Tire Technology 2016 Young Scientist Award for Coventry PhD Student Greg Smith

The Tire Technology 2016 Young Scientist Prize was won by Gregory Smith for his paper on 'GS2MF', an advanced, flat-track tire test procedure used to gather data to parameterise Magic Formula 6.1 tire models. Smith has his own company, Tyre CAE & Modelling Consultants, but does much of his work at Jaguar Land Rover. He is also studying for a Ph.D, supervised by Professor Mike Blundell at Coventry University in the UK, and in his spare time writes for Tire Technology International. 

“I’m extremely excited to have won and certainly didn’t expect to!” said Smith. “As ever with these big research and development projects, it’s not all one person’s work. I’d like to thank Jaguar Land Rover, who funded all the research; my line manager at Jaguar Land Rover, Jan Prins, who encouraged me to keep working on it; my colleagues Mateo Gladstone and Benjamin Dwyer, who made some major contributions; and Henning Olsson of Calspan, who also played a big part.”

All of the Young Scientist Prize nominees had their presentations to the 2016 Tire Technology Conference independently judged. Smith hopes to return next year to report on further developments: “I was able to present the basic GS2MF for Magic Formula 6.1 models, but I’ve been working on thermal models as well,” he said. “Next year I hope to present GS2MF+T, as it’s called, which includes extra testing to characterise the temperature sensitivity of a tire.”

During the presentation Smith discussed the four patents pending covering various innovations that are integrated into GS2MF, but went to explain that the patents are not there to stop others from using the technology. Instead Smith said "I hope that GS2MF will help support a collaborating working effort, where like-minded individuals can use GS2MF, further improve and develop it, then share those developments back into the community". Finally Smith went on to explain that GS2MF generated a 72% cost saving compared to traditional test methods. This has resulted in Jaguar Land Rover being able to deliver 4 times as many Magic Formula models for the same budget, therefor supporting the growth of the wider business.

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