Welcome to academia after 30 years in industry

By Hinke Osinga, University of Bristol
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Andrew Cliffe in his office, April 2010 Interview with K Andrew Cliffe,
University of Nottingham, UK

by Hinke Osinga,
University of Bristol, UK
Andrew Cliffe in his office, April 2010.  

Andrew Cliffe is Professor of Computational Applied Mathematics at the University of Nottingham. He obtained a BA in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge in 1975 and subsequently got a position as a Scientific Officer at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, at Harwell Laboratory. Hinke Osinga asked what motivated him to work in industry, and why after 30 years, he decided to apply for a Professorship.

Working in a research lab in industry

As a student Andrew loved mathematics. During his degree he chose to study topics on the applied side with courses in Fluid Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Elasticity, and also Quantum Physics, Relativity Theory and other options in Theoretical Physics. "I love the beauty and elegance of mathematics. Even when things get messy you can still end up with a nice result." Andrew got his BA after three years of study and had not given much thought about what to do next.
Andrew could have stayed on and taken Part III to qualify for a PhD position at Cambridge, but he did not really fancy doing that. His tutor, John Knott suggested some places; in particular, he mentioned Harwell and also the research labs of the Central Electricity Generation Board (the CEGB was nationalized in the 1990s). "I liked the research focus of the CEGB and thought they were a very good organization. Unfortunately, they didn't want me." Andrew did get an interview at Harwell. "This was quite a serious affair and the interviews took two days, during which I met a lot of really good people who did very interesting and exciting things. The place felt very much like a university, but without the teaching." The procedure included an interview at Oxford, because Harwell had a practice of taking people on to do a PhD in Oxford. A PhD position, however, meant a three-year contract, that would typically be extended for another three years of postdoctoral research, but not necessarily end in a permanent position. Andrew was offered the choice of doing a PhD or starting immediately on a permanent position as Scientific Officer. "I chose the permanent position for job security."     Graduating from Cambridge in June 1975; Andrew is standing in the middle
Graduating from Cambridge in June 1975; Andrew is standing in the middle.

Andrew never worried about not having a PhD. "In those days, Harwell was one of the best places in the world and top scientists were working there. I joined the Theoretical Physics Division, which was a small group of about 30 people. (Incidentally, the infamous Klaus Fuchs was the first Head of the Division.)" The Theoretical Physics Division was a very active and vibrant research environment. "When I worked there, we had three Fellows of the Royal Society in our Division. The people there were very brilliant and I found the high-powered environment rather daunting, but fantastic at the same time. I was very happy with my job and never looked back or wondered whether I should have done a PhD."

Andrew Cliffe with colleagues John Rae (left) and Juan Matthews (right), from Theoretical Physics Division at Harwell     Andrew joined a project to develop finite-element codes for computational fluid dynamics with applications in engineering. "We worked on heat transfer in fluid flows and this is where I gained my expertise in two-phase flows and fluid dynamics in general. There were only few commercial CFD codes around, so we were really doing cutting-edge research. Harwell was the first place in the UK to get a supercomputer. I worked with people in the Computer Science Division, such as Iain Duff and John Reid. Other well known mathematicians working there at the time included Mike Powell, and Alan Curtis. Really, it was an amazing place to work!"
Andrew Cliffe with colleagues John Rae (left) and Juan Matthews (right), from Theoretical Physics Division at Harwell.

A Royal Society Industrial Fellowship at Oxford, 1986-1988

In the 1980s Andrew became interested in bifurcation theory and chaotic dynamics, mainly due to a seminar presentation at Harwell by Brooke Benjamin who spoke on the Taylor problem. The Taylor problem concerns viscous fluid flow between two concentric rotating cylinders. At relatively low rotational velocities the flow is laminar, also called circular Couette flow. However, as the velocity of the inner cylinder increases, the laminar flow becomes unstable and other more complicated patterns arise that eventually develop into turbulent flow with increasing rotational velocity. In 1923, Taylor published his seminal paper "Stability of a Viscous Liquid Contained between Two Rotating Cylinders," where he gives a theoretical derivation of the critical speed at which the instability arises. "This paper was significant because it was the first time that anyone had obtained agreement between the theoretical and experimental stability boundaries. Until Taylor's paper there had been a crisis in fluid dynamics, because there was no agreement between stability results obtained from the Navier-Stokes equations and experiments." Taylor had chosen his problem carefully: by using long cylinders he was able to argue that end effects could be ignored.

Benjamin studied the effect of the ends of the cylinders by means of arguments from topological degree theory. "His presentation at Harwell really got me interested in the problem. I realised that I could do the computations for those equations and corroborate the theory with numerical results." Andrew ended up meeting with Benjamin and his postdoc Tom Mullin. "I visited Benjamin and Mullin in Oxford. Brooke Benjamin, though extremely eminent, was a really nice guy. I showed him my initial results and he got very excited about them. He said I should go back to Harwell and do some more computations. So I did and I started collaborating with Tom Mullin in the early 1980s." Andrew clearly enjoyed this project and loves talking about it. "The 1980s was an exciting time. Chaos and dynamical systems were new subjects and I was in the fantastic position of having great computer facilities at Harwell.
I could just put a few things together and get results that I am still very proud of." The collaboration with Tom Mullin was extremely satisfying. "Benjamin discussed things with us and gave many helpful suggestions, but he never interfered with our work. He also helped me apply for a Royal Society Industrial Fellowship." As a result, Andrew got a visiting position at Oxford for the period 1986-1988 to work with Benjamin and Mullin. As it happens, this position had an additional benefit: "As soon as you get an affiliation with Oxford University, they insist on matching any degree you may have from Cambridge. So, Oxford awarded me an MA and I ended up having three degrees, but I only ever really earned one of them!"     Andrew Cliffe with his long-term collaborator Tom Mullin from the University of Manchester
Andrew Cliffe with his long-term collaborator Tom Mullin from the University of Manchester.

