Operational Structure

Operational Structure

The Research Computing Services (RCS) is led by the Director of RCS and supported by a strategic leadership team and dedicated team leads, who oversee day-to-day operations across our core service areas.

Governance on behalf of the research community is provided by the Academic Leadership Team (ALT), with valuable input from the Faculty Compute Committees and the RCS Technical Advisory Group (RCS‑TAG).

RCS Academic Leadership Team

The RCS Academic Leadership Team (ALT) maintains a two-way exchange of information with the Faculty Compute Committees, ensuring that faculty needs and priorities are clearly represented and acted upon.

The ALT also serves as a formal channel for communication with higher-level College committees, escalating issues and contributing to strategic decision-making when required.

Subgroups within the ALT are embedded in wider ICT activities, providing input and oversight across key areas such as data, Research Software Engineering (RSE), user engagement, technical governance, and assurance.

Research Computing Services - Associates

RCS Associates are members of departments throughout the university who manage departmental access to HEX-AI (HX3) to support and enable teaching on the cluster. They work closely with RCS members to ensure the smooth running of the service for both research and teaching.

For more information on HX3 and a list of our Associates, please visit the HX3 page.

Faculty Compute Committees

The RCS Academic Leadership Team (ALT) meets regularly with the Faculty Compute Committees, with the frequency and format of meetings organised by each Faculty.

Research Computing Service - Technical Advisory Group (RCS-TAG)

Established during the procurement of HEX-AI (HX3) in 2025, the RCS Technical Advisory Group (RCS‑TAG) convenes on an ad-hoc basis to support high-level decisions that affect the wider research community.

Members:

Andrew Richards, Director of Research Computing Services, ICT

David Hempston, Principal Research Infrastructure Engineer, RCS, ICT 

Emily Lumley, Research Engagement Lead, RCS, ICT

Trevor Newbury, Product Technology Specialist, RCS, ICT

Jenny Rae, Chief Information Officer, ICT

Dugan Witherick, Head of Research Computing Platforms, RCS, ICT

Katerina Michalickova, Principal Teaching Fellow, Early Career Researcher Institute

Faculty of Engineering

Terence Crombie, Research Computing Analyst, Department of Chemical Engineering

Lloyd Kamara, Computing Support Manager, Department of Computing

Bernhard Mainz, Professor in Medical Imaging Computing, Department of Computing

Jawad Sadek, Department of Computing

Benjamin Scharpf, Cloud and GPU Infrastructure Manager, Department of Computing

Duncan White, Senior Systems Programmer, Department of Computing

Gerard Gorman, Professor of Computational Science and Engineering, Department of Earth Science and Engineering

Gareth Oliver, Computer and Data Manager, Department of Earth Science and Engineering

Francois van Schalkwyk, Senior AI Software Engineer, Department of Earth Science and Engineering

Stefano Galvan, Senior Research Software Engineer, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Idris Kevin, Mohammed, Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Natural Sciences

Michael Bearpark, Professor and Director of User Engagement, Department of Chemistry

David Colling, Professor of Physics and e-Science, Department of Physics