Dr Uyioghosa Igie

Dr Igie is a Senior Lecturer in Gas Turbine Engineering and Operations. He is the Course Director of the Thermal Power and Propulsion part-time MSc, and the leader of the Gas Turbine Operations and Rotating Machines (GTORM) module in the course.

His research is focused on gas turbine performance enhancement/upgrades for operational and fuel flexibility. Some of this work on flexibility has involved collaborating with engine manufacturers like Mitsubishi Power UK, in the TURBO-REFLEX project, as a Principal Investigator. This involved exploring the benefit and limits of upgrades on the overall engine, standalone compressor and combustor components. 

Dr Igie also has a strong track record of working with gas turbine operators evident from the topics of his publications. These are typically studies on gas turbine compressors (fouling) and performance enhancement (compressor washing and air filtration) that have gone to provide solutions to maximise operational efficiency, reliability, and economic viability of power plant operators.

On aircraft propulsion, he has led thermodynamic and aerodynamic studies on reducing the environmental impact of civil aviation through water injection and methods of quantifying degradation in jet engines. His works have involved engine system performance modelling and diagnostics, mathematical optimisation, high fidelity computational fluid dynamic analysis and experimental testing.

Teaching & Student Supervision

Since joining Cranfield University as a staff, he has supervised more than 70 post-graduates (10+ PhD and 60+ MSc) as a first supervisor. 

Education

Dr obtained his bachelor’s and master’s mechanical engineering degrees from Brunel University (2007) and the University of Bath (2008) respectively. He gained his Gas Turbine Engineering PhD from Cranfield University in 2012 and became an academic staff in the same year.

Professional Standing

• Dr Igie served as an active member of the Institution of Power Engineers from 2010 to 2018. In this period, he was as:

- Member of the institution’s Advisory Council (2014 to 2016)

- Member of its Gas Turbine Committee (2013 to 2018)

• Invited guest lectures at the Institute for Propulsion Systems and Turbomachines, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. These includes:

- Lectures as the key speaker on Reducing Environmental Impact of Jet Engines in June 2016.

- Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Aviation, where he delivered a lecture on Gas Turbine Operational Flexibility in October 2019

• Invited guest lecture at the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, where he delivered lectures on Gas Turbine Operations and Performance Enhancement Techniques, in 2018.

• Dr Igie is a referee in IFQ1 journals related to gas turbine engineering, turbomachinery and overall performance. These are the ASME Journal of Turbomachinery and the Journal of Applied Thermal Engineering. He also acted as a reviewer of a research proposal for the National Research Foundation, Singapore, in October 2013.

• Dr Igie has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2017.

• Published interview on Tableau.com, titled Cranfield University Research Class Cuts Data Analysis Effort by Half in December 2015. Also, in the news media: Leading UK Universities Partner with Tableau to Launch Data Analytics Course published in 2016, by the Business Wire.

Teaching and Management Activities

Dr Igie is the module leader of Gas Turbine Operations and Rotating Machines (GTORM) which he developed in 2015. The approval of the module ensured that the delivery began with the October 2015/16 cohort and has registered more than 70 students to date. This module was developed to align with the knowledge and skills required in the user/operational aspects of gas turbines. He is responsible for designing, planning, delivering, and assessing GTORM, a taught 10-credit module for both Thermal Power and Propulsion MSc cohorts (October and March).

Research Student Supervision and Personnel Management

His research activities are relevant to propulsion, power and the oil and gas industry. He has supervised researchers on a range of topics in each of these areas, which has often brought the transfer of knowledge from one sector/application to another. He has supervised 10 PhD researchers to completion and currently supervises others. Technical management and leadership of research, performance and personnel management that include research fellow and research assistant. On the personnel management, tracking and contributing to staff developments through annual performance review and intermediary meetings. Other management activities include:

• Teaching Observation of Academics: observing and providing feedback to colleagues, about their practice in teaching, in line with the Academic Practice Programme and established pedagogical approaches.

• Academic Conduct Officer

• Chairing of PhD reviews and vivas

• Reviewer – acting as an internal reviewer for PhD reviews and vivas