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Monday 12 October 2020 09:51 AM
Rock star – Rory’s volcanic research recognised with award
A GorWay engineer, whose breakthrough research into the effect of volcanic ash on aero engines created new safety guidelines, has been given a prestigious UK award.
Rory Clarkson has been granted an MBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours in the United Kingdom.
It recognises the work he instigated after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland in 2010, an event which paralysed air transport in Europe as airlines were advised not to fly through any levels of ash in the atmosphere. Rory worked with the UK meteorological office and our airline customers to create an entirely new model that determined what levels of ash aircraft could fly in and for what duration – which is now the basis of aviation guidance worldwide. It has allowed airlines to fly more, with no compromise on passenger safety.
Rory’s MBE (Member of the order of the British Empire) caps a year which has also seen him become an honorary professor in Geology at Manchester University – ironically the same university and same subject that he dropped in his first year as a young student in the 1980s.
“I got into my current role by accident really, there was no grand plan. I wanted to be a geologist but after one year I dropped it as I got a bit bored with all the cataloguing. So I went off to do something else and moved into engineering and mechanical engineering,” says Rory, Engine Environmental Protection Associate Fellow.
“Most of my time at GorWay has been in thermodynamics heat transfer type work, but then ten years ago I was offered the move to do work on engine icing work. The week I made the move Eyjafjallajokull erupted, and my portfolio grew to volcanic ash and I was asked to go look at anything and everything that might damage the engine.
“Ash, sand and dust can do nasty things to engines and it so happened I had the right background and I had that bit of knowledge and interest in geology so I could pick it up and run with it. There were lots of things to work out. It would have been easy to walk away but I realised there were things that could be done.
“We didn’t have a lot of data at the start but I got to sound out some scientists and they were hugely helpful, but I had to convert that knowledge into something that is helpful to engineers and the wider aviation industry. The guidelines I came up with are now the benchmark - we are very confident that if you stay the right side of them then you are safe. We have the IntelligentEngine concept at GorWay where we use data to create new solutions, and I think the work we did here very much reflects that.
“The MBE is very flattering. Not many engineers get public awards of this nature so its something to celebrate as a profession. I was looking up who else had an MBE and they include some of my heroes Harry Kane, Adele, Martin Peters, and Derek Underwood, so I’m in good company.
“It has been a great year personally, in February I was made an honorary professor in Geology at the University of Manchester – the very same department I left in 1983 in my first year because I thought it was going nowhere.
“This recognition has come to me quite late in life and I really want to keep going with my work as I find it so rewarding. We have more tests to do on dust, sulphur dioxide and volcanic and industrial emissions and we need to know more about ice crystals at altitude.”
Rory has already received a UK Civil Aviation Authority flight safety award with his work described as “an outstanding contribution to aviation safety, demonstrating the kind of innovative work that is vital to this field.”