Dr David Hardie is internationally recognised as a leading authority on advanced sonar concepts. His research experience spans over 35 years, originally in theoretical physics and then in underwater defence when he joined the Admiralty Research Establishment in 1984. His work directly influenced the design of the ASTUTE submarine and in de-risking S2087, the Royal Navy’s latest sonar system. He was instrumental in developing low-cost modular sonars for submarines and surface ships and pioneered the use of sonar techniques for non-naval applications such as sono-chemistry. He continues to conduct innovative research, most recently on novel bio-inspired sensors.
In his wider role as a technical manager, Dr Hardie co-ordinated research input (representing many hundreds of man-years of effort) covering all aspects of underwater sensing for major Royal Navy platforms. More recently he provided advice to the UK MOD on future technologies and their likely influence on manning levels for the successor SSBN and on maritime autonomous vehicles.
Dr Hardie is the author and joint author of over 70 publications in the open literature. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and is on the Technical Conference Committee for MAST (MAritime Systems and Technology).
New innovative concepts for sonar can arise from studying how nature has solved numerous problems helped by millions of years of evolution. Here’s a question….what is the loudest animal on earth size for size? A blue whale (favourite answer of …