DSc, FIMA, C.Math, FInstE, CEng FlintP, MIGEM, FRAeS

Professor Andrew Charles McIntosh holds an emeritus chair in Thermodynamics and Combustion Theory in Energy and Resources Research Institute at the University of Leeds, England, where he has lectured and researched in the field of Combustion and Explosions for over 20 years.  His research has included investigations involving fluids (the interaction of pressure waves with flames) as well as solids.  In the area of heterogeneous combustion he is interested in the safety of reactive substances, which can include traditional fuels such as coal, but also may include agrochemicals, some of which are now being used widely to increase crop yields, but in bulk can have unusual ignition properties.  Unusual chemical behavior is also being studied in collaboration with industry, with a view to developing carbon capture reactors for energy generation.

In the last few years Professor McIntosh has been involved in research in the area of biomimetics where the minute combusion chamber of the bombardier beetle has inspired a patented novel spray technology.  This led to research first sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), followed by extensive funding from industry to apply the technology to fuel injectors, pharmaceutical sprays, aerosols, and fire extinguishers.  Professor McIntosh is a trained mathematician and has worked in aerodynamics at Cranfield University and the Royal Aircraft  Establishment (Bedford) before going to Leeds where he gained a DSc in 1998 and a personal chair in 2000.  He became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2002 and in 2003 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.  He has over 180 publication in Journals and Conferences and has lectured widely internationally on these subjects and on the scientific question of origins on which the discipline  of thermodynamics has a fundamental bearing.

Some recent publications since 2006

Refereed Journal papers

Shah, A.A., Brindley, J. and McIntosh, A.C. “Gas-phase and heat-exchange effects on the ignition of high- and low – exothermicity porous solids subject to constant heating”, Jnl. Eng. Maths 56, 161-177, Nov. 2006.

 Shah, A.A., Brindley J., McIntosh, A.C. and Griffiths J.F. (2007) “Ignition and combustion of low – exothermicity porous materials by a local hotspot.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 463, pp.1287-1305.

Teerling, O.J.; McIntosh, A.C.; Brindley, J. (2007) Pressure wave excitation of natural flame frequencies. Combustion Theory and Modelling, 11(1), pp.147-164.

Beheshti, N. and McIntosh, A.C. (2007) “A biomimetic study of the explosive discharge of the Bombardier Beetle.” Int. J. of Design & Nature, 1(1), pp.61-69.

McIntosh, A.C., “True Science and Origins”, Science in Parliament 64 (3), 22-24, 2007

McIntosh, A.C., Combustion, fire, and explosion in nature – some biomimetic possibilities. Proc. IMechE, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 221(C10), 1157–1164, 2007

Beheshti, N. and McIntosh, A.C. “The bombardier beetle and its use of a pressure relief valve system to deliver a periodic pulsed spray” Bioinspiration and Biomimetics (Inst of Physics), 2, pp.57-64, 2007. 

McIntosh, A.C. “New technology derived from a beetle”, Public Service Review (PSCA International), Central Government 16, 150-151, April 2008.

McIntosh, A.C. and Beheshti, N, “Bio-inspiration for new pharmaceutical sprays”, Industrial Pharmacy (Euromed Communications), 17, 12-14, March 2008. 

McIntosh, A.C. and Beheshti, N, “Insect inspiration”, Physics World (Inst of Physics), 21(4), 29-31, April 2008.

Shah, A.A., Brindley, J., McIntosh, A.C. and Rademacher, J. “The effects of heat exchange and fluid production on the ignition of a porous solid” Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications, 9(2), 562-584, April 2008.

McIntosh, A.C. “Evidence of design in bird feather and avian respiration”, Int. J. of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, Vol. 4, No. 2, 154-169, 2009.

McIntosh, A.C. “Information and Entropy – Top-down or bottom-up development in living systems?” Int. J. of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, Vol. 4, No. 4, 351-385, 2009.

Hmaidi, A., McIntosh, A.C. and Brindley, J. “A mathematical model of hotspot condensed phase ignition in the presence of a competitive endothermic reaction”, Comb. Theory and Modelling 14(6), 893–920, October 2010. DOI: 10.1080/13647830.2010.519050.

