First Blog - An Introduction

Well, here goes with my first personal blog post. The blogging impetus came from a conversation I just had with Dr John Davis, Senior Controls System Engineer for the Bloodhound Super Sonic Car. Bloodhound aims to go 1000 mph and in the process inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

John asked for my help to solve the problem of when and if to use the parachutes in order to decelerate Bloodhound from > 1000 mph at the end of the measured mile to stop exactly at the 10 mile marker. Rather than just solve the problem and then document a neatly packaged answer, we are hoping to open up our thinking process in order to give students and Bloodhound enthusiasts an insight into how 'real-world' engineering problem-solving works.  I'll be posting regular updates on our progress. Perhaps we may end up crowd-sourcing an even better solution through the comments!

By way of introduction, I am the Application Engineering Manager at MathWorks in the UK. The MathWorks tools are being used for several elements of the design of Bloodhound, including the control system and aerodynamics. I plan to write this blog during the remainder of my maternity leave and any views expressed are my own. You can follow me @tanyammorton and the Bloodhound project @bloodhound_ssc on Twitter. The hashtag for the problem is #stopbloodhound.