Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Aura CDT Activities:

I am currently a Cohort 3 Student Rep on the Aura CDT Student Committee.

Background: 

I completed my Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2021, with a specialisation in aeromechanical engineering, dynamics and control. The aerospace course at Sheffield is unique in that it features a heightened emphasis on autonomous control systems, which are of increasing importance in many engineering industries today. During a year-long placement in the defence industry, I complemented the knowledge gained at university and greatly developed a wide variety of advanced systems engineering skills. In a similar area, my final year project included the design and simulation of affordable passive radar systems. This allowed me to utilise my design skills, particularly when using MATLAB for simulation, and test my newly gained technical knowledge of electronic warfare and predictive systems.  

Research Interests: My goal is to learn how engineering for a variety of industries, including the renewable energy industry, can evolve to combine traditional engineering with newer data-driven design methodologies. Offshore wind engineering provides an interesting case study for this, as the random inputs to the dynamic systems of offshore structures result in a reduced ability to use typical mechanical engineering methods for long-term design. This leads to a requirement for evolving predictive systems that utilise data-driven methods to gain useful information from structural dynamics. Further development of such technologies will increase the effectiveness of system design and maintenance, in turn reducing the levelised cost of renewable electricity.

Why you applied for the Aura CDT: I have always had an interest in renewable energy, learning about the energy mix of several countries during my geography A-Level. I believe that the UK is uniquely positioned in that it has both the means and the knowledge to potentially lead the world in the design and deployment of renewable technologies, which is vital considering the increasingly urgent issues of climate change and resource scarcity. I applied for the Aura CDT because I think that my systems engineering skills and technical interests in the area could be put to work towards the mitigation of such issues through the development of more effective and affordable renewables.    

My research: In-Service Inference of Distributed Blade Loading

Contact: dgoodman1@sheffield.ac.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-goodman-65416a153/