Automobile Division Yorkshire Centre Technical Lecture meeting at the University of Bradford, on Tuesday 15 March 2016.
Speaker: Professor Andrew Day, MA, PhD, CEng FIMechE
Professor Andrew Day, former Dean of Engineering and Ford Professor at the University of Bradford, returned to the University on 15 March to give an invited technical lecture on Road Vehicle Braking.
Andrew Day started working in brakes when he joined local firm Mintex in 1977, as Research Engineer in new friction materials. He gained his PhD degree from Loughborough University, supervised by Peter Newcomb and then moved to the University of Bradford in 1985 where he continued researching into brakes and braking systems and became Dean of the School of Engineering, Design and Technology 2002 - 2008. since retiring from the University in 2013 he has continued to work as a specialist consultant in Braking.
Professor Day started his lecture with some basic theory relating to road vehicle braking system design and then quickly moved on to explain how the vehicle's braking system has become pivotal in the on-board systems for vehicle stability control which are among the most important active safety systems required by law in modern road vehicles. He explained how the vehicle's computer systems control electronic brakeforce distribution to each wheel, antilock braking, traction control, electronic stability control, and many other active safety systems. He showed videos (which are freely available on the internet) to illustrate the systems in operation, and answered many questions from the audience.
The Chairman of the Yorkshire Centre Automobile Division Committee, Professor Martin Priest, thanked Professor Day for his lecture, and hoped that the audience would drive safely on their way home.