April 22, 2020

NOTE: Due to mandated restrictions against public meetings during the COVID 19 pandemic, this meeting was conducted via ZOOM video teleconferencing.

We watched a pre-recorded message by Professor Andy McIntosh, DSc, FIMA, C.Math, FInstE, CEng, FInstP, MIGEM, FRAeS, titled, "THE EXTRAORDINARY BOMBARDIER BEETLE." (Click on the Youtube below to watch.)

This meeting is to be followed on Friday, April 25, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time by a live interview with Professor McIntosh from his home in the UK.  He will be sharing a few new slides, and answering questions from our ZOOM audience. 

About our Speaker: The initials above stand for: DSc - Doctor of Science ( a research degree above Ph.D.); FIMA - Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics; CMath - Chartered Mathematician; FEI - Fellow of the Energy Institure; CEng - Chartered Engineer; FInstP - Fellow of the Institute of Physics; MIGEM - Member of the Institute of Engineers and Managers; FRAeS - Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Professor Andrew Charles McIntosh is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds, England, where he has lectured and researched in the field of Combustion and Explosions for over 20 years.  His research has included investigations involving fluids (the interaction of pressure waves with flames) as well as solids.  In the area of heterogeneous combustion he is interested in the safety of reactive substances, which can include traditional fuels such as coal, but also may include agrochemicals, some of which are now being used widely to increase crop yields, but in bulk can have unusual ignition properties.  Unusual chemical behavior is also being studied in collaboration with industry, with a view to developing carbon capture reactors for energy generation.

In the last few years Professor McIntosh has been involved in research in the area of biomimetics where the minute combusion chamber of the bombardier beetle has inspired a patented novel spray technology.  This led to research first sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), followed by extensive funding from industry to apply the technology to fuel injectors, pharmaceutical sprays, aerosols, and fire extinguishers.  Professor McIntosh is a trained mathematician and has worked in aerodynamics at Cranfield University and the Royal Aircraft  Establishment (Bedford) before going to Leeds where he gained a DSc in 1998 and a personal chair in 2000.  He became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2002 and in 2003 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.  He has over 180 publication in Journals and Conferences and has lectured widely internationally on these subjects and on the scientific question of origins on which the discipline  of thermodynamics has a fundamental bearing.

Professor McIntosh has also been named a Logos Research Associate.
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