Professor David Hutchins

Biography

Professor David Hutchins obtained his PhD from the University of Aston in Birmingham. Subsequently, he had postdoctoral posts at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), the University of Hull (UK), and Dalhousie University (Canada), before joining Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, as an Assistant/Associate Professor. He subsequently moved back to the UK, where he became a Professor in the School of Engineering in 1995. He received an IET Achievement medal in 2015 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2016.

Research Interests

Professor David Hutchins has research interests in the design and fabrication of ultrasonic systems for imaging and measurement. This has increasingly involved systems based on metamaterials in collaboration with Professor Peter Thomas in the School of Engineering. This includes both Fabry-Perot resonant structures (in collaboration with the Universities of Perugia and Calabria in Italy) and more latterly in phononic crystals. The phononic crystal research is funded via the "MetacMed "EU doctoral network. Recent work has involved a collaboration with Professor Rudo Roemer in the Department of Physics, looking at the properties of defect metamaterial lattices Other research with Professor James Covington and Professor Duncan Billson is investigating the detection of rust using electronic noses. The "UNVEIL" EU doctoral network will involve techniques for measuring the properties of cultural heritage objects using air-coupled ultrasonic arrays and other related technologies.

Teaching Interests

Selected Publications

R.L. Watson, D.R. Billson, D.A. Hutchins and F. Ciampa, Thermosonic inspection of carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites using an airborne haptic ultrasonic phased array, NDT & E International NDT & E International Volume 132, 102731 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2022.102731 

L. Nie, D.A. Hutchins, L. Astolfi, T.P. Cooper, A.T. Clare, C. Adams, R.L. Watson, P.J. Thomas, D.M.J. Cowell, J.R. McLaughlan, S. Laureti, M. Ricci, Steven Freear, “A Metallic Additively Manufactured Metamaterial for Enhanced Monitoring of Acoustic Cavitation-Based Therapeutic Ultrasound”, Advanced Engineering Materials 2100972 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202100972

L. Astolfi, D. A. Hutchins, P.J. Thomas, R.L. Watson, L. Nie, S. Freear, A.T. Clare, M. Ricci, and S. Laureti, “Holey-structured tungsten metamaterials for broadband ultrasonic sub-wavelength imaging in water”, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 150, 74 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0005483

A. Zitoun, S.M. Dixon, M. Kazilas and D.A. Hutchins, The Effect of Changes in Magnetic Field and Frequency on the Vibration of a Thin Magnetostrictive Patch as a Tool for Generating Guided Ultrasonic Waves, Sensors 22(3), 766 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/s22030766

Projects and Grants