The 10 research projects that are being carried out under NEL and Coventry University’s joint EngD programme are moving forward strongly and have already produced a number of interesting outputs.
“The initial group of students in the programme will soon be celebrating two years’ of study on their EngD course,” says Group Manager Lynn Hunter. “They are currently preparing for their yearly review meetings with their supervisor teams this month.
“The second tranche of researchers only started on the MRes programme in May,” Lynn adds, “so they have a long way to go. Come next May they will complete their first Progress Review Panel and transfer to the full EngD course. However, all of the researchers are progressing well with their work and are coming up with some interesting findings.”
The outputs from the research include poster presentations and a journal article. One of the researchers has presented a paper at a conference and is running a technology showcase day to promote the technology he is investigating.
“I’m hoping to finalise and submit my final thesis in the next year,” says Craig Marshall, one of the students in the first tranche of programme participants. Craig’s research aims to combine meter technologies to create a hybrid flow measurement device for high viscosity fluid applications that will maximise accuracy and minimise operational drawbacks.
As Craig’s work illustrates, all of the research being carried out under the EngD programme has a strong industry focus. Topics include the evaluation and improvement of pressure loss estimations, subsea flow assurance in oil and gas production, advancing wet gas flow measurement through the use of ultrasonic flow meters and developing a new approach for the detailed profiling of Coriolis meters.
The EngD programme, which takes a total of four years, is being delivered by in-house experts from Coventry University and NEL.