Birmingham Series – Large Goods Vehicle Rollovers: Factors Affecting Stability
An overview of the factors affecting vehicle stability which can result in rollovers of Large Goods Vehicles, and the investigation of such incidents.
Glasgow Series – The need for speed: Estimating speed in collision investigations
Gavin will discuss methods in which an expert might estimate vehicle speeds, including a discussion on their reliability and limitations.
Hawkins Webinars: The Glasgow Series
To kick off Hawkins’ educational content for 2023, our Glasgow Office has created a series of webinars covering engineering, fire investigation, and road traffic collision topics. Read a summary of each webinar and register below. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Over-Fired Air (OFA) In Industrial Boilers Presented by Dr Paul Moody 19th January 2023 at 9:30am GMT This webinar will discuss how pollution control technology can cause a loss of steam and/or power generation. Crane Safety: Not Just Torquing Nuts! A Review of the Carol Anne Crane Collapse Presented by John Holland 2nd February 2023 at 9:30am GMT This webinar will review a fatal crane accident on the Carol Anne workboat in 2015 including: The mechanics of the incident The complexity of crane mounting The benefits of investigating at an early stage BLEVEs: The Hidden Danger of Back Boilers Presented by Dr Tom Peat 16th February 2023 at 9:30am GMT This webinar will show the risks associated with domestic back boilers, and how environmental factors and incorrect decommissioning can result in catastrophic damage to property. MEWPs on Construction Sites: A Lower Risk Option Presented by Jon Watkins 2nd March 2023 at 9:30am GMT This webinar will look at the types of Mobile […]
Chris Botham
Chris began his engineering career in 1978 as an apprentice welding and fabrication engineer at National Oilwell, working on projects for the oil and chemical industries. After completing his apprenticeship Chris began work as a welding and fabrication engineer at Fairey Engineering in Manchester, where he worked on projects for the Nuclear Industry and the Ministry of Defence. In the mid 1980s Chris worked for Cunnington & Cooper as a Design Engineer after gaining a Higher National Diploma in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. After completing a lecturer’s qualification and Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chris became a lecturer in Engineering subjects at Stockport College of Technology. Chris completed his Masters Degree in 1996 and began work as a Senior Structural Analyst at the National Nuclear Corporation on projects for the Nuclear Industry and the Ministry of Defence involving finite element analysis and engineering design. Chris brought his wealth of experience to Hawkins in 1999 where he trained in Forensic Engineering and now predominantly investigates incidents and failures involving machinery, product design and manufacture, and personal injury. Chris also carries out investigations into the causes of floods, failures of civil engineering structures and composite materials. These investigations have ranged from small […]
James Wade
James graduated from the University of Leeds in 2006 with a MEng degree in Automotive Engineering. Whilst at University he developed a bench top reactor to simulate oil degradation in internal combustion engines and was also an integral part of the University’s Formula Student Engine team, where he designed the fuel, electric and cooling systems for the 2005/6 car. After graduating, he accepted a role as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate working between the University of Sheffield and JCB Earthmovers Ltd. Here, he participated in a research project focussing on optimising the arrangement of pin joint and component materials. The aim of the project was to reduce the dependency on grease whilst improving service life. He developed designs for a test rig which could test a variety of loading conditions and joint arrangements. James then worked as a self-employed subcontractor for a Kent based Kit Car manufacturer where he carried out a variety of roles including design, fabrication, servicing, modification and repair of a broad variety of both road and race cars. In 2010 James set up his own Automotive Engineering practice specialising in the maintenance and modification of classic BMW cars, as well as sourcing parts. James joined […]
Robert Taylor
Robert is a Senior Associate based in our Birmingham office who specialises in the forensic investigation of road traffic collisions, vehicle and mechanical failures, and personal injury claims involving vehicle and workshop related incidents. Robert has completed a wide range of investigations and has prepared numerous CPR compliant reports. He is experienced in completing vehicle examinations, collision scene surveys, analysis of CCTV and ‘dashcam’ recordings, download and analysis of Event Data Recorder (EDR) data, and analysis of the damage sustained to vehicles and how that affects roadworthiness. Before joining Hawkins in 2020, Robert held the position of Principal Engineer at Millbrook Proving Ground, having worked there for nearly nine years. He was the Subject Matter Expert for active safety, having worked extensively in the testing, development, and certification of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Lane Support Systems (LSS). Robert worked on a wide range of vehicles, ranging from hyper-cars and passenger cars to buses, lorries, and military vehicles. He gained extensive knowledge of vehicular systems and dynamic characteristics, having also held an advanced driving permit allowing him to drive vehicles beyond the limit of grip. Robert graduated from the University of Warwick in […]
