Professor Byron Walter Bryne, University of Oxford

Professor Byron Byrne FREng FICE is a distinguished geotechnical engineer who has developed new design methods for the foundations of offshore wind turbines, leading to the substantial cost savings that are now enabling the expansion of this green energy technology. He has achieved this through leadership of research programmes that combine the use of advanced finite element analysis and large-scale field testing to validate new geotechnical design procedures. His current activities involve development of new calculation methods that address the cyclic loading applied to the wind turbines from the wind and wave environment, as well as the normal operation of the turbine, considering both serviceability and extreme conditions. By working closely alongside his industrial sponsors, notably Ørsted, he has ensured rapid uptake of the new ideas, leading to substantial cost savings on wind farms operating in the North Sea.