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Professor Roderick Smith (26 December 1947 – 26 December 2024) was a British academic, engineer and government adviser.
Smith was the Royal Academy of Engineering Network Rail Research Professor of Railway Engineering, Imperial College and Chair of the Future Railway Research Centre.
Early life and education
[edit]Smith was the son of Eric and Gladys Smith. He was educated at Hulme Grammar School, Oldham, and St John’s College, University of Oxford, before completing a PhD at Queen’s College, University of Cambridge in 1975.[1]
Academic career
[edit]- 1975 – 1980. Research Fellow and Assistant Lecturer, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.
- 1980 – 1988. Lecturer, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.
- 1988 – 2000. Professor of Mechanical and Process Engineering, University of Sheffield. Head of the Advanced Railway Research Centre at the University of Sheffield from 1993-2000.[2]
- 2000 – 2005. Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College.[1]
Advisory career
[edit]Hillsborough
[edit]Following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, Smith supported the Health and Safety Executive’s investigation, providing analysis to the HSE's Research and Laboratory Services Division[3] on the condition of the stadium’s crowd barriers.[4] Smith subsequently convened an international conference on engineering for crowd safety in 1993.[5]
Rail
[edit]Smith was the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Transport between 2012 and 2014.[6] Smith was a long-time advocate for high-speed rail.[7] In a 2003 paper[8], he described how Japan’s Shinkansen rail network had stimulated the Japanese economy after it opened in 1964, and argued that similar benefits would come from HS2 in the UK.
As a trustee of the Science Museum, Smith enabled the donation of a Japanese Shinkansen train to the National Railway Museum in York.[9][10]
Professional bodies
[edit]- President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 2011 – 2012.
- President Engineering Integrity Society, 2016 – 2024.[11]
Professional recognition
[edit]Smith was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and a Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute. Smith was awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Sheffield and the University of Lincoln, and was an Honorary Fellow of Queens’ College Cambridge.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Smith married Yayoi Yamanoi in 1975. An active mountaineer, Smith completed ascents of all the Lake District Wainwrights, and led expeditions to Greenland, Arctic Norway, the Himalayas and the Karakoram. He was a member of the Alpine Club, Yorkshire Ramblers' Club, the Fell & Rock Climbing Club, and the Arctic Club.[12]
He died on Boxing Day 2024, his 77th birthday, on a family walk returning from Grisedale Tarn, following a head injury.[12][13] He was recovered by local mountain rescue teams and a coastguard helicopter, but could not be saved.[14][15]
Publications
[edit]- Smith, R. A. (1986), Fatigue Crack Growth: Thirty Years of Progress, Pergamon, UK. ISBN-13: 978-0-08-032547-7
- Smith, R. A. (1991), Innovative Teaching in Engineering, Longman Higher Education, UK. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-457607-7
- Smith, R. A.; Dickie, J. F., eds. (1993). Engineering for Crowd Safety. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam. ISBN-13: 978-0-44-489920-0
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Smith, Prof. Roderick Arthur, (26 Dec. 1947–26 Dec. 2024), Research Professor, Imperial College London, 2011–18, now Emeritus (Professor and Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2000–05; Royal Academy of Engineering Research Professor, 2006–11); Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Transport, 2011–14". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U35490. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ Wolmar, Christian (20 August 1994). "Inside Story: Who needs railways?". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ C E Nicholson PhD CEng MIM (21 December 1989). "The Hillsborough Incident 15 April 1989: A compendium of the Technical Aspects of the Incident Investigation by the Health and Safety Executive" (PDF). Health and Safety Executive. IR/L/ME/MM/89/2.
- ^ Professor R A Smith MA PhD CEng MIM; G A C Games BA (7 February 1990). "Collapse load calculations for barrier 124A" (PDF). Health and Safety Executive. IR/L/ME/89/36.
- ^ Engineering for crowd safety. International Conference on Engineering for Crowd Safety. London, UK. 17 March 1993. S2CID 106722565.
- ^ "Professor Roderick Smith". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ "Track to the future for rail professor". www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ Smith, Roderick A. (September 2003). "The Japanese Shinkansen: Catalyst for the Renaissance of Rail". The Journal of Transport History. 24 (2): 222–237. doi:10.7227/TJTH.24.2.6. ISSN 0022-5266.
- ^ "Obituary – Past President Professor Rod Smith". www.imeche.org. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ "Shinkansen: High-speed revolution | National Railway Museum". National Railway Museum. Archived from the original on 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ "Obituary – Professor Roderick A. Smith ScD, FREng – Engineering Integrity Society". Retrieved 2025-04-23.
- ^ a b "Death Notices - Professor Roderick A. Smith ScD, FREng". The Westmorland Gazette.
- ^ "Lake District: Man dies near tarn on Boxing Day following head injury". The Westmorland Gazette. 28 December 2024.
- ^ "Incident Report #128 2024". Langdale/Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team. 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Grisedale Hause: Incident 69 of 2024". Coniston Mountain Rescue Team. 26 December 2024.