Department of Engineering / News / First Hibbitt Lecturer, Dr Garth Wells is appointed

Department of Engineering

First Hibbitt Lecturer, Dr Garth Wells is appointed

First Hibbitt Lecturer, Dr Garth Wells is appointed

Solid Mechanics

Cambridge engineering graduate David Hibbitt founded the engineering software company ABAQUS, Inc. David and his wife Susan have donated more than £2million to endow a post in solid mechanics. After an international search to find the first incumbent for the new post, Dr Garth Wells has been appointed as the first Hibbitt Lecturer in Solid Mechanics at the Department. He has joined a group which is pushing the boundaries of research in solid mechanics and communicating its importance to the next generation of engineers through undergraduate teaching.

Garth originates from Australia where he graduated from The University of Western Australia. He went on to do a PhD at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Garth moved to the USA as a Post-doctoral researcher at Stanford University, then took the post of Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology. He was a visiting researcher at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas, then took the post of Associate Professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology before joining the Department. He is a fellow at Jesus College.

Dr Garth Wells the Hibbitt Lecturer in Solid Mechanics

Garth says "My research interests are broad, with an emphasis on computation for mechanics. My background is in solid mechanics, but I'm active currently in computational aspects of solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, multi-physics problems and scientific computing. An example of some new work is the computer modelling of tar sands and heavy oil. There are enormous reserves in Canada, and the modelling is important and very challenging. I have a research group in the Netherlands working on various aspects of computational mechanics that I'm hoping to host regularly here in Cambridge."

A symposium 'Future Directions in Solid Mechanics' was held at Robinson College on 26 October. Guests from academia, industry and funding agencies attended. The symposium also marked the launch of the Hibbitt Lectureship and the Ashby Studentship, which is now very close to being fully funded. The audience was welcomed by the Head of Department, Professor Keith Glover, and the University's Vice Chancellor also spoke. A number of speakers from the UK and overseas gave presentations, including David Hibbitt and Mike Ashby.

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