School of Engineering (ENG)

Profile

Extract from "Dynamics of Mechanical Systems ", Horwood Publishing, 1997 (ISBN:1-898563-34-9)

Carlisle Thomas Francis Ross was born in Kharagpur, India and educated in Bangalore at St Joseph's European High School during the closing years of the British Raj. Coming to England, he attended the Chatham Technical School for Boys (1948-51) followed by part time education at the Royal Dockyard Technical College (1951-56) at Chatham, Kent where he served a five year apprenticeship. He proceeded to King's College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (University of Durham), obtaining a B.Sc.(Hons) degree in Naval Architecture (1956-59); also working as a part time draughtsman at HM Dockyard during university vacations.

For the next two years he laid the foundations of his powerful industrial experience as Designer in the Project Design Office at Vickers-Armstrongs (Shipbuilders), Barrow-in-Furness (1959-61). His outstanding work was acknowledged by promotion to the position of Deputy Chief of the Project Design Office. He next worked as a research graduate in the Department of Engineering, University of Manchester (1961-62) where in 1963 he gained his PhD for research in stress analysis of pressure vessels.

He brought his industrial experience from Vickers-Armstrongs into teaching, first as Lecturer in Civil and Structural Engineering at Constantine College of Technology, Middlesborough (now University of Teeside) (1964-66), and later to Portsmouth Polytechnic (now University of Portsmouth) (1966-71) as senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, where he remains as Professor of Structural Mechanics.

His research is based on computational methods, tested experimentally with colleagues. He has made important discoveries on the buckling of ring-stiffened cylinders and cones under external pressure and has also developed the application of microcomputers on finite element analysis. In 1971 he co-invented the tube stiffened pressure hull , making for greater submarine strength. In 1987 followed his structurally more efficient "bean can" pressure hull invention and also the cheaper satisfactory dome-cup end for submarines.

In 1995, with colleague David Jordan came the invention of an important method for improving the stability of roll-on, roll-off car ferries, reducing the risk of vessels capsizing in the event of flooding on the car deck. Currently he is developing a large drilling rig and a dredger to enable oil and gas exploration in water to a depth of 5000 meters. This important application stems from his earlier research on pressure vessels whilst at Manchester University.

His contributions to engineering science were recognised in 1992 by the award of a Doctor of Science degree from the Council of National Academic Awards, London.

Professor Carl Ross is a member of the Systems Engineering Research Group and the leader of the Stress Analysis Research Group.

For further detail, please visit his personal website http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carl.ross/page3.htm

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