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Partners and Team

Project Leadership

Durham University Engineering Department

The project is led by Durham University's Department of Engineering, which hosts one of eight strategic Research Nodes focused on Computational Mechanics. The department includes nine members of academic staff with broad, complementary experience in numerical methods applied to solving engineering problems.

Durham University has over 10 years of experience developing and applying the Material Point Method to geotechnical engineering challenges, supported by previous EPSRC-funded projects. This extensive research, validation, and benchmarking provides the foundation for transitioning the MPM into an industry-ready software tool.

Project Team

Dr William Coombs

Principal Investigator: Dr William Coombs

Department of Engineering, Durham University

Dr Coombs leads the project, bringing extensive expertise in the Material Point Method and computational geotechnics.

Professor Charles Augarde

Co-Investigator: Professor Charles Augarde

Department of Engineering, Durham University

Professor Augarde contributes deep knowledge in geotechnical engineering and numerical methods for large deformation problems.

Dr Robert Bird

Research Associate: Dr Robert Bird

Department of Engineering, Durham University

Dr Bird is the postdoctoral researcher responsible for implementing and developing the MPM software framework.

Dr Samantha Finnigan

Research Software Engineer: Dr Samantha Finnigan

Advanced Research Computing, Durham University

Dr Finnigan provides professional software engineering expertise, implementing best practices in software development, testing, and deployment.

Advanced Research Computing (ARC) Support

The project is supported by Durham University's Advanced Research Computing team, which provides:

  • Professional-level software development practices
  • Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD) expertise
  • Test-driven development methodologies
  • Experience with large-scale open source software projects
  • Software project management proficiency

The ARC team has successfully delivered software for various applied domains, including HEPData, ManyFEWS, and SCIMAP, bringing proven expertise to this project.

Industry Partners

This is an industry-initiated proposal driven by stakeholders in the offshore renewable energy geotechnical community who face challenges that cannot be efficiently solved with currently available tools. Our partners represent all aspects of offshore wind, from consent and design to deployment and commissioning.

The project is supported by the following industry partners:

Cathie

Cathie is a leading offshore geotechnical consultancy with extensive experience in offshore renewable energy projects. They provide expertise in:

  • Offshore geotechnical site investigation and characterization
  • Foundation design and assessment for offshore wind
  • Geotechnical risk management
  • Real-world validation case studies
  • Industry workflow integration requirements

Arup

Arup is a global engineering consultancy with significant offshore wind experience. Their contribution includes:

  • Multi-disciplinary engineering perspective
  • Geotechnical and structural engineering integration
  • Industry standards and best practices
  • Technical validation and review processes
  • Design optimization methodologies

First Marine Solutions Ltd

First Marine Solutions specializes in marine operations and offshore installation. They bring practical operational expertise including:

  • Installation vessel operations and planning
  • Offshore deployment challenges
  • Equipment specification and requirements
  • Practical constraints in marine environments
  • Site-specific operational optimization

Software Development Partner

Oasys

Oasys has been included as a key software partner for their extensive experience in delivering cloud-based commercial software. Their involvement provides:

  • Guidance on software architecture and deployment
  • Commercial software development expertise
  • Potential pathway for future commercialization beyond the project scope
  • Understanding of software licensing and sustainability models

Oasys's participation helps ensure that the developed open source software can potentially transition to a commercially supported product if warranted by industry demand.

Stakeholder Engagement

External partners have been involved from project inception and will remain at the center of the proposal's activities throughout its duration. This engagement includes:

Stakeholder Workshops and Focus Groups

Partners participate in targeted workshops to provide feedback on:

  • Integration of software within existing workflows and tools
  • Industry-standard and convenient file formats
  • Effective scripting and running of simulations
  • Output formats and visualization of results
  • Impact and adoption potential within stakeholder organizations

This is envisioned as a cyclical, iterative process to continuously optimize the software tools and ways of working.

Training and Capacity Building

Towards the end of the project, two 2-day training workshops (one in-person, one online) will be provided free to members of the offshore renewable energy geotechnical community, ensuring broad dissemination and adoption of the developed tools.

Collaborative Approach

This project represents a unique collaboration between world-leading academic research and industry practitioners facing real engineering challenges. By placing industry stakeholders at the heart of the software development process, the project ensures that the final product will:

  • Meet genuine industry needs
  • Integrate smoothly into existing workflows
  • Be validated against real-world problems
  • Have a clear pathway to adoption and impact

The collaborative approach avoids duplication of effort across multiple organizations and creates a shared resource that benefits the entire offshore renewable energy geotechnical community.

Get Involved

The offshore renewable energy sector is rapidly evolving, and we welcome engagement from additional stakeholders interested in large deformation soil-structure interaction modeling. Whether you're an engineering consultant, developer, researcher, or equipment manufacturer, there may be opportunities to participate in:

  • User testing and feedback
  • Training workshops
  • Case study development
  • Software extension and development

For more information about partnership opportunities, please see our contact page.