James Blake

James Blake is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Composites and High Performance Marine Vehicles at the University of Southampton, where he also serves as the Director of Programmes for Maritime Engineering. His research focuses on fluid-structure interaction, sustainable composite materials, and high-speed marine craft performance, with applications in boat design, structural reliability, and experimental material analysis.

• Education: First-class BSc in Ship Science (1993), MSc in Maritime Engineering Science, and PhD in high-speed planing craft motion prediction from the University of Southampton.
• Research Groups: Member of the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.

His academic career spans industry roles at Halyard Marine, Vosper Thorneycroft, and BMT Seatech, combined with academic leadership in maritime engineering. Key research themes include:

• Composite Material Analysis: Natural fiber composites, hybrid composites, and interface fracture mechanics.
• Marine Structural Dynamics: Skin-stiffener debonding, high-speed planing craft simulation, and lifeboat mooring stability.
• Sustainability Initiatives: Development of eco-friendly composite boat materials through projects like HyMedPoly and RNLI Advanced Technology Partnership.

His publications (10 most recent) span composite modeling, autonomous vessel design, and marine structural reliability, reflecting interdisciplinary collaborations with EPSRC, European Union, and RNLI. Awards include Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and leadership roles in the World Sailing Sustainability Commission.

Teaching: Delivers modules on yacht design (SESS3027), composite engineering (SESG6039), ship science fundamentals (SESS6065), and marine structures in fluids (SESS6071). Supervises PhD student Darren Roderick.

External Roles: Invited speaker on composite boatbuilding at 2011 conferences.