Key details
Dr Kaushika Hettiaratchi
Academic Portfolio Leader in Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering
Kaushika joined the School of Engineering in October 1993 as a part-time lecturer whilst still undertaking research within the school.
Academic and industrial experience
Senior Lecturer and Course Tutor for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 of BEng Engineering and Engineering Technology Degree Programmes. Current duties include mentoring, lecturing and tutoring PhD students, MSc students and undergraduates at all stages. Final year individual project supervisor for final year students. Senior lecturer for final year Engineering Systems Dynamics and second year Dynamics for Mechanical Systems. Senior lecturer for first year Mechanical Principles and Mathematics.
Link tutor for partner colleges and recruitment co-ordinator and industrial placements advisor. Teaching duties encompass the continued development of teaching syllabuses, supervision of students at all levels, laboratories and workshops. Previous teaching duties have included workshop style courses in communication skills and CAD skills, introductory courses in Pro-Engineer and C programming.
Administrative duties include enhancement of student experience through personal development plans and personal tutoring. Currently involved with the delivery of foundation degree courses.
Design supervision
Successfully supervised and managed several design teams, where students have been required to design, manufacture and cost components. One of Kaushika's design teams successfully designed a water purification system for developing countries where access to clean drinking water was difficult. More recently, his teams have successfully designed, manufactured and produced optimised manufacturing and assembly strategies for an audio equipment manufacturer.
September 1996 to August 2005. Medway School of Engineering, University of Greenwich.
Lecturer and programme leader for the BEng Extended Degree. The course was praised in May 1998 by a Higher Education Funding Council of England Quality Audit Panel for the quality of the course management.
September 1993 to August 1996. Medway School of Engineering, University of Greenwich. Lecturer. Duties included lecturing, laboratory supervision. Responsible for the administration and development of the Extended Degree course along with recruitment of students and external liaison with partner colleges.
October 1989 to August 1993: Research engineer. The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, University of Greenwich.
Responsibilities within the university
Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Academic Portfolio Lead
Course tutor for:
- Engineering Foundation Mathematics
- Mechanical Principles
- Dynamics of Mechanical Systems
- Engineering Systems Dynamics.
Recognition
- Associate member of IMechE
Research / Scholarly interests
Engineering interests and activities
Kaushika's engineering interests include system dynamics, vibrations and the analysis and modelling of dynamic system and structural dynamics. He is currently involved with knowledge management of industrial processes involving manufacturing and materials handling systems, and the use of sustainable technology and recyclability of products for developed and emerging economies. He has a special interest in water management and treatment and waste neutral technologies.
Current research activities
PhD supervision: Successfully supported a PhD student as special advisor (second supervisor) undertaking research into knowledge management to support rapid prototyping.
MSc supervision: First supervisor to MSc student undertaking research project in measurement of the response of pneumatically levitated platform.
Postgraduate support to other disciplines – pastoral and technical.
PhD research activities
PhD thesis: A comparison between the pressure gradients in vertical and horizontal pneumatic conveying, with an investigation into the effect of pipeline bore in vertical conveying.
Research into the effect of product characteristics on pressure drop in pneumatic conveying systems.
Responsibilities included the management of development and re-instrumentation of test facility for conducting pneumatic conveying trials. The environment for pneumatic conveying necessitated the need for compliance with current COSHH regulations and Health and Safety guidelines. This project involved the management of technician support and liaison with external component suppliers.
The project was targeted at improving the understanding and design of pneumatic conveying systems with particular emphasis on the effect of product characteristics on pressure drop in pipelines. The project involved the development of a control room to provide a clean environment for data logging and computing facilities. Experience of hardware and control systems which encompassed equipment such as compressors, blow tanks, feed hoppers, pressure transducers and pneumatic actuators. Experience in fluidisation techniques and measurement of fluidisation properties of materials. Experience with particle size analysis using 'Malvern' analyser.
To date, primary author of five papers, detailing own research in the field of pneumatic conveying.
Key funded projects
Involved with A Knowledge Sharing Framework to Support Rapid Prototyping in Collaborative Automotive Supply Chain. This was an investigation into knowledge sharing between manufacturers and suppliers and the development of a mechanism – a knowledge sharing framework – to enable better communication between companies to reduce lead times and reduce costs. Successfully implemented framework between IranKhodro Diesel and CarGlass Company (Iran).
Recent publications
2005, Hettiaratchi, K., Reed, A.R., Bradley, M.S.A., An Investigation into the Effect of Product Type and Pipeline Diameter in Pneumatic Conveying through Vertical Pipelines for Conference on Handing of Particulate and Bulk Solids, Sorrento, Italy August 2005.
2000, Hettiaratchi, K., Reed, A.R., Bradley, M.S.A., The Effect of Pipeline Bore in Pneumatic Conveying Pipelines for Conference on Bulk Materials Storage, Handling and Transportation, Davos, Switzerland June 2000.
1998, Hettiaratchi, K., Woodhead, S.R., Reed, A.R., Bradley, M.S.A., Smith, M.J. The Effect of Pipeline Bore on the Conveying of Cement in Vertical Pipelines. 6th International Conference on Bulk Materials Storage, Handling and Transportation. University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, September 1998.
1996, Hettiaratchi, K., Woodhead, S.R., Reed, A.R., Comparison between Pressure Drop in Horizontal and Vertical Pneumatic Conveying Pipelines, Powder Technology 95 pp67-73
1992, Hettiaratchi, K., Reed, A.R., Bradley, M.S.A., The Comparison between Pressure Gradients in Horizontal Pneumatic Conveying Pipelines and Vertical Pneumatic Conveying Pipelines for Conference on Bulk Materials Storage, Handling and Transportation, Australia 1992