Professor Stuart Burgess
Biomimetics, Engineering (UK)
Professor Burgess has held academic posts at Bristol University, Cambridge University and Liberty University in the USA. At Bristol University he was appointed Head of Department three times between 2004 and 2011. He has worked for the European Space Agency and was the lead designer for the solar array on the world’s largest civilian earth-observation spacecraft (Envisat). He also led the design and testing of the chain drive for the British Olympic Cycling Team who won a record six gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was invited to exhibit this work at the Royal Society (National Academy of Sciences) in the UK in 2017 where it received national publicity. He has published over 160 scientific papers on the science of design in engineering and nature.
He has received several national awards for his engineering designs including the Turners Gold Medal, the Wessex Scientific Medal,a Molins Design Prize awarded by the Minister of State for Trade and Industry in the UK, and the 2019 IMechE James Clayton Prize (“the premier IMechE prize and is given for making a major contribution to mechanical engineering science in the UK”). He has written several books on apologetics including Hallmarks of Design. He has given talks on the Design Argument at many institutions around the world including the USA, Canada, El Salvador, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Japan, and many European countries.
See CMI’s interview with Professor Burgess.
UK National Awards for Engineering Design
2019 IMechE James Clayton Prize, for “a major contribution to mechanical engineering science in the UK”
2008 Wessex Institute Scientific Medal
1997 Worshipful Company of Turners Bronze Medal
1993 Worshipful Company of Turners Gold Medal (Presented by Professor R. N. Franklin, Vice Chancellor of
City University)
1993 UK Mitutoyo Design Prize
1986 Design Council Molins Prize (Presented by the Right Hon Peter Morrison, Minister of State for Trade
& Industry)
1985 IMechE National Queen’s Silver Jubilee Competition, Second Place
Professor Burgess has an extensive publication record (too many to list here). Here are some of his more recent papers, just from 2012:
- D Raabe, A Harrison, AJ Ireland, K Alemzadeh, JR Sandy, S Dogramadzi, CR Melhuish, SC Burgess, Improved single-and multi-contact life-time testing of dental restorative materials using key characteristics of the human masticatory system and a force/position-controlled robotic dental wear simulator, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 7, (pp. 1–17), 2012
- Stuart C Burgess, Chung Seng Ling, Torquil Pyper, A linear actuated chain test rig capable of accelerated test speeds and continuous wear measurements, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 226, 2012. ISBN: 09544062
- Ralph P Evins, P Pointer, Stuart C Burgess, Multi-objective optimisation of a modular building for different climate types, 2012
- Ralph P Evins, P. Pointer, Stuart C Burgess, Visual data exploration in sustainable building design, 2012
- Paul M Gibbons, C Kennedy, Stuart C Burgess, Patrick S Godfrey, The Development of a Value Improvement Model for Repetitive Processes (VIM): Combining Lean, Six Sigma & Systems Thinking, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma 3, (pp. 315), 2012
- A Boxerbaum, A Klein, J Kline, Stuart C Burgess, R Quinn, R Harkins, Ravi Vaidyanathan, Design, Simulation, Fabrication and Testing of a Bio-Inspired Amphibious Robot with Multiple Modes of Mobility, Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 24, (pp. 629), 2012. ISBN: 0915–3942
- Appolinaire C Etoundi, Ravi Vaidyanathan, Stuart C Burgess, A bio-inspired condylar knee joint for leg amputees and for knee implants, (pp. 23–34), 2012
- OA Araromi, SC Burgess A finite element approach for modelling multilayer unimorph dielectric elastomer actuators with inhomogeneous layer geometry, Smart Materials and Structures 21, (pp. 1–11), 2012
- PM Gibbons, SC Burgess, C Kennedy, P Godfrey, Lean thinking: developing a theory of an eighth waste, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma 3, (pp. 4–27), 2012
- R Evins, P Pointer, R Vaidyanathan, SC Burgess, A case study exploring regulated energy use in domestic buildings using design-of-experiments and multi-objective optimisation, Building and Environment 54, (pp. 126–136), 2012
Creation articles
- Overdesign in the human being with a case study of facial expressions, Journal of Creation 28(1):98–103, 2014.
- Oliver, J.D. and Burgess, S.C., Atheism, evolutionism and families: analysis of a recent popular psychology article, 17 January 2013.
- The beauty of the peacock tail and the problems with the theory of sexual selection, Journal of Creation 15(2):94–102, 2001.
- Critical characteristics and the irreducible knee joint, Journal of Creation 13(2):112–117, 1999.