Education, Qualifications and Employment 

1989-1993  DPhil, Oxford University (St John's College)
                   Thesis title: Annular Cascade Aerodynamics and Heat Transfer
                   Supervisor: Prof. T.V. Jones

1994- Professor in Turbomachinery, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Imperial College London (appointed Lecturer in 1994)

2013- Head of Thermofluids Division, Mechanical Engineering Department.

 Other Current Appointments:

Theme leader of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles within the Energy Futures Lab Institute at Imperial College London.
Chief Examiner to the Mechanical Engineering Department at Imperial College

Current Activity

Research: Aerodynamics and heat transfer of turbomachines. The applications relate to aircraft engines, power generation gas turbines, turbochargers and hybrid vehicles. In heat transfer engineering, a significant contribution has been made to the understanding of cooling components, primarily by means of experimental novel measuring techniques. In turbocharger aerodynamics, an understanding of the unsteady effects in turbines under realistic engine conditions has been reported. To achieve this, a dynamometer has been developed, which has acquired an international reputation. The final research area relates to the modelling of high temperature fuel cells when integrated with turbomachinery components aiming for a high thermal efficiency.

Selected Publications:

Palfreyman, D and Martinez-Botas, R.F., “The Pulsating Flow Field in a Mixed Flow Turbocharger Turbine: An Experimental and Computational Study”: Trans. ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, 127, (2005), 144-155.

Copeland, C., Seiler, M., and Martinez-Botas, R.F., “Comparison between Steady and Unsteady Double-Entry Turbine Performance Using the Quasi-Steady Assumption”, Transactions of ASME, Journal of Turbomachinery, 133, (2011), 031001-1-10.

Newton, P., Copeland, C., Martinez-Botas, R.F. and Seiler, M., “An Audit of Aerodynamic Loss in a Double Entry Turbine under Full and Partial Admission”, accepted for publication in the International Journal of Heat and Fluid flow, 33(1), (2012), 70-80.

Chiong, M.S., Rajoo, S., Romagnoli, A., Costall, A.W. and Martinez-Botas, R.F., “Integration of Meanline and One-Dimensional Methods for Prediction of Pulsating Performance of a Turbocharger Turbine", Energy Conversion and Management, 81, (2014), 270-281.

Gambhir, A., Tse, L.K.C., Tong, D. And  Martinez-Botas, R.F.,“Reducing China's road transport sector CO2 emissions to 2050: Technologies, costs and decomposition analysis”, Applied Energy, (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.01.018. 

Wu, B., Yufit, V., Merla, Y., Martinez-Botas, R.F., Brandon, N.P., Offer, G.J, “Differential thermal voltammetry for tracking of degradation in lithium-ion batteries”, Jounal of Power Sources, 273:495–501, (2014) doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.09.127.

Hey, J., Teo, T.J., Bui, V.P., Yang, G. and Martinez-Botas, R.F., “Electromagnetic actuator design analysis using a two stage optimization method with coarse-fine model output space mapping,” IEEE Trans. Industrial Electronics, 61, Issue 10, (2014), 545 –5464.

Malloy, A., Lamperth, M. and Martinez-Botas, R.F., “A Criterion for Determining the Relative Importance of the Fluctuating Component of a Periodic Heat Source”, Energy Conversion and Management, (2015). Paper No. ECM-D-14-01489R1

 

Best Paper Awards:

• Best paper award by the Turbomachinery Committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2009 for the paper: Copeland, C., Martinez-Botas, R.F. and Seiler, M., “Unsteady performance of a twin entry turbocharger turbine with a comparison to steady flow conditions”.
• Best paper award by the Turbomachinery Committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers received in 2010 for the paper: Copeland, C., Newton, P., Martinez-Botas, R.F. and Seiler, M., “The Effect of Unequal Admission on the Performance and Loss Generation in a Double-Entry Tubocharger Turbine”.
• Awarded The Dugald Clerk Prize by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK) in 2011. The quotation of this prize reads: “Awarded annually to the author(s) of an original paper dealing with a subject with which the late Sir Dugald Clerk was associated (i.e. marine/automobile internal combustion engines) or for contribution or achievement in that field”.

Editorships:

• Associate Editor of the Journal of Turbomachinery, American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
• Associate Editor of the Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Part C of the Proceeding of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Visiting Profesorships:

• Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
• Nanyang Technological University.

Organizing Committee Membership:

• Appointed Vanguard-Chair in the Turbomachinery Committee for the International Gas Turbine Turbo Expo & Congress organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 2012.
• 8^th, 9^th, 10^th & 11^th International Conference on Turbochargers and Turbocharging, London Turbocharger (2006, 2010, 2012, 2014).
• 24^th Symposium on Fluid Machinery organized by ASME, Puerto Rico, 2012.
• 2010 International Conference on Pumps and Fans, Hangzhou, China, 18-21 November 2010.
• 5^th International Symposium on Fluids Machinery and Fluids Engineering, Seol, South Korea, 2012.
• 4^th International Symposium on Fluids Machinery and Fluids Engineering, Beijing, 24-27 November, 2008. 

Professional Merberships

• Member of the Science Advisory Council of the UK Department for Transport, 2014.
• Vice-Chair of UnICEG (University Internal Combustion Engines Group, UK).
• Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
• Member of the Heat Transfer and Turbomachinery Committees of ASME.
• Member of Scientific Council of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer (www.ichmt.org)
• Oversees Expert Committee Member for the Chinese National Center of Special Valves and Pump, Beijing.
• Member of the board of the Combustions Engines and Fuels Group in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK).