Professor Jim Boyle started his academic career as an applied mathematician before taking a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, later followed by a DSc for innovative research contributions in high temperature design. He has been a Full Professor in Mechanical Engineering since 1990 and Head of Department since 2000, in between holding visiting professorial appointments in USA, Sweden, Japan, Tunisia (through UNESCO), Egypt, Poland, Russia and Brasil. His main areas of technical research lie in creep, plasticity and computational mechanics with special reference to high temperature design problems. Major practical applications continue to lie in the field of pressure vessel and piping design and design by analysis which has resulted in around three hundred and fifty research papers, three monographs and numerous industrial reports. Invited lectures have been given in over twenty countries including eight Plenary Lectures. For the past ten years considerable effort has been applied to bring about a major change in engineering education through a re-emphasis on teaching and learning. Developer of the New Approaches to Teaching and Learning in Engineering project which aims to introduce active, inquiry-led learning into the curriculum through Socratic Dialogue and Peer Instruction in large classes, a version of Problem-Based Learning applied to design teaching and the use of Studio Teaching. Teaching classes have been visited by over one hundred academics from the UK and Europe; invited lectures, workshops and seminars in many UK and overseas universities and various educational conferences. Currently Strathclyde’s Academic Champion for Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Technology Strategy and a member of the SHEFC funded Re-Engineering Assessment Practices Project Team.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, James Weir Building, Montrose St., Glasgow, G1 1XJ, Scotland, United Kingdom. Tel: ( UK)141 552 4400. Direct: ( UK)141 548 2311. Fax: ( UK)141 552 5105. E-mail: jim.boyle@strath.ac.uk