand-Coding, ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, 30 (3) 266-299.
- Forth S & Wheeler A (1992) Coupled convective and morphological instability in a simple model of the solidification of a binary alloy, including a shear flow, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 236 61-94.
- Forth S & Wheeler A (1989) Hydrodynamic and morphological stability of the unidirectional solidification of a freezing binary alloy : a simple model, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 202 339-366.
Conference Papers
- Forth S, Johnson S, Burrows S & Sheldon B (2018) Cranfield University centre of excellence in counter-terrorism. In: First Scientific International Conference on CBRNE - SICC 2017, Rome, 22-24 May 2017.
- Forth S (2016) A Matlab implementation of the Minpack-2 Test Problem Collection. In: 7th International Conference on Algorithmic Differentiation, 2016, Oxford, 12-15 September 2016.
- Forth S (2015) A Matlab Implementation of the Minpack-2 Test Problem Collection. In: 18th European Workshop on Automatic Differentiation, Paderborn, 30 November - 1 December 2015.
- Tadjouddine M, Forth S & Qin N (2005) Automatic differentiation of a time-dependent CFD solver for optimisation of a synthetic jet. In: International Conference on Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics ICNAAM 2005 , Rhodes, Greece, 16-20 September 2005, 16 September 2005.
- Rose TR, Smith PD & Forth S (2005) Development of an Adaptive Mesh CFD Code for High Explosive Blast Simulation. In: 12th International Symposium on Interaction of the Effects of Munitions with Structures, New Orleans, LA, 13 September 2005.
- Ketzscher R & Forth S (2004) High-Level Interfaces for the MAD (MATLAB Automatic Differentiation) Package. In: Fourth European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering ECCOMAS 2004, Jyv¨askyl¨a, Finland, 24 July 2004.
- Ringrose TJ & Forth S (2002) Improved Fitting of Constrained Multivariate Regression Models using Automatic Differentiation. In: COMPSTAT 2002 - 15th Symposium in Computational Statistics, Berlin, 24 August 2002.
- Forth S (2001) A second order accurate, space-time limited, BDF scheme for the linear advection equation. In: International Conference on Godunov Methods - Theory and Applications, OXFORD, ENGLAND, 18-22 October 1999.
Books
- Gupte AKr & Forth SA (2012) An AD-enabled optimization toolbox in LabVIEW(TM). In: Recent advances in algorithmic differentiation. Forth SA, Hovland P, Phipps E, Utke J, Walther A (ed.), Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, p. 285-295.
- Forth S (eds), (2012) Recent advances in algorithmic differentiation, Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer.
- Padulo M, Forth SA & Guenov MD (2008) Robust Aircraft Conceptual Design using Automatic Differentiation in Matlab.. In: Advances in Automatic Differentiation, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, p. 271-280.
- Tadjouddine M, Bodman F, Pryce JD & Forth SA (2006) Improving the Performance of the Vertex Elimination Algorithm for Derivative Calculation.. In: Automatic Differentiation: Applications, Theory, and Implementations, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, p. 111-120.
- Tadjouddine M, Forth SA & Keane AJ (2006) Adjoint Differentiation of a Structural Dynamics Solver.. In: Automatic Differentiation: Applications, Theory, and Implementations. Buecker, Martin and Corliss G, Naumann U, Hovland P, Norris B (ed.), Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, p. 309-319.
- Kharche RV & Forth SA (2005) Source Transformation for MATLAB Automatic Differentiation.. In: Computational Science – ICCS 2006, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, p. 558-565.
- Forth SA & Standingford DW (2003) A Discrete sensitivity solver for an Industrial CFD Code via automatic differentiation. In: Computational Fluid Dynamics 2002: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics ICCFD. Armfield S, Morgan P, Srinivas K (ed.), Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Verlag, p. 82-87.
- Tadjouddine Mohamed, Forth Shaun A & Pryce John D (2003) Hierarchical automatic differentiation by vertex elimination and source transformation.. In: Computational Science and Its Applications — ICCSA 2003, Berlin / Heidelberg: Springer Verlag (Germany), p. 115-124.
- Tadjouddine M, Forth SA, Pryce JD & Reid JK (2002) Performance Issues for Vertex Elimination Methods in Computing Jacobians using Automatic Differentiation.. In: Computational Science — ICCS 2002, Berlin/Heidleburg: Springer Verlag, p. 1077-1086.
- Tadjouddine M, Forth S & Pryce J (2002) AD tools and prospects for optimal AD in CFD flux Jacobian calculations. In: Automatic Differentiation of Algorithms: From Simulation to Optimization, New York: Springer, p. 255-261.
- Forth SA & Evans TP (2002) Aerofoil Optimisation via AD of a Multigrid Cell-Vertex Euler Flow Solver. In: Automatic differentiation of algorithms: From Simulation to Optimization. Corliss G, Faure C, Griewank A, Hascoët L, Naumann, Uwe (ed.), New York: Springer-Verlag, p. 153-160.
- Tadjouddine M & Forth S (2002) CFD Newton Solvers with EliAD: An Elimination Automatic Differentiation Tool. In: Computational Fluid Dynamics 2002: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, Iccfd, Sydney, Australia, 15-19 July 2002. Armfield S, Morgan P, Srinvas K (ed.), Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, p. 134-139.
