Contact Stephen Champion
Areas of expertise
- Armour systems
- Test and Evaluation
- Explosives and Munitions
- Gun Technologies
- Weapons Engineering
Background
Stephen started working with Cranfield University in 1997 as a Research Assistant for stab resistant body armour. This role expanded to cover testing body armour for the Home Office and on to heavier aspects of terminal ballistics impacts. In 2007 Stephen transferred from working with armour to working with weapons to take up his current post as a Lecturer in Weapon Engineering and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017. Stephen became the Head of the Lethality and Survivability Group in 2020.
Current activities
Stephen's current research interests consist of understanding the various aspects of how enginnering design can improve infantry capability.
Stephen teaches on a wide variety of courses including:
- Vehicle and Weapon Engineering MSc Programme
- Explosives Ordnance Engineering MSc
- Battlespace Technology MSc
- Forensic MSc Programme
- Royal Engineers Force Protection Engineering course
Stephen is module manager for the Light Weapon Design and Ordnance Design modules. Stephen supervises research students at MSc and PhD level in Defence related disciplines
Clients
- MoD DE&S Project Teams (inc. STSP-DCC, DGM, MFP)
- Dstl (Porton Down, Sandridge and Portsdown West)
- Qinetiq
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Milks A, Champion S, Cowper E, Pope M & Carr D (2016) Early spears as thrusting weapons: Isolating force and impact velocities in human performance trials, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 10 (December) 191-203.
- Mabbott A, Carr D, Champion S & Malbon C. (2016) Comparison of porcine thorax to gelatine blocks for wound ballistics studies, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 130 (5) 1353-1362.
- O'Keeffe C, Champion S & Allsop D (2015) Demonstrating the effect of forensic firearm countermeasures: bullet characteristics generated due to barrel modifications, Forensic Science International, 257 (December) 13-19.
- Carr DJ, Lindstrom A-C, Jareborg A, Champion SM, Waddell N, Miller D, Teagle M, Horsfall I & Kieser J (2015) Development of a skull/brain model for military wound ballistics studies, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 129 (3) 505-510.
- Carr DJ, Kieser J, Mabbott A, Mott C, Girvan E & Champion S (2014) Damage to apparel layers and underlying tissue due to hand-gun bullets, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 128 (1) 83-93.
- Horsfall I, Watson C, Champion S & Horsfall I (2013) Optimizing the stacking sequence in dual-purpose body armors, Journal of Applied Mechanics, 80 (3).
- Knock C, Horsfall I, Champion S & Horsfall I (2013) Development of a computer model to predict risks from an electrical bushing failure, Electric Power Systems Research, 103 86-91.
- Knock C, Horsfall I, Champion S & Horsfall I (2013) Effect of core size and ground surface on debris fields of failed electric bushings, Electric Power Systems Research, 104 104-109.
- Horsfall I, Watson CH, Champion SM, Prosser P & Ringrose TJ (2005) The Effect of Knife Handle Shape on Stabbing Performance, Applied Ergonomics, 36 (4) 505-511.
- Horsfall I, Champion S & Watson C (2005) The development of a quantitative flexibility test for body armour and comparison with wearer trials, Applied Ergonomics, 36 (3) 283-292.
- Knock C, Horsfall I, Champion SM & Harrod IC (2004) The Bounce and Roll of Masonry Debris, International Journal of Impact Engineering, 30 (1) 1-16.
- Bleetman A, Watson CH, Horsfall I & Champion SM (2003) Wounding patterns and human performance in knife attacks: optimising the protection provided by knife-resistant body armour, Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 10 (4) 243-248.
- Horsfall I, Prosser P D, Watson C H & Champion S M (1999) An assessment of human performance in stabbing., Forensic Science International, 102 (2-3) 79-89.
Conference Papers
- Helliker A, Champion S & Duncan A (2016) Investigation into the impact of integral suppressor configurations on the pressure levels within the suppressor. In: 29th International Symposium on Ballistics, 2016, Edinburgh, 9-13 May 2016.
- Nisbet WJ, Carr DJ, Champion SM, Stuart T & Helliker M (2013) Effect of impact velocity on the wounding potential behind ceramic/composite plates. In: 27th International Symposium on Ballistics, Freiburg, 22-26 April 2013.
- Mabbott A, Carr DJ, Champion S, Malbon C & Tichler C (2013) Comparison of 10% gelatine, 20% gelatine and PermaGel for ballistic testing. In: 27th International Symposium on Ballistics, Freiburg, 22 April 2013.
- Mabbott A, Carr DJ, Champion S, Malbon C & Tichler C (2013) Comparison of 10% gelatine, 20% gelatine and perma-geltm for ballistic testing. In: 27th International Symposium on Ballistics, Freiburg, 22-26 April 2013.
- Mabbott A, Carr DJ, Malbon C, Tichler C & Champion S (2012) Behind soft armour wounding by penetrating ammunition. In: Personal Armour Systems Symposium (PASS) 2012, Nuremburg, 17 September 2012.
- Horsfall I, Champion S, Champion S & Horsfall I (2007) Shaped Charge Attack of Spaced and Composite Armour. In: 23rd International Symposium on Ballistics, Tarragona, 16 April 2007.
- Bleetman A, Watson CH, Horsfall I & Champion SM (2004) Wounding Patterns and Human Performance in Knife Attacks: Optimising the Protection Provided by Knife-Resistant Body Armour. In: PASS (Personal Armour Systems Symposium) 2004, The Hague, 6 September 2004.
- Watson CH, Horsfall I, Champion SM & Harrod IC (2002) Blade Sharpness and its Effect on the Testing of Body Armours. In: PASS (Personal Armour Systems Symposium) 2002, The Hague, 18 November 2002.
- Horsfall I, Champion SM, Wong W & Watson CH (2001) The effect of matrix type on the ballistic and mechanical performance of E-glass composite armour. In: 19th International Symposium on Ballistics, Interlaken, Switzerland, 7 May 2001.
- Helliker M, Champion SM, Helliker AE & Ringrose T The Development of Surrogate Bullets for Armour Testing. In: Personal Armour Systems Symposium 2014, Cambridge, 8 September 2014.
