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Professor Roger Grosvenor BEng(Tech), MEng, PhD, CEng, MInstMC

Professor Roger Grosvenor

BEng(Tech), MEng, PhD, CEng, MInstMC

Professor in Systems Engineering

School of Engineering

Email
grosvenor@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)29 2087 5913
Campuses
C/4.07, Queen's Buildings - Central Building, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA

Overview

My background is in Mechanical Engineering and Systems Engineering. My PhD topic was 'In-process measurement of machined components'. My main research field is condition monitoring for various plant and processes. Industrial applications have included machine tools, steel manufacturing, water treatment plant and tidal stream turbines.

With my professional body background in control and instrumentation my contribution to the teams researching such condition monitoring applications is often the required data acquisition systems and signal processing.

With colleagues, I have supervised 28 postgraduate research students, predominantly in the fields and applications noted above. The condition monitoring systems have been deployed on a wide variety of hardware/software platforms and have been experimentally tested either on industrial plant or on our custom designed test rigs.

I have been pleased to deliver (over my 36-year career) research-led teaching largely to multi-disciplinary audiences, including significant periods working with postgraduate systems engineering students and integrated engineering undergraduates. The 'centres of gravity' of my current teaching are mechanical engineering undergraduates and a variety of taught postgraduate schemes.

Expertise in:

  • Embedded Condition Monitoring
  • Machine and Process Monitoring
  • Fault Diagnostics & Prognostics
  • Data Analysis using Excel, LabView and/or Matlab
  • Signal Capture / Signal Processing

Biography

I first came to Cardiff to study Mechanical Engineering at UWIST in September 1974. This was fresh from the family farm in Worcestershire and A levels at Leominster Grammar School. Apart from some farm machinery and a summer job at what was then Wells Drinks I had very little experience of machines and industrial applications. I enjoyed most of my first year, particularly subjects such as fluid mechanics and mathematics. However I struggled to understand manufacturing related topics, electrical engineering and topics from the Business School.

In those days industrial training placements were in 2 'batches'. Both of mine were at F.W. McConnel's in Ludlow. I really enjoyed and benefitted from these and subsequently had a better insight to industrial applications.

I chose the 'wet' option, i.e. Fluids, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer etc, in my final year and really enjoyed Control Engineering. I graduated in 1978 with first class honours. My final year project was supervised by Professor B.W. Martin and Mr P. Greaves and was an experimental study into Spiral Taylor Vortex Flow in Annuli. This initiated what became an on-going great working relationship with the technicians in Engineering.

I was given the chance to continue the project work for what was then a postgraduate MEng degree (it would be an MPhil these days). Professor Martin wanted me to continue the studies however I had a committment, via F.W. McConnels, to return to a job with (a sister company) Benson Heating based in Knighton, mid Wales. So my experimental test rig design and testing was completed 1978-1979 and I subsequently wrote up my dissertation and obtained the MEng in 1981.

Whilst at Benson Heating I worked in the develpoment section and reported directly to the Engineering Director. The company made industrial warm air heaters and I was given the responsibilties of evaluating new (bought in) gas-fired and oil-fired burners. The evaluations included combustion and efficiency testing, and ultimately obtaining approvals from regulatory bodies such as British Gas. Various test rig facilties, such as ducting runs for air handling units, were designed and tested. Electrical fault-finding and safety skills were attained, along with draftmanship, mainly of wiring diagrams. I was also involved with on-site installations of 'specials', mainly with modulating gas valves included into the heater control syatems. These were at sites such as the car plant at Longbridge and shopping centers (a relatively new thing then) at Preston and Milton Keynes. I also had the chance to travel to Lillehammer in Norway as part of obtaining approvals for smaller, portable heaters (my first need for a passport).

The economic climate in that era was particularly tough on Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning companies. Indeed at the end of my spell at Benson Heating the workforce were on a 3-day week. This coincided with me receiving a circular from UWIST about a new taught postgraduate course in Systems Engineering. What particularly attracted me was the chance to update my skills. Since completion my Mech Eng degree newer technologies such as robotics and microprocessors had sprung on the scene. Oh, and there was an opportunity to apply for (tax-free) funding from The Manpower Sevices Commission (MSC), at a level not dissimilar to my mid-Wales wage at the time. I duly applied for the course and the MSC scholarship. I remember having to attend an interview at Cardiff for the latter. Maybe the fact that I had dabbled with early home computing helped. I had bought a VIC20 computer and had written programmes to calculate the averages for Tenbury Cricket Club (many happy days playing there), and to play a very early version of PacMan of course! I never quite understood the rational, but on applying that this 'MEng' was too similar to the 'MEng' I already had. So, I could study the course but not formally receive an award for it if sucessful. The rest is history as they say, I agreed to this condition.

