The Principal Investigator of the SPICE project is Dr Matthew Watson (Bristol University). The Work Package Leaders are Dr Matthew Watson (Bristol University), Dr Lesley Gray (Oxford University) & Dr Hugh Hunt (Cambridge University). The project involves specialists in many fields including Volcanology, Climate Science, Atmospheric Physics and Engineering to name but a few. Those involved in this research at Bristol Earth Sciences are Dr Matthew Watson (PI), Dr Pru Foster and Tanya Gray (Project Coordinator).
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I am working in Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge. My major research interests include aerosol chemistry, chemical kinetics, atmospheric heterogeneous chemistry, and atmospheric nocturnal chemistry. I have been investigating the potential impacts of particle injection for solar radiation management on stratospheric ozone via laboratory studies.
Hugh Hunt is a senior lecturer in the Engineering Department at Cambridge University and the keeper of the clock at Trinity College. He is a co-investigator for SPICE and leads work package 2 (delivery) and is an expert in vibration dynamics. His interests within SPICE are around delivery mechanisms, in particular the design and testing of parts of the tethered balloon system and small scale analogues. He has appeared on television many times, including programmes on world war II engineering such as Escape from Colditz and Dambusters (he can be seen here holding an award for the latter).
Chris Burgoyne is Reader in Concrete Structures and Head of the Structures Group in the Engineering Dept at Cambridge University. His work on prestressed concrete led to studies on the use of high strength fibres to replace steel prestressing tendons in structures like bridges. That led on to studies of the short-term and long term properties of aramid fibres, which have other applications in suspension cables for bridges, mooring lines for offshore structures and other applications where high strength, light weight and corrosion resistance are paramount. These all apply to the materials from which the tethers for the SPICE balloon would be constructed, but even with these materials the SPICE tether would be at the limit of what is possible with aramid fibres. Within the project we are investigating the use of other materials, such as PBO (poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole)) whose long term properties have not been explored to the same extent. Chris has other interests in bridge design and in bio-mechanics, particularly related to the structural properties of cortical and trabecular bone in the femoral neck.
I'm a postdoc working on the engineering challenges of putting reflective particles up at 20km in the atmosphere. This includes designing the delivery system, constructing validated computer models of how a tethered balloon behaves in various wind conditions, and looking at ways existing high-pressure pumping technologies can be applied specifically to this problem.
Hilary Costello, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering, Dynamics and Vibrations research office who is interested in the dynamics of the tethered balloon system and, more specifically, how the cable reacts and is excited by wind. Keywords for her research include: fluid structure interaction, aeroelasticity and cable dynamics.
