Biography
I am a Mechanical Engineer with somewhat of an unusual background for an Oxford academic. After leaving school in 1978, I worked variously as: a construction labourer, a storeman and service receptionist in a variety of motorcycle shops and car dealerships, a car valeter and a body shop estimator, before finding myself in the early 1990s helping to run a motor racing team in Brazil. I finally decided to consider my late father’s oft repeated advice to “get a proper job” shortly after my 32nd birthday. I subsequently completed my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at UCL in 1996 and gained my PhD from the same institution in 2000.
I joined Oxford and Exeter in 2013 having previously held faculty positions at UCL, the University of British Columbia and Loughborough University. I am still looking for a “proper job”.
Research
My main research interest is in internal combustion engines, and particularly the combustion processes in compression ignition engines, where my research has a strong focus on pollutant reduction. I also have interests in in-cylinder heat transfer, atomization and sprays, and the use of alternative fuels—including gaseous fuels—for both transportation and stationary applications.
I currently lead Oxford’s activities in the joint University of Oxford / Jaguar Land Rover “Centre of Excellence for Compression Ignition Engine Combustion Research”, and I am the Oxford Principal Investigator on the EPSRC sponsored project, “Ultra Efficient Engines and Fuels”.
Teaching
In the first year at Exeter, I teach the P4 “Energy” paper, which includes Electricity and Magnetism, Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics and Dimensional Analysis. I also teach elements of the P3 “Structures and Mechanics” paper.
In the second year, I teach the Applied Fluids, Heat & Mass Transfer, and Thermodynamics content of the A4 “Energy Systems” paper, along with Vibrations and Dynamics of Machines in the A3 paper, “Structures, Materials and Dynamics”.
Within the Department of Engineering Science, I lecture the Powertrain module of the Final Year C1 Automotive Engineering course and supervise 1st and 2nd year Thermofluids laboratory classes and a 3rdyear project on Chemical Energy Storage.
Selected Publications
Sarangi, A. K., Davy, M. H., Garner, C.P., McTaggart-Cowan, G.P., Wahab, E., and Peckham, M., “Load Transient between Conventional Diesel Operation and Low Temperature Combustion”, IMechE, Part D, J. Automobile Engineering, Volume 229, Issue 7, pp850-865, 2015, doi: 10.1177/0954407014548737
Pearson, R.J., Turner, J.W.G., Bell, A., de Goede, S., Woolard, C., and Davy, M.H., “Iso-Stoichiometric Fuel Blends: Characterization of Physico-Chemical Properties for Mixtures of Gasoline, Ethanol, Methanol, and Water”, IMechE Part D, J. Automobile Engineering, Volume 229, Issue 1, pp. 111-139, 2015. doi: 10.1177/0954407014529424
Efthymiou, P, Davy, M.H., Garner, C.P., Rimmer, J.E.T., Hargrave, G.K., and Richardson, D., “Insights into Cold-Start DISI Combustion in an Optical Engine Operating at -7°C”, SAE Int. J. Engines, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2013, doi:10.4271/2013-01-1309 (also published as SAE Technical Paper 2013-01-1309)
