Staff

Peter joined the Wolfson Unit in 1971, having previously been a deck officer in the merchant navy and obtaining a degree in Nautical Studies at the University of Southampton. He was initially employed to write and commission a suite of hydrostatic and stability programs, in order to offer a computer bureau service to the marine industry. Peter’s nautical background, and interest in electronics, enabled the Unit to expand its range of expertise from tank and wind tunnel testing, and software, to include full scale trials, onboard data collection and analysis and bespoke monitoring systems. He has kept in touch with his nautical roots by regularly going back to sea for short periods in a professional capacity. In 2000 he obtained a diploma in marine surveying and subsequent to this, developed the Unit’s capacity in ship vibration measurements and analysis.

Barry joined the Wolfson Unit in 1978, and has worked in three principal areas: ship testing, stability and industrial aerodynamics. In recent years he has specialised in stability and safety and has earned an international reputation for his work on small craft stability. He has managed the projects conducted for the MCA and acted as an expert witness in arbitrations, civil cases and coroners’ inquests. He is a member of a number of committees concerned with stability and safety, and has presented papers on the subject at many international conferences, and to the IMO. He was awarded the Royal Institution of Naval Architects’ Silver Medal in 1990, and their Medal of Distinction in 2006.

Andy Claughton joined the Wolfson Unit in 1978, after graduating from Southampton University with an Honours degree in Ship Science. During the next 20 years Andy was instrumental in expanding the Unit’s activities and developed its experimental facilities supporting the design of high performance racing yachts for America’s Cup and Round the world yacht racing.

From 2000 – 2007 Andy worked for the Team New Zealand America’s Cup team, he was Design co-ordinator for their 2007 Cup challenge in Valencia. Now back with the Unit he will apply this practical experience to the developing science of sailing yacht design, and expand the services that the Wolfson Unit can offer to the design community. Andy specialises in the development and operation of performance prediction tools for all types of sailing yachts, and through his work outside the University he has developed a clear appreciation of the technical and practical considerations that lie at the heart of building and racing a successful yacht.

Andy is a member of the Offshore Racing Congress International Technical Committee, and the Royal Ocean Racing Club Technical Committee. Having published widely in the popular and technical literature he was awarded the 2008 R.I.N.A. Small Craft Group Medal for his contribution to yacht science.

Martyn completed a BSc in Yacht and Small Craft Design at the Southampton Institute of H.E. in 1994, followed by an MSc in Maritime Engineering Sciences from University of Southampton in 1995. He then completed a PhD in ship motions and control. In 1999 he joined the Unit moving back to the field of yachts and small craft. His primary areas of interest involve sailing yacht performance evaluation; this in part has involved conducting, analysing and managing a range of towing tank test and wind tunnel projects ranging from small cruising boats up to America’s Cup R&D programmes. Most recently he has been involved with the development of the Unit’s resources in sports engineering, focussing on areas which will benefit from improved aero and hydrodynamic knowledge, culminating in the Wolfson Unit becoming a UK Sport Partner.

Dickon joined the Unit in 2001 after gaining a BEng in Civil Engineering from The University of Bristol and an MSc in Maritime Engineering Sciences from the University of Southampton. Dickon’s primary expertise lie in the field of powerboat performance optimisation, from a hydro and aerodynamic point of view, he also has substantial experience in the assessment of handling characteristics, motions at anchor and behaviour of vessels in a seaway. In addition he has a broad range of experience in the assessment of hydrodynamic and aerodynamic designs. Dickon has designed the majority of the instrumentation and dynamometry for use by the Unit and other organisations, for example, five yacht testing dynamometers have been sold to America’s Cup syndicates to Dickon’s design.

After gaining a B Eng in Naval Architecture from the University of Strathclyde, Sandy obtained an MSc and a PhD in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) from the University of Southampton. He worked on various research contracts for the University of Southampton in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics before being seconded to the Wolfson Unit in 2000, and became a full time engineer in 2002. His primary areas of interest involve wind tunnel testing, computational modelling and integrating different data sources (be they experimental or computational) into a meaningful evaluation process. Since 2005 Sandy has been involved in sports engineering, culminating in the Wolfson Unit becoming a UK Sport Innovation Partner. Sandy is a Member of RINA and SNAME and is a Chartered Engineer.

Chris first studied at Southampton University back in 1993, gaining a B Eng in Ship Science. After a short career break which involved travel and working for a small marine services company abroad he worked in industry as a development/test engineer for various precision engineering firms until he returned to the University and the Wolfson Unit in 2003 as a technician/test engineer.
Chris’s practical skills together with a hands on approach to development and test engineering and a keen interest in video editing has helped the Unit to develop its in house dynamometry and video editing systems. Chris is also responsible for maintaining the Wolfson Units current testing capability and where necessary assists in testing.

Matteo joined the Wolfson Unit in 2007, having obtained an MSc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Perugia, Italy and completing a PhD on race modelling programs under the joint supervision of the Universities of Southampton and Perugia. The findings of his research have been presented at international conferences, including the Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium, HISWA and the ‘Modern Yacht’, and published in academic journals. Since joining the Wolfson Unit, he has been working on commercial contracts and the development of software such as HST, the Unit's hydrostatics and stability package.

Sue started working for the University of Southampton in July, 1986, and moved department to join the Wolfson Unit team in July, 1988. She is responsible for the day to day administration within the Unit.