Refereed parts of books

McIntosh, A.C. (2007) “Functional Information and entropy in living systems” In: 3rd International Conference on Design and Nature, New Forest June 2006, edited by C.A. Brebbia, WIT Press; pp. 115-126; ISBN 1-84564-166-3

Beheshti, N. and McIntosh, A.C. “A novel spray system inspired by the bombardier beetle” Presented Weds 25th June 2008 as Invited Presentation, Design and Nature IV, Proc of 4th Int. Conference on Design and Nature, Tivoli Almansor,  Algarve, Portugal, 24-26 June 2008, Ed. C.A. Brebbia, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 114, pp 13-21, WIT Press, 2008, 978-1-84564-120-7

McIntosh, A. C., “Biomimetic inspiration from fire and combustion in nature including the bombardier beetle” in Biomimetics and Bioinspiration, edited by Raul J. Martin-Palma, Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Proceedings of SPIE Conference San Diego, August 2009 SPIE Vol. 7401 (SPIE, Bellingham, WA 2009) 74010F.

McIntosh, A.C. and Prongidis, A. “Further biomimetic challenges from the Bombardier Beetle – the intricate chemical production system”, Invited presentation at Design and Nature V, Proc of 5th Int. Conference on Design and Nature, Pisa, Italy, 28-30 June 2010

Patents

McIntosh, A.C. and Beheshti, N. European Patent granted  Sept 2009 06794578.2 “Drug Delivery – Spray system based on bombardier beetle”

Beheshti, N. and McIntosh, A.C US Patent granted  Jan 2011 11/528,297 “Vapour Explosion Chamber”

Recent relevant invited lectures since 2006

 Bangalore, India, Tues 10^th January 2006, Space Technology Cell, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Invited Seminar “On the combustion chamber of Bombardier beetles, with possible biomimetic applications”

Hirosima, Japan, Mon 14^th May 2007, School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Joint Research Seminar : University of Leeds and Hiroshima University. Invited Lecture “Biomimetics – Fire and Explosion in nature”

Hiroshima, Japan, Mon 14^th May 2007, School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Joint Research Seminar : University of Leeds and Hiroshima University. Invited Lecture “Pressure Interactions with Premixed Flames”

Tokyo, Japan, Tues 15^th May 2007, Department of Chemical System Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. Invited Lecture “Pressure Interactions with Premixed Flames”

Tokyo, Japan, Weds 16^th May 2007, School of Frontier Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. Invited Lecture “Biomimetics – Fire and Explosion in nature”

Fri. 21^st Sept. 2007, 12^th Annual Biomimetics Meeting, University of Bath, Invited Lecture “Fire and explosion in nature – some biomimetic possibilities”.

Weds. 21^st Nov. 2007, Institute of Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdansk, Poland, Invited Lecture “Pressure Waves and Flames”.

Weds. 21^st Nov. 2007, Institute of Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdansk, Poland, Invited Lecture “Times’s arrow – Information, Entropy and DNA”.

Thurs. 22^nd Nov. 2007, Institute of Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdansk, Poland, Invited Lecture “Ignition of Materials”.

Thurs. 22^nd Nov. 2007, Institute of Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdansk, Poland, Invited Lecture “Fire and Explosion in Nature – some biomimetic possibilities”.

Fri. Jan. 25^th 2008, University of Missouri, Rolla, Missouri, USA, Invited Lecture “Design, Thermodynamics and Information”.

Fri. 25^th January 2008, Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, Invited lecture for module Design & Nature 4M, “The efficiency of the explosive discharge of the bombardier beetle, with possible biomimetic applications”.

Thurs 6^th March 2008, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, Invited Lecture “Design, Thermodynamics and Information”.

Weds 16^th April 2008, Catholic University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, Invited Lecture “Design, Thermodynamics and Information”.

23^rd April 2008, University of Nottingham, School of the Built Environment, Research Symposium “Breathing Space  – Biomimetic Design in the Built Environment”, Invited lecture, “Inspirational research from the bombardier beetle, with biomimetic applications”.

Mon 8^th September, Biological Sciences Biomimetics Seminar, University of Georgia, Atlanta, USA, Invited Lecture: “Insect Inspiration from the bombardier beetle”.

Fri 21^st October 2008, Biomimetics Symposium, Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, Keynote Lecture: “A novel spray system inspired by the bombardier beetle”.

Tues 9^th Dec 2008, Wyższa Szkoła Technologii Informatycznych w Katowice (Silesian Technical University, Katowice), Poland, Invited Lecture “Design, Thermodynamics and Information”.

Weds 10^th Dec 2008, Aula F (Rady Wydziału Informatyki), II piętro, Gliwice (Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice), Poland, Invited Lecture “Fire and Explosion in Nature”

Thurs 11^th Dec 2008, Silesian Technical University, Katowice, Invited Lecture “Pressure Waves and Flames”.

Weds 28^th Jan 2009, STFC – Science and Technology Facilities Council (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), Daresbury Laboratory, Computational Science and Engineering Department, Invited Lecture: “Insect Inspiration from the bombardier beetle”.

