Advisors and Partners

Advisors

Dr Philip Ruffles CBE, FRS, FREng

Dr Philip Ruffles was Director of Engineering and Technology and a Main Board member of Rolls-Royce plc from 1997 to 2001 where he enjoyed a distinguished career in engineering. He is presently a Non Executive Director of Domino Printing Sciences plc, a Member of the Council for Science and Technology and a member of the Council of the Royal Society.

He has received many national and international awards including the prestigious Mac Robert Award and the Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering for his work on the Trent engine. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2001 for his services to the Defence and Aerospace Industries.

John Denton

Prof John Denton obtained his BA and PhD from Cambridge and an MASc from the University of British Columbia. After lecturing in Kenya for 2 years he worked for the CEGB (UK electricity utility) on steam turbine aerodynamics for 8 years before returning to Cambridge as a lecturer in 1977. At the Whittle lab he continued to develop numerical methods for flow calculation in turbomachines and performed research on the flow in aero engines, gas turbines and steam turbines.

The numerical methods that he has developed are widely used around the world and he has received many international awards for his work. He was director of the Whittle lab from 1984 – 1990 and from 1999 – 2005. He retired from the University in 2005 but is still active as a consultant and continues to develop his numerical methods. He is a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society.

Partners

PCA Engineers Limited

www.pcaeng.co.uk

PCA Engineers Limited is a UK-based consultancy specialist in the aero-mechanical design of turbomachinery and the supply of engineering software. The Company has been in business since 1989 and has been serving many of the world’s leading manufacturers of axial and radial flow turbomachinery for over 20 years, building a reputation for providing designs that give industry-leading performance.

PCA is one of the few independent companies worldwide that are able to provide a complete range of turbomachinery related consultancy services. Their primary skill sets include 3D aero-mechanical design of compressors, turbines and fans and the development of 1D and 2D design software for these components. Other key skills include the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element (FE) analyses to turbomachinery, where PCA are able to use their experience in design to give clients feedback to improve the performance and integrity of their own components.

PCA has a partnership with ANSYS (www.ansys.com) to supply 1D and 2D turbomachinery design tools that are integrated into ANSYS® WorkbenchTM. ANSYS develops, markets, and supports world-leading engineering simulation software used to predict how product designs will operate in real-world environments.

Leuven Air Bearings

www.leuvenairbearings.com

Leuven Air Bearings develops and produces standard and advanced air bearing solutions. LAB is an innovative partner for companies in industrial automation, process control, compressor and power generation industries. LAB is specialized in high speed applications and high accuracy applications.

For high accuracy applications, air bearings are typically used in coordinate measurement machines, test equipment, wafer steppers, CT scanners, etc. The high speed applications range from compressors, generators, turbomachinery to high speed spindles for drilling or dicing operations.

LAB's know how is based on over 30 years of research. LAB integrates its proprietary air bearing technology into existing industrial designs. LAB has developed the required simulation and optimization tools for product development. LAB' s experience ranges from the very early design phase over production, integration and quality control.