Charles Murdoch
Charles’ background is in materials, having graduated with an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, UK. In his final year of study he took a slight specialism into Aerospace Materials covering aerospace structures and design. After leaving Imperial College, Charles secured a graduate scheme position with Rolls-Royce plc based initially in Derby, UK. As a graduate he spent placements on the shop floor, at the Heathrow field service office looking after British Airways and also spent time in Montreal, Canada, with the Energy business. After 18 months, he graduated from the scheme and into the Rolls-Royce internal Failure Investigation Team investigating a wide range of components from failed bolts to failed fan blades. In the majority of cases investigations concerned metallic components, however polymer, composite or even cardboard components were not uncommon. Investigations regularly included an aspect of tribology or fractography using a high magnification scanning electron microscope. In 2014 Charles relocated back to London and to Hawkins, and has continued to investigate Materials and Mechanical failures. Charles now regularly returns to his ‘student days’ at Imperial College to perform analysis of fracture surfaces on the microscopes available. Since joining Charles expanded his areas of expertise […]
James Kingham
James graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2005 with a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, having completed an industrial placement year working in cryogenics for The Hymatic Engineering Company (now part of Honeywell Aerospace’s Defence & Space business group). After graduating, James returned to Honeywell Aerospace as a development engineer, working on Joule-Thomson coolers and Stirling Cycle Cryocoolers primarily for missile and satellite applications. This included customer driven development projects as well as R&D and investigative projects. In 2010, James took on the role of New Product Development Manager with ITT (later Xylem) Flow Control, overseeing the development of pneumatic and hydraulic valve actuation controls and actuators for use in severe service environments, including the oil & gas and rail industries. James was then promoted to Centre of Excellence Engineering Lead – Valves (Technical Manager) in 2013, becoming the senior technical contact at the Wolverhampton site overseeing product development, project management and product certification activities within the business. James is a Chartered Engineer and as such is a full member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. James also holds a Level 5 diploma in Management & Leadership and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Mike Hopwood
Mike’s civil and highway engineering career began at Parkman where he worked on several major projects, including the St Helens M62 link road and the A570 Ormskirk Bypass. Specialising in preliminary and detailed design work, Mike joined Giffords to work on the structural design of the Second River Dee Crossing. Mike moved to Cheshire County Council in 1994 and rose to the level of Principal Engineer. At the time, Cheshire was one of the largest UK local authorities and was also managing a large motorway network including the M6. During his progression, Mike led teams responsible for safety inspections, winter maintenance, streetworks and third party claims. Mike appeared in Court countless times as a witness for local government. Whilst with local government, Mike was responsible for the design, letting and construction of numerous large and complex civil engineering schemes. During this time, he gained particular expertise in all aspects of design, performance and specification of road building, drainage, construction materials and road and junction layouts including traffic management and road signs. Alongside his Engineering role, Mike was also a local government health and safety officer. He was responsible for workplace safety audits and risk assessments along with enforcement and the […]
John Holland
An Intel scholar, John graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University College Dublin, Ireland in 2000. As part of his degree he developed an automatic moisture sensor for use in the peat industry for which he was awarded the Hewlett Packard national award for innovation in engineering. After a brief period with Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Peru, John returned to Ireland to take up a position with Teradyne Connection Systems, before joining Timoney Technology as a mechanical design engineer, where he specialised in the design and development of Hydropneumatic Suspension Systems for specialty off road vehicles. In this role he also gained considerable experience with computer aided engineering techniques such as Finite Element Analysis and Vehicle Multi-body Dynamic Analysis. John was appointed engineering manager with Timoney Technology and took over full technical responsibility for all engineering projects and products. Projects of note include the DARPA Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle, the USMC Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Vehicle and the Timoney ADT Independent Suspension Axle System manufactured under licence by Terex Equipment Ltd. John was also involved with the Ginaf Rally Power and DeRooy race teams for the 2007 Dakar Rally and has numerous automotive suspension patents filed […]