Richard Williams (academic)

Richard A Williams FREng[1] is an English academic, engineer and innovator.

Early life

He was born in Worcester in 1960 and attended The Kings School, Worcester (1967–1978). His father and grandfather were national and international motor sportsmen including Isle of Man TT race champions. He studied at Imperial College London for BSc(Eng) Hons in Mineral Technology (1983) and PhD in photoelectro chemistry applied to industrial diamond separation processes (awarded 1998).

Career

Following a period in Johannesburg and Welkom, working as a trainee graduate metallurgist working in gold and uranium in processing for Anglo American Corporation (1979/80), he later joined De Beers Industrial Diamonds Research Laboratory undertaking a PhD based in South Africa and Imperial College London (Royal School of Mines) (1982–1986). He was appointed lecturer in Chemical Engineering at University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (now University of Manchester) in 1986. He specialised in the area of surface and colloid engineering. In 1993 he was appointed Royal Academy of Engineering-Rio Tinto Professor of Minerals Engineering at the University of Exeter (based at the Camborne School of Mines). Aged 33 he was one of the youngest engineering professors in the UK. He further developed a large research activity based on engineering of mineral and particulate systems.

In 1999 he was appointed as Anglo American plc professor of mineral and process engineering at the University of Leeds where he was responsible for developing a new Institute of Particle Science and Engineering, a core development in re-development of chemical engineering at the University within the recently formed School of Process, Materials and Environmental Engineering. He was Head of the Department of Mining (2001–2003). He was director of British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) Research Alliance at University, responsible for development of new activities in nuclear energy waste processing (2000–2006). He was foundational Director of a regional Centre for Industrial Collaboration in Particle Science and Technology (2003–2006) and of the Leeds Nanomanufacturing Institute (2004–2010). He was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor (2005) responsible for leadership of enterprise, knowledge transfer and international strategy. He has a strong interest in design of appropriate innovation systems and effective translation of knowledge to society through commercial and not-for-profit routes in Europe and in developing communities in Middle East, Asia and Africa.

He was appointed Principal of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh on 13 March 2015. Professor Williams said of his appointment, “I am delighted to be joining a University that has a proud heritage and evident track record of outstanding achievement in science, engineering and business and with such a profound global reach. Heriot-Watt has an ambitious and sound strategic plan. I look forward to working with students and colleagues across the campuses in the UK, Malaysia and Dubai, along with our many partners and businesses in the ensuring the University’s future growth and success”. It is anticipated Professor Williams will take up his new post on the 1st September 2015

Research and Innovation

He has been associated with 5 major developments arising from research activities, most of these being in areas related to enhancing the sustainability of engineering and manufacturing through better design or energy utilisation.

He developed applications for new methods for electrical tomographic imaging [1] applied to the chemical and manufacturing industry that translated into patents, publications and widespread industrial use for research, measurement, safety and control purposes [2]. He formed Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd in 1997 later becoming Optomo plc and Industrial Tomography Systems. As a pioneer of the subject of industrial process tomography with Professor Maurice Beck (deceased), the area has grown into a substantial global activity now with its own series of international conferences and international professional association International Society of Process Tomography. Tomographic methods have enabled optimal efficient design of industrial processes and enhanced safety practices.

He developed and co-developed new concepts in manufacturing emulsions that were commercialised through Disperse Technologies plc (1995–2001) that are widely used in consumer and cosmetic products [3,4]. The approach offers low energy pathways to produce better formulated products. Some of these methods (membrane emulsification and cross-flow membrane emulsification) have continued to be developed to enable high throughput manufacture of responsive emulsions and capsules [5,6]. These find application in polymer, mineral and medical sector mining.

He co-developed new models for describing how anisotropic particulate materials pack together [7,8] that resulted in software that can be used in pharmaceutical, [9] and other sectors. Most notable being its application to reduce the cost of decommissioning and long-term storage of radioactive nuclear, medical and military plant. He founded [www.structurevision.com/ Structure Vision Ltd] (2003) that has integrated the mathematical algorithms into automated three-dimensional design and management tools. Deployment of these methods can drastically reduce the cost of nuclear decommissioning [10].

He co-founded [www.dispersia.co.uk/ Dispersia Ltd] (2006) to develop application of thermal nanofluids [11,12] for accelerating the rate of heat transfer in heating and cooling applications (computers, vehicles) seeking benefits in enhanced energy efficiency and improved miniaturised process design [13]. The technological applications are being used in demonstration projects at several locations.