Tues 21^st April 2009, Physics Dept of Adam Mickiewicza University of Poznan, Poland, Invited Lecture, “Design, Information and Thermodynamics”.

Tues. 20^th April 2010, Institute of Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdansk, Poland, Invited Lecture “Fire and Explosion in Nature – some biomimetic possibilities”.

Weds 21^st April 2010, West University of Technology (ZUT), Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, Szczecin, Invited Lecture, “Design, Thermodynamics and Information”.

Weds 21^st April 2010, West University of Technology (ZUT), Faculty of Marine Technology, Szczecin, Invited Lecture “Fire and Explosion in Nature – some biomimetic possibilities”.

Recent media coverage – biomimetics research

(Note: If a link does not work properly, please copy and paste into URL)

(1) BBC Look North, Sept 2007

‘Beetle could be life saver – Leeds scientists believe the beetle’s unique spraying technique could be a clue to saving lives.’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7000000/newsid_7001600?redirect=7001696.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1

(2) BBC Material World, Nov 2007

‘The Bombardier Beetle’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/thematerialworld_20071108.shtml

 (3) Der Spiegel, “Lernen vom Kampfkäfer, vol 51, p. 144 17^th December 2007

 (4) Science Daily, April 2008

5th April 2008 : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401170543.htm

 (5) Scientific American, April 2008

3rd April 2008 60 second science, “Beetle Points Way To Better Spray”

http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=14B29E60-974B-1718-3B3079783FEBA66E&sc=rss

 (6) MSNBC News, May 2008

‘Beetle’s toxic blasts trigger Innovation; Scientists inspired by creature’s unusual defense mechanism’

19^th May 2008 : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24637825/

 (7) The Naked scientist show, May 2009 “Bioengineering – Engineering Inspired By Nature”

31^st May 2009 : http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/show/2009.05.31/

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1139/

http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_podcasts/09.05.31/Naked_Scientists_Show_09.06.02_3954.mp3

 (8) 25^th Nov. 2010 Times Higher Education (THE) Award for Outstanding contribution to innovation and technology, ‘Developing innovative spray technology based on the bombardier beetle’, Consortium of University of Leeds and Swedish Biomimetics 3000^® http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=494&pubCode=1&navcode=157

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-11959381

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/1300/leeds_team_wins_the_award

CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY

I was brought up in a caring religious home, regularly attending church, but not having any real grasp of the essence of the Christian Faith – conviction of sin, repentance and personal forgiveness, through the Cross of Christ.

Jan. 12th 1969 (coming up to 17 years of age) was a crucial point for me when the leader of a local Christian Youth Group explained that a Christian was someone who has Admitted his sin, Believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Committed his life to Christ. That night it was though a veil had been removed from my eyes, and I quietly prayed, asking Christ to forgive me for my personal guilt, and expressing my belief in Him as my only Saviour. This was in the last months before leaving school for University, and not long before crucial decisions of the next 3 years concerning career and marriage.

At Bangor University in North Wales, I was involved in the Christian Union, and local church work with youth of the city. I met my wife-to-be, Juliet, there – she also was converted, just before coming up to University, having been an ardent atheist before. We both read Mathematics, and for us the question of how Science and Christianity inter-relate began to become an issue. At that point we only had Whitcomb and Morris’ book, ‘The Genesis Flood’, and a few others. But to us both the issue was clear – what is in the Bible must determine all our beliefs. The straightforward interpretation is 99% of the time, the way to interpret Scripture.

Following my first degree at Bangor, I went to Bedford, where much grounding in the Christian faith was received from Bedford Young Life (part of the National Young Life group founded by Frederick and Arthur Wood many years ago), and I became very much involved with United Beach Missions, seeking to witness for Christ in the summer holidays. I was greatly helped by a small evangelical church in Wilstead, just outside Bedford. The principles of the Puritan Bunyan have left a great legacy still in that area.

Since our move to Leeds in 1986, I have been involved in local church ministry, based first at Tinshill in North Leeds, and also being involved in serving the Lord in another small outreach ministry in an inner city area in Leeds. This we did for 10 years and are now based in a church in Milnrow near Rochdale.

Belief in Creation 

My career in mathematics and science has led me very much to the view that the world and the Universe show powerful evidence of design from whichever angle one looks. As a result of my interest in Creation, many opportunities have opened up in the last 10 years for ministry in this crucial area, primarily to Christians to show that a belief in Creation in 6 literal 24 hour days, coupled with a young earth a few thousand years old and a world-wide Flood is entirely consistent with doing good Science.

CHRISTIAN PUBLICATIONS