Summary
Current activities
I am a Senior Strategic Teaching Fellow in the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London. My main activity is module lead for the Engineering Practice 1 module, in which I teach practical engineering and design to classes of up to 170 undergraduates throughout their first year. Students on the module have engaged in disassembling, rebuilding (and test driving) small-scale piston-engined racing cars, re-engineering radio-controlled electric off-road trucks into planetary rovers and urban electric vehicles, and designing, building and testing small wind turbines as personal power devices.
During the pandemic the module was adapted to run remotely, with students collaborating in teams across the globe to complete real engineering tasks at home, based around devices and hand-tools sent out by post, as well as a design-build-test project involving rapid prototyping and remote testing.
I also supervise summer projects where students work in partnership with staff to develop the Aeronautics curriculum. Recently this has included design and development of learning materials for Dassault Systems' 3DExperience engineering software, which students learn as part of the EP1 module.
My current research activities include flow measurement techniques and design of human assistive technologies such as sports equipment and orthopaedic devices.
Background
I obtained my BSc in Physics from Imperial College London followed by an MSc in Mechanical Engineering, also at Imperial. I then went on to do a D.Phil in Engineering Science at Oxford University under Prof. Martin Oldfield.
Prior to teaching at Imperial College I held a Stipendiary Lectureship at Pembroke College, Oxford where I taught thermofluids, electromagnetism and mathematics to small groups of first and second year undergraduates from 2009 until 2022.
Since joining Imperial I have also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in University Teaching and Learning, and I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
My research background is in gas turbine aero-thermodynamics and heat transfer: specifically velocity- and temperature- turbulence characterisation and short-duration temperature and pressure measurements in gas turbine combustion chambers, afterburners and other high-enthalpy test facilities.
After completing my doctorate I worked in the High-Speed Turbomachinery Group at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute, carrying out research in experimental combustor simulator development and high-pressure nozzle guide vane capacity, aerodynamic loss and heat transfer measurement for high-bypass civilian aero engines including the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 and Trent XWB, which power the Airbus A380 and A350-XWB respectively.
I have also worked on large-scale combustion experiments at Rolls-Royce, Derby, Qinetiq, Shoeburyness, Volvo Aero (now GKN Aerospace Engine Systems) in Trollhättan, Sweden and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Takasago, Japan. I have also been involved with the design and development of large-scale high-speed (transient) experimental research facilities for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries power gas turbines and Rolls-Royce aero-engines.
Publications
Burdett, D., Lubbock, R., and Povey, T., 2018, “An Impulse Response Technique to Improve the Effective Frequency Response of Pressure Probes,” Proceedings of the XXIV Biannual Symposium on Measuring Techniques in Turbomachinery Transonic and Supersonic Flow in Cascades and Turbomachines, MTT - Measuring Techniques in Turbomachinery, Prague, Czech Republic.
Lubbock R., Oldfield M., 2018, "Turbulent velocity and pressure fluctuations in gas turbine combustor exit flows," Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy. 2018;232(4):337-349.
Lubbock, R., Luque, S., and Rosic, B., 2018, "A New Transient High Heat Flux Convection Calibration Facility for Heat Transfer Gauges in High Enthalpy Flows." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. April 2018; 140(4): 041701
Kirollos B., Lubbock R., Beard P., et al.,2017, "ECAT: an engine component aerothermal facility at the University of Oxford," Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2017, Charlotte, NC, USA, 26–30 June 2017, Paper No. GT2017-64736
Luque, S., Kanjirakkad, V., Aslanidou, I., Lubbock, R., Rosic, B., and Uchida, S., 2015. "A New Experimental Facility to Investigate Combustor–Turbine Interactions in Gas Turbines With Multiple Can Combustors." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. May 2015; 137(5): 051503.
Lubbock, R., Luque, S., and Rosic, B., 2014, “Transient convection calibration of heat transfer gauges for high enthalpy flows,” Proceedings of the XXII Biannual Symposium on Measuring Techniques in Turbomachinery Transonic and Supersonic Flow in Cascades and Turbomachines, MTT - Measuring Techniques in Turbomachinery, Lyon, France.
Luque, S., Kanjirakkad, V., Aslanidou, I., Lubbock, R., Rosic, B., & Uchida, S., 2014, "A New Experimental Facility to Investigate Combustor-Turbine Interactions in Gas Turbines With Multiple Can Combustors," Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2014. Düsseldorf, Germany. June 16–20, 2014. V02CT38A055. ASME.
Lubbock, R., 2014, "Turbulent velocity and temperature measurements in gas turbine hot sections", D.Phil thesis, Oxford University.
Lubbock, R., & Oldfield, M., 2011, "High Frequency Pressure Measurements With an Uncooled Fast Insertion Probe at Turbine Exit in a Turbojet Engine," Proceedings of the ASME 2011 Turbo Expo. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. June 6–10, 2011. pp. 83-94. ASME.