So, in September 1983 I was heading back to Cardiff, to join the second ever running of the (then) MEng in Systems Engineering. There was a 3 week Basic Review Module to start with, and then I selected the Robotics & Automation option (1 of 3 options for the course). I was proud to receive the Marconi award for the best part 1 performance. Part 2 was the project and dissertation phase. I was delighted to be supervised by Dr Colin Morgan and that the project was in collaboration with  The Royal Signals & Radar Establishment (RSRE) in Malvern. I had the opportunity to visit RSRE a couple of times and the chance to work with Dr Mehrdad Ghassempoory, who had recently completed his PhD there.

..... to be continued ......

Publications

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

Teaching

Over my 36 year career, and as a multi-disciplinary systems engineer I have delivered a broad spectrum of lectures across all levels of undergraduate and taught postgraduate schemes.

Most recent module topics include:

  • Statistics and Uncertainty Analysis (lectures & coursework within a Year 2 lab module)
  • Instrumentation
  • Microprocessors & Instrumentation Systems
  • Reliability Engineering (including a version for p/t MSc Professional Engineering)
  • Condition Monitoring (including a version for p/t MSc Professional Engineering)
  • Industrial Computer Controlled Systems
  • Mechanical Engineering (for MSc Clinical Engineering)
  • Mechatronics (year 4) group projects

I supervise undergraduate projects & MSc case studies and projects. These are typicallly across the diverse range of taught topics, as above, and in support of research activities. Currently my lectures are predominantly to year 4 undergraduate and MSc students, often with students from several schemes in common modules.

Research theme: Mechanics, Materials and Advanced Manufacturing

Contracts

TitlePeopleSponsorValueDuration
The implementation of economic modular intelligent process controllers for localised data acquisition and analysis to support operation and management strategies in environmental engineering systemsGrosvenor RI, Prickett PWKTP and Water Development Services Ltd15006606/11/2006 - 05/11/2009
Astute - Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing TechnologyNaim M (CARBS), Setchi R, Bigot S, Brousseau E, Prickett P, Davies A, Bowen P, Packianather M, Grosvenor RI (with CARBS)WEFO190311701/05/2010 - 30/04/2015
QUOTIENT, quantification, optimisation and environmental impacts of marine renewable energyOdoherty D, Odoherty T, Mason-Jones A, Pan S, Stoesser T, Bockelmann-Evans B, Ahmadian A, Grosvenor R, Prickett P, Byrne CSer Cymru Bangor LCEE6100001/01/2015 - 30/06/2018
LCRI- Marine WP3O'Doherty T, O'Doherty DM, Prickett PW, Grosvenor RI, Byrne CWEFO - LCRI Marine (WEFO)36672101/01/2010 - 31/03/2013
Tidal array cost reduction: Testing a removable nacelle design for DeltaStream TechnologyO'Doherty T, Mason-Jones A, Prickett P, Grosvenor R, Byrne CInnovate UK via EPSRC10100801/11/2015 - 31/10/2016
Managing the effects of tidal flows on the performance and structural integrity of marine current turbinesO'Doherty T, O'Doherty D, Prickett P, Grovesnor R, Byrne C, Mason-Jones AFujitsu7500001/10/2012 - 30/09/2015
SUPERGEN: The effects of realisitc tidal flows on the performance and structural integrity of tidal stream turbinesO'Doherty T, O'Doherty D, Prickett P, Grovesnor R, Byrne C, Mason-Jones AEPSRC138229801/04/2012 - 30/09/2015
Dynamic Loadings on Turbines in a Tidal Array (DyLoTTA)O'Doherty T, Prickett P, Grosvenor R, Mason-Jones AEPSRC45282401/04/2016 - 31/03/2019
Donation of equipmentDr RI GrosvenorArizona Microchip Technology Limited 117013/02/2001 - 13/03/2001
KTP: Simulation and optimisation for Ford BridgendPrickett PW, Grosvenor RI, Soroka AMomenta/Ford Bridgend14338701/09/2010 - 31/08/2012

