Biography
James grew up in Norfolk, as an undergraduate took the Natural Sciences Tripos at Jesus, and joined the SMF group at the Cavendish as a PhD student. Studying silica sand under shock loading and ballistic impact, his research illustrated how very small changes in grain-scale properties of brittle systems, such as surface roughness or the presence of moisture, can significantly alter a material’s dynamic response. James worked as a strategy consultant in the telecoms sector after his PhD, building predictive models of mobile networks and advising on spectrum auction strategies, before returning to Cambridge in 2018 to undertake an industrial research position at the Cavendish.
Research
James’s research interests focus on the high-rate dynamic properties of materials - particularly metals, granular materials, energetics and structural composites. His work is experimentally led, designing novel techniques to help understand the meso- and micro-scale phenomena controlling deformation and fracture processes.
Publications
The effects of grain-scale properties on the rapid compaction of sand
AIP Conference proceedings 2272 (2020)
The significance of grain morphology and moisture content on the response of silica sand to ballistic penetration
Applied Physics Letters 115 (2019)
Shock and release behaviour of silica based granular materials
AIP Conference Proceedings 1979 (2018)
The shock and release properties of dry and wetted silica sand
AIP Conference Proceedings 1793 (2017)
The significance of grain morphology, moisture and strain rate on the rapid compaction of silica sands
Applied Physics Letters 109 (2016)
Rationalizing the suitability of rhodamines as chromophores in dye-sensitized solar cells: a systematic molecular design study
Molecular Systems Design & Engineering 1 (4) (2016)
Behaviour of moist and saturated sand during shock and release
Applied Physics Letters 107 (2015)
Development and validation of model for sand
EPJ Web of Conferences 94 (2015)
Shock and release behaviour of sand
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 500 (2014)
Behaviour of sand during release from a shocked state
Applied Physics Letters 103 (2013)