The environment at Harwell in the 1980's was as close to paradise as Andrew could imagine. "Of course, the UKAEA had a research strategy. However, if you were able to justify a particular project, you could more or less do what you wanted. During my Industrial Fellowship I was supposed to spend half my time at Oxford, but I ended up being in Oxford almost all the time!" The collaboration with Mullin continued and later included Mullin's student Simon Tavener. Andrew also developed links with the University of Bath and worked with Alastair Spence on bifurcation problems.

Value for money versus adventure and risk

And then times changed... Gradually, there was not as much freedom to choose research projects and the pot of money for fundamental research dwindled. "Harwell became a more commercial organization and I had to work increasingly on more applied and less adventurous and risky projects. Effectively, I was working for a science and engineering consultancy company." As a fairly senior person, Andrew was expected to be more involved in management, chairing meetings, preparing bids for project, and so on --- basically, being profitable. "In the early part of my career at Harwell I had to attend regular promotion panel meetings. This was a big thing: you had to put a suit and tie on and go to London to be interviewed by a panel of eminent senior scientists. Their major concern was whether you published and whether there was evidence of the scientific impact of your work. For promotion to the career grade Principal Scientific Officer, management skills became a major requirement. To be perfectly honest, management didn't interest me --- this was reflected in the feedback that read his answers to the management questions were bordering on the naive!"

In the mid 1990's the UKAEA's nuclear liability was split off and the rest of the organization was privatised as AEA Technology. One area Andrew had specialized in was radioactive waste disposal. He had worked on a number of projects for what was then called Nirex, and he had developed an interest in uncertainty quantification as a result. AEA Technology decided to concentrate on energy and environment and in 2001 sold off the nuclear research branch to Serco. Andrew got to work for the part of the company called Serco Assurance. "The focus of the company was quite different to that at Harwell when I first joined and I realized that perhaps I needed a new challenge."

Andrew Cliffe and the Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences David Riley     In 2000 Andrew applied for an academic position at the University of Nottingham. "David Riley was the Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences and I had known him for a long time. Unfortunately, my wife became ill at that time and I realized that I couldn't deal with the additional upheaval associated with changing jobs." Hence, just before the candidates were invited for interview, Andrew spoke with David Riley, explained the situation and withdrew his application. "I felt really bad about this and was convinced they would probably never consider me for a position again."
Andrew Cliffe and the Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences David Riley.

Andrew returned to his normal routine and continued working at Harwell. "I did miss doing risky and adventurous research, which is not compatible with doing consultancy work, where the main objective is to complete projects on time and within budget."

Then, in late 2004, Andrew was invited to give a seminar in Nottingham. After his presentation, David Riley invited him to his office. "We just had a nice chat and I was pleased that his busy schedule allowed for it. As I was leaving his office, he gave me a piece of paper with an advertisement for a position of Chair in Applied Mathematics." Andrew got home and discussed this opportunity with his wife. "It was a big deal for us, but my wife was incredibly supportive. She convinced me I should apply." And this is how Andrew got offered a Chair at Nottingham. Initially his position was partly funded by Rolls Royce and he has been heavily involved in the University Technology Centre at Nottingham. He is working with colleagues supervising students and postdocs on various projects related to gas turbine transmission systems.

Academic freedom comes with responsibilities

"My first working day at Nottingham was on the first of September 2005. I remember the day very well. To get to work I cycled through Wollaton Park and the weather was absolutely marvellous." For Andrew it felt like he had regained a long-lost freedom: finally he could make decisions again on what research to pursue.

"It was a bit scary too. I was worried about two things: 1. Could I teach undergraduates? and 2.  Would I be able to get a grant?" As it turned out, Andrew enjoyed teaching from day one. "My first lecture was to a group of 130 students. When I walked in, I thought: I am terrified! But it did not last very long. I learnt very quickly that you never go beyond 10 to the hour, though --- when your time is up, the students will just leave!" Apart from that, Andrew is very positive about his students. "The students are very polite, pleasant and respectful, though some could perhaps work a bit harder." As to Andrew's second concern, his first three grant applications failed. "There is a big difference between academic grants and projects in a commercial context. At Harwell we were in competition with other companies, but there is not a lot of scope to differentiate on the science: the main goal is to ensure you are better value for money. In academia the focus is on the quality of the science."

Andrew Cliffe with Henry Power from the Department of Mechanical Materials and Manufacturing Engineering
  Andrew Cliffe with Henry Power from the Department of Mechanical Materials and Manufacturing Engineering.  

Overall, it is hard to explain the essential difference between work at Harwell and at Nottingham. "I didn't leave Harwell because I was dissatisfied, it was more that I was not very good at the commercial aspects of the job and this bothered me." Indeed, when Andrew left, Serco told him he could come back if he wanted do. "I have a lot of respect for the people who work there and it was not easy to leave my colleagues and friends." Luckily, Andrew found his new colleagues to be equally friendly and cooperative. "I really value my academic collaborations; I've continued to work with old friends and have had the opportunity to meet and work with new people."

"One thing I really enjoyed about Harwell was that I never had to worry about whether what I was doing was significant: if a company was willing to pay for a project then clearly it mattered to them. I do feel that academic freedom brings with it responsibility to work on projects that are scientifically significant and important to the wider community. Much of my current work is concerned with energy and transport issues and I believe that, in a small way, I am helping to improve the environment."

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