Dr Harvey Burd
University Lecturer in Engineering Science and Fellow of Brasenose College
Dr Burd read Engineering Science at Hertford College, Oxford University from 1977 to 1980. After a spell working as a structural engineer with Ove Arup and Partners, he returned to Oxford to undertake post-graduate research in soil mechanics. He was awarded a D.Phil. in 1986 and in 1987 he was appointed to a University Lecturership at Oxford University. Currently he is Chairman of the Faculty of Engineering Science. He is also an Official Fellow of Brasenose College where, in the past, he has held the offices of Dean and Senior Tutor. He is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Dr Burd's current research interests include (i) application of numerical modelling procedures (principally finite element analysis) in Civil Engineering (ii) ground penetrating radar to locate buried assets (iii) The mechanics of accommodation and ageing in human eye. Previous projects have included studies in reinforced soil, pipe-jacking and tunnelling.
Dr Burd has been involved with the development of the finite element program OXFEM that has been developed at Oxford University for the analysis of problems in Civil Engineering. A typical finite element mesh, illustrating the analysis of the interaction between a building and a shallow tunnel, is shown in the figure. Computational models of this sort may be used to assist in the design of tunnelling operation in urban areas
3D finite element mesh for tunnel/building interaction analysis (after Burd, Houlsby, Augarde, and Liu, G 2000)
Work is currently underway on an EPSRC-funded project 'Mapping the Underworld'. Oxford is part of a consortium of Universities (including Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham) investigating improved methods of locating and mapping the extensive network of buried pipes and other assets. The Oxford team (Dr Harvey Burd, Prof. David Edwards , Dr Chris Stevens and Tong Hao) is developing new techniques for improving the visibility of buried assets when probed by electromagnetic detection systems. The particular system being developed involves passive devices which, when fixed to pipes before they are buried, makes them easier to identify when they are subsequently surveyed using ground probing radar techniques.
Dr Burd also has research interests in the area of Ophthalmic Engineering. Much of this research involves the application of numerical procedures, originally developed in the context of Civil Engineering, to the study of the mechanical and optical performance of the eye. Experimental procedures (principally to determine the stiffness of the human lens) are also being developed. He was the recipient of a Royal Academy of Engineering/ Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship for the calendar year 2007; this Fellowship was devoted to research on the development of engineering methods for the study of accommodation and presbyopia.
A list of publications is available here.
Links
Oxford Institute of Biomedical
Engineering
Brasenose College