Supervised Students

TitleStudentStatusDegree
PHD IN MECHANICAL/MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING - OPTIMAL CONTROL OF A MECHATRONIC SYSTEMAL KHAFAJI Ali Abdulabbas GateaCurrentPhD
Strip Tracking In Hot Strip MillsCARRUTHERS-WATT Benjamin NigelGraduateEngD
PRE-CONTRACT RISK MITIGATION STRATEGIES FOR LARGE ORGANISATIONSDAWKINS ChristianCurrentPhD
Stategies for Modern Data Acquisition Systems in Industrial EnvironmentsEYERS Daniel RoyGraduateMPhil
Acoustic Diagnostics in a Hot Strip MillMURRAY David IanGraduateEngD
Towards the Next Generation of Fast Dynamics Solvers in EngineeringGRETO GiorgioCurrentPhD
SCADA Software-based Techniques for the Management and Improvement of Industrial EfficiencyDAVIES Gwyn RobertGraduatePhD
INTELLIGENT MODEL-BASED CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTILINK MECHANISMSISMAIL Hafizul Azizi BinCurrentPhD
Intelligent model-based control of complex three-link mechanismsKAMIL Haider GalilGraduatePhD
Condition Monitoring Of Blast FurnaceSHORT JamieCurrentEngD
Innovative design for smart products in the cyber-physical eraQIN JianCurrentPhD
The development of structure-based tidal stream turbine condition monitoring systemsHE JianhaoCurrentPhD
Tribology and condition monitoring of composite bearing liners for intelligent aerospace bearings.KARRAS KonstantinosCurrentPhD
INTELLIGENT DISTRIBUTED PROCESS MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSFRANKOWIAK MarcosGraduatePhD
Determining the Criteria for the Application of Unified Modelling Language to Legacy SystemsJAMES Mark PhilipGraduateMPhil
THE MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE OF A TIDAL STREAM TURBINEALLMARK Matthew JamesCurrentPhD
APPLICATION OF INTELLIGENT INSTRUMENTATION IN PROCESS PLANT CONDITION MONITORING & FAULT DIAGNOSISSHARIF Mohamed Adulla MGraduatePhD
Microcontroller-Based Transient Signal Analysis And Distributed System For Intelligent Process MonitoringAL-YAMI MohammadGraduatePhD
 KIDWAI Mustafa KamilGraduatePhD
Intelligent Monitoring & Management of Light SourcesEDWARDS Paul MartinGraduatePhD
Compact Information Technology Enabled Systems For Intelligent Process MonitoringAHSAN QaisarGraduatePhD
dsPIC -based Digital Signal Processing Techniques & an IT-Enabled Distributed System for Intelligent Process Monitoring & ManagementSIDDIQUI Raees AhmedGraduatePhD
Reliability improvement techniques in a hot strip steel millOWEN RobertGraduateEngD
Distributed Embedded System with Internet/GSM Connectivity for Intelligent e-Monitoring of Machine ToolsAMER WaseemGraduatePhD
An integrated approach to tool life management.AHMED Zinah JumaahCurrentPhD

Supervision

  • Condition Monitoring
  • Adherance monitoring of patients using eye drops
  • Any engineering project requiring data acquisition and signal processing

Current supervision

Edith Rojo Zazueta

Research student

Shiva Kalhor

Research student

Christian Dawkins

Research student

Past projects

Grouped by application (includes current research students)

Machine Tool Monitoring (and Process Monitoring) [joint supervision with Mr Paul W. Prickett unless otherwise stated]

  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Jacob Hill – Tool wear monitoring. Industrial sponsorship via Renishaw. Further industrial collaboration via Mazak Machine Tools. (Current student, as above, Thesis submitted September 2020).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Zinah Ahmed – Tool wear monitoring. Experimental testing on a Mazak machine tool and measurements on a Renishaw CMM. (PhD awarded 2018).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Raees Siddiqui – Intelligent Process Monitoring & Management on a microprocessor (dsPIC) platform. Machine tool and process plant applications. (PhD awarded 2008).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Waseem Amer – Intelligent Process Monitoring & Management on a distributed microprocessor platform. Machine tool and process plant applications. (PhD awarded 2006).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Qaisar Ahsan – Intelligent Process Monitoring & Management on a distributed microprocessor platform. Process plant applications. (PhD awarded 2006).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Marcos Frankowiak – Intelligent Process Monitoring & Management on a distributed hierarchical microprocessor platform. Machine tool and process plant applications. Evolved Petri Net structures. (PhD awarded 2004).

