During my master's programme, I worked at the Defence Research Agency where I worked in a low-speed wind tunnel measuring the effects of drag and lift on highly swept delta wings.  I began work as a Research Assistant at De Montfort University in 1993 and pursued my PhD research evaluating the accuracy of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for modelling buoyancy-driven natural ventilation flows in buildings. This involved publication of guidelines for turbulence modelling, convergence control and use of Neumann boundary conditions. After 10 years’ post-doctoral experience during which I worked on over 30 low energy building projects around the world, I moved to Loughborough University in 2008 as a Reader in Building Performance Analysis.

At Loughborough, I established and led an MSc course in Low Carbon Building Design and Modelling and extended my research into Large Eddy Simulation, indoor air quality and building control. Some of this work was funded by a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) in collaboration with SE Controls during which we developed control algorithms for energy-efficient natural ventilation based on combined CO₂ and temperature sensing. I was awarded my Chair in Building Performance Analysis in 2012 and became Associate Dean for Research in 2014, a role I served until 2021 when I took on the position of Acting Dean for the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Professional affiliations

• Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
• Fellow of the International Building Performance Simulation Association
• Member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
• Member of the Institution of Mathematics and its Applications
• Member of the Energy Institute
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Awards

• Research Informed Teaching Award (2014)
• Best Paper Award, Building and Environment (2018)
• Lichfield Garrick Theatre (CIBSE Project of the Year, 2004)
• School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London (CIBSE Environmental Initiative of the Year, 2006)
• Judson College, Elgin, Chicago (LEED Gold Award, 2008)
• Lanchester Library, Coventry (Best Public Building Award, Building Magazine, 2000)
• Braunstone Health and Social Care Centre (Property and Construction Sustainable Development of the Year, 2005)

External activities

• Visiting Professor, CEPT University, India, 2017
• Associate Editor, Science and Technology for the Built Environment, 2014-
• International accreditation panel in Dubai for MSc course in Sustainable Design in the Built Environment, British University in Dubai, UAE, 2011
• Chair, International Building Performance Simulation Association (England affiliate), 2008-2014
• Editorial Board Member, Journal of Building Performance Simulation, 2011-2018
• Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Ventilation, 2002-
• College Member, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, 2003-2007 

Key collaborators

My research and enterprise activities are conducted with a range of academic and stakeholder partners, including:

• Universities: Leeds, Imperial, Cambridge, Nottingham, UCL, London South Bank, CEPT (India), UC Berkeley (USA), Karlsruhe (Germany), Stuttgart (Germany)
• Learned Societies: ASHRAE, CIBSE
• Consultants: SE Controls, Hoare Lea, Arup, Fosters, Parsons Brinkerhoff