Dr John Harkness BSc PhD
Senior Research Fellow
Dr John Harkness is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton. His specializes in numerical modelling and, in particular, discrete element modelling with current emphasis on the mechanical behaviour of railway ballast and of the vehicle/track railway system. He has a keen interest in the development of efficient simulation techniques and has developed software and numerical models for the simulation of realistic particles in the fields of railway ballast, locked sands and dry-stone walls. He has worked on research projects funded mainly by the UK’s EPSRC, Network Rail and the European Union.
John graduated from Bath University in Engineering with French in 1989 and obtained his PhD in Control Engineering at the University of Bristol in 1995. After obtaining his PhD, he worked as a consultant and was involved in a variety of projects including numerical modelling of aeroplane, airship, submarine dynamics and control, and vehicle/bridge interaction. He joined the University of Southampton in 2000.