He developed methodology for the practise of open-innovation in medicine and healthcare technologies using trans-national (UK-US) regional partnerships between clinicians and universities in Yorkshire and New Jersey working with numerous stakeholders (200) and suppliers. The model ([www.wrhip.org\ White Rose Health Innovation Partnership]) demonstrated the value of such interventions to create new services, technologies and practices resulting in numerous innovations [14,15].

Other Roles

Royal Academy of Engineering[1] Vice-President (2005–2008) and inaugurated the EATechnology-Royal Academy Engineering Entrepreneurs Prize. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

He is Director of: Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce; Leeds Ventures Limited; Optomo Plc (Founder); Industrial Tomography Systems plc (Founder); Structure Vision Ltd (Founder); University of Leeds IP Limited; University of Leeds Consulting Limited; White Rose Technology Limited; University of Leeds Innovations Limited; Dispersia Ltd(Founder) and Medilink (Yorkshire and Humber) Limited.

He is an editor of Minerals Engineering, Advanced Powder Technology, Chemical Engineering Reactional Design, Particle and Particle Systems Characterisation, Particuology, The Chemical Engineering Journal, Nuclear Energy Science and Technology and Recent Patents on Chemical Engineering. He is a graduate of the Higher Education Academy's Top Management Programme (2007).

Honours

He was awarded OBE in the Queen's New Year Honours 2009 for services to science and engineering. He was Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering[1] (2005–2008). He is Fellow[1] of the Royal Academy of Engineering[1] (FREng) (2000) and the Australian Academy of Science, Technology and Engineering (FTSE) (2008). Other professional fellowships include that of Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), Minerals Engineering Society (FMES) and the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Awards

He is recipient of a number of awards and prizes including the Beilby Medal and Prize in 1997,[2] Isambard Kingdom Brunel Lectureship (1998), Noel E. Webster Mmedal (2001), Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal (2003) and The Society of Chemical Industry Research and Development for Society Award (2009).

Personal life

He is married to musician Jane M Taylor (married 1989) and they have two children (born 1995 and 1997). He has interests in industrial history and art, especially collecting contemporary West Penwith artists from this region back to 1900. He has personal interest in mentoring young entrepreneurs and role of philanthropic investments in research and business.

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "List of Fellows".
  2. ↑ "Beilby Medal and Prize Winners". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 3 March 2015.

[1] Process Tomography – Principles, Techniques and Applications, R.A. Williams and M.S. Beck (Eds.), Butterworth-Heinemann (Oxford), 1995, pp. 550, ISBN 0-7506-0743-2.
[2] Mineral and material processing, R. A. Williams, in "Process Imaging for Automatic Control", D. M. Scott, H. McCann (Eds.), Taylor and Francis 2005, pp. 359–400, ISBN 0-8247-5920-6.
[3] www.aimquoted.com/companyinfo/Disperse%20Group%20plc.pdf.
[4] www.disperse-ltd.co.uk/.
[5] Controlled production of emulsions using a crossflow membrane, R.A. Williams, S.J. Peng, D.A. Wheeler, N.C. Morley, D. Taylor, M. Whalley and D.W. Houldsworth, Chem. Eng. Des. A 76 (1998), p. 902.
[6] Manufacturing with membranes, D. Gladman and R.A. Williams, TCE 748 (2003) p. 32.
[7] A packing algorithm for particles of arbitrary shapes, X. Jia and R.A. Williams, Powder Technology, 120, 3,(2001), pp. 175–186, ISSN 0032-5910.
[8] Stimulus Responsive Microcapsules", Application number 0718300.7, 20 September 2007, UOL 07006/WO, PCT/GB2008/003197 (filed 22 September 2008), published 26 March 2009, WO2009/037482.
[9] From microstructures of tablets and granules to their dissolution behaviour, X. Jia & R.A. Williams, Dissolution Technologies, 13, 2, (2006) pp. 11–19, ISSN 1521-298X.
[10] Structure Vision Limited .
[11] Nanofluids turn up the heat, D. Wen, Y. Ding, R. A. Williams, The Chemical Engineer, 771, (2005), pp. 32–34, ISSN 0302-0797.
[12] Heat transfer of aqueous suspensions of carbon nanotubes (CNT nanofluids)", Y. Ding, H. Alias, D. Wen and R.A. Williams, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 49, 1–2, (2005), pp. 240–250, ISSN 0017-9310.
[13] www.dispersia.co.uk.
[14] IMPACT magazine.
[15] White Rose Health Innovation Partnership (WRHIP).

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