(other) Processes

  • Main supervisor (90%) for Ali Al-Khafaji – Process Monitoring & Prognostics for liquid level-controlled systems. Use of non-linear Simulink simulations. Various lifetime usage scenarios. Custom designed test rig. (PhD awarded 2017).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Mohammad Al-Yami – Intelligent Process Monitoring & Management of a pneumatic robot gripper. Custom designed test rig. (PhD awarded 2009).[joint supervision with Mr Paul W. Prickett]
  • Main supervisor (100%) for Mohamed Sharif – Process Monitoring of control valves. Custom designed test rig. (PhD awarded 1999).

Steel Plant [joint supervision with Mr Paul W. Prickett unless otherwise stated]

  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Jamie Short – Process Monitoring of a Blast Furnace. Industrial project with Tata Steel, Port Talbot. (EngD awarded 2017).
  • Second supervisor (20%) for Ben Carruthers-Watt – Strip Tracking In Hot Strip Mills. Industrial project with Tata Steel, Port Talbot. (EngD awarded 2015).[main supervisor = Dr Yiqin Xue]
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Robert Owen – Reliability improvement techniques and condition monitoring in a hot strip steel mill. Industrial project with Tata Steel, Port Talbot. (EngD awarded 2012).
  • Main supervisor (90%) for David Murray – Acoustic Diagnostics in a Hot Strip Mill. Automated data acquisition. Linkage to roll database. Innovative signal processing. Industrial project with Tata Steel, Port Talbot. (EngD awarded 2009).

Monitoring of Tidal Stream Turbines (TST) [joint supervision with Mr Paul W. Prickett unless otherwise stated]

  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Edith Rojo Zazueta – Condition monitoring of Tidal Stream Turbines. Strategies for future Mexican applications. Utilises CMERG group modelling and experimental datasets, adapted for use on a customised test rig. (Current student, as above).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Tony He – Condition monitoring of Tidal Stream Turbines. Investigation of smart sensor strips and use of blade-structure interactions. (PhD awarded 2018).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Matt Allmark – Condition monitoring of Tidal Stream Turbines. Design, deployment and testing of next generation of CMERG customised scale model turbines. Extensive use of LabView and advanced data acquisition and signal processing. (PhD awarded 2016).

Other Applications (chronological order, most recent first) [joint supervision with Mr Paul W. Prickett unless otherwise stated]

  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Christian Dawkins – Pre-Contract Risk Mitigation Strategies for Large Organisations. Large number of commercial case studies. (Part-time PhD, Current student, as above).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Shiva Kahlor – Development of a smart label for adherence monitoring of eye drop application. Collaboration with Optometry. [co-supervisor = Professor James Morgan]
  • Co-supervisor (15%) for Jian Qin – Innovative design for smart products in the cyber-physical era. Industry 4.0. Monitoring of an additive layer machine. [main supervisor = Dr Ying Liu]. (PhD awarded 2019).
  • 3rd supervisor (5%) for Kostas Karras – Tribology and condition monitoring of composite bearing liners for intelligent aerospace bearings. Industrial project with SKF. [main supervisors are in tribology & CUSP groups]. (PhD awarded 2019).
  • Co-supervisor (10%) for Giorgio Greto – Towards the Next Generation of Fast Dynamics Solvers in Engineering. [main supervisor = Dr Siva Kulasegaram]. (PhD awarded 2018).
  • Co-supervisor (40%) for Ali Al- Zhughaibi – Vibrations analysis of a car with a class of proposed active suspension system [main supervisor = Dr Yiqin Xue]. (PhD awarded 2018).
  • Co-supervisor (20%) for Hafizul Ismail – Model-based control of multi-link mechanisms. [main supervisor = Dr Michael Packianather]. (PhD awarded 2016).
  • Co-supervisor (20%) for Haider Kamil – Control of Robot Gymnast. Custom designed test rig.. [main supervisor = Dr Michael Packianather]. (PhD awarded 2015).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Bob Davies – SCADA and PLCS-based monitoring for the Management and Improvement of Industrial Efficiency. Industrial examples in water treatment plant. Part of KTP scheme with Water Development Services Ltd. (PhD awarded 2010).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Paul Edwards – Lighting monitoring applications. School of Engineering scholarship. Customised test rig designs for accelerated testing. (PhD awarded 2008).
  • Co-supervisor (50%) for Dan Eyers – Industrial part-time research as an MPhil. Data acquisition and processing. Industrial robot welding cell example. Calculation of OEE measures and reporting. (MPhil awarded 2007).
  • Co-supervisor (10%) for Mark James– Industrial part-time research as an MPhil. Determining the Criteria for the Application of Unified Modelling Language to Legacy Systems. (MPhil awarded 2006).

Research links