Fluid Machinery Group - How we are governed

Head of Engineering, Sulzer Services, EMEA

Pharic graduated from the University of Paisley in 1995 with an Honours Degree in Chemical Engineering. He then joined Weir Pumps Ltd as a graduate engineer, specialising in pumps for the conventional power and nuclear power industry. After Weir Pumps was sold to become Clydeunion Pumps Pharic was promoted to the role of Engineering Manager for the Nuclear Power Business Unit.

After a short spell returning to Weir Engineering Services as a Senior Rotating Equipment Specialist Pharic Join Sulzer in 2015 as Head of Engineering for Sulzer Services, EMEA.

Pharic joined the board of the Fluid Machinery Group in 2011 to help promote fluid machinery among young engineers and to develop and share valuable experiences within the industry. Since then he as assisted with organising and running three Fluid Machinery Conferences along with several technical events.

Pharic’ s main interests are in the practical aspects of engineering and still very much enjoys an active field trip with the overalls on. In 2005 he completed a 5 year project building his own house which he still enjoys upgrading and retrofitting from time to time.

Martin Yates is the Rolls-Royce Associate Fellow for Fuel System Design and Integration and has nearly 30 years’ experience in the aerospace industry.  During this time he has been responsible for the conceptual and detail design of centrifugal and positive displacement fuel pumps for aero engines used on a range of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

In his current role he is responsible for setting the strategy for future gas turbine fuel systems.  He is a member of the BSI committee MCE/123 - Plain Bearings.  He teaches and is a member of the industrial liaison board for MSc courses at Cranfield University. 

Principal Mechanical Engineer in Thames Water

Simon is responsible for mechanical strategy and standards in Thames Water.  He sits in the Operations Directorate and is also responsible for challenging assumptions in the operation and maintenance of major asset groups like pumping stations, aeration and preliminary treatment. 

Simon also sits on the Pump Centre Council that is a forum for sharing knowledge in equipment used in the water and power industries, as well as preparing the Water Industry Mechanical and Electrical Standards (WIMES), as a common platform for the industry. 

Simon Whatley took over the chair of the Fluid Machinery Group in 2012 and also represents the Group at the IMechE Council meetings.  

  
 

Professor of Energy Engineering at Lancaster University, UK, and Director of Lancaster University Renewable Energy Group & Fluid Machinery Group.

George's previous career includes 25 years' industrial and academic experience, of which nine years were spent abroad.

George started his engineering career with Mather & Platt Ltd, Manchester, UK, followed by appointments both in the UK and abroad. His final position in industry was Director and Engineering Development Manager for the Fluid Machinery, and Hydropower UK company, Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon Ltd.

He has over 150 research papers, designs, developments and 12 patent contributions in the field of fluid machinery and renewable energy, developed turbines for hydro power generation projects and has physical research prototypes of fluid machinery operating successfully worldwide.

He has a strong focus on engineering science applied to industry-led requirements in renewable energy and fluid machinery. His main research area is in computational and experimental modelling, control and the economics of novel fluid machinery applied to energy and renewables, including wave, tidal and hydro power.

Consultant

After a long and varied career in mechanical engineering in the chemical industry, Harald now provide consultancy on machinery through his own company, Process Industry Machinery Expertise Ltd. where he mainly concentrates on large single stream compressor trains.

His areas of expertise include failure investigation, configuration and performance optimisation, machine specification and selection, design verification and approval, maintenance strategy, and reliability improvement including failure mode & effect analysis.

His interests include aero-thermodynamic performance, rotor-dynamics & vibration, tribology (including bearings & seals), failure analysis, fatigue and structural integrity. I run the Compressor and Fans workshop for the Fluid Machinery Group.

 

Dr Wei He is an Associate Professor in Engineering at King’s College London. Before King’s, he conducted his research at the University of Warwick, MIT, and Xi’an Jiaotong University. His current research focuses on energy storage, low-carbon heating, and renewable energy. Dr He is a holder of the prestigious Royal Academy Engineering Research Fellowship, working on novel low-carbon technologies within the energy-food-water nexus. Dr He is also developing novel mechanical and thermal energy storage technologies using state-of-art compressors and turbomachinery technologies.

Turbo Machinery Specialist, INVISTA Performance Technologies

Gillian has responsibility for large machine applications from initial process design through to commissioning and on-going support of operations. Over the past twenty years she has worked with many engineering contract organisations to deliver safe, well-engineered applications for clients around the world.

Outage Management Group Head, EDF Energy for Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station

Mellish is responsible for Managing the Maintenance Outages for Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station. Mellish’s team are responsible for organising the Refuelling and Maintenance of Sizewell B, the only commercial operational PWR in the UK. This cover the completion of 15,000 activities, completed by 3,000 people, typically over a period of 35 days and a budget of £54m

His previous roles have included the role of In-Service Testing Programme Engineer at Sizewell B Power Station and was with Severn Trent Water as the Rotodynamic Standards Manager, responsible for technical advice regarding pumps and blowers across the business, including clean and waste water.

Howden Chair in Engineering Design and Compressor Technology at City, University of London. 

Ahmed's main objective is integration of design excellence in academia and industry which he does through research, teaching and collaborating with industry in numerical modelling, analysis and design of positive displacement screw machines, compressors, expanders and pumps.

Prof Kovacevic chairs the world renown Conference on Compressors and their Systems organised at City, University of London and supported by ImechE. He is the director of the Centre for Compressor Technology at City, University of London, has written six books, hundred and fifty referenced journal and conference papers, holds rights to several patents and has received nine awards for his papers and work.

 

Behshad is IMechE fellow and has more than 23 years of experience in oil, gas and power industries in engineering, engineering management and consultancy roles, with focus on rotating equipment. With expertise in surge, cavitation and dynamic response studies of fluid machinery, he is now technical managing director of PM Process group of companies in Dusseldorf-Germany, providing consultancy and engineering supports to worldwide clients.