Professor, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (Heriot-Watt University)
Dr Lynne Jack joined Heriot-Watt University in 1993 as a Research Associate working on an EPSRC-funded project that developed the fluid-system relationships defining the unsteady pressure regime within building drainage ventilation systems. The simulation of this pressure response allows the assessment of system integrity; particularly in relation to the retention of trap seal water and the associated provision of a physical barrier between the drainage system and the habitable space. Dr Jack was awarded her PhD in 1997, after which time she undertook further research that facilitated the definition of the interface forces acting between the waste water and the resulting entrained air flows within the system, thus enabling the simulation of multiple or ‘combined’ appliance discharge flows – work that was recognised by the award of the CIBSE Napier Shaw medal.From 1999 to 2002, Dr Jack was a University Research Fellow, becoming a lecturer within the School of the Built Environment in July 2002 and Senior Lecturer in 2004. During this time she joined the School’s Architectural Engineering UG/PG discipline, and currently remains active in undergraduate teaching, particularly in the areas of building services system design and the use of simulation software.Since 2003, Dr Jack has been directly involved in a number of EPSRC-funded projects. These include a ‘Built Environment Research Network’ award and in the area of building drainage and ventilation systems cover: research into the mode of propagation of positive air pressure transients and their effect on trap seal depletion; research defining boundary condition equations representative of solid-to-solid interaction within waste water flows; and research to develop a mechanism to identify defective trap seals. She was also Principal Investigator representing Heriot-Watt in the collaborative project entitled AUDACIOUS (Adaptable Urban Drainage - Addressing Change in Intensity, Occurrence and Uncertainty of Stormwater) – a project led by Bradford University as part of the EPSRC initiative ‘Building Knowledge for a Changing Climate’ aimed at improving understanding of the impacts of climate change on building and local drainage systems. Dr Jack currently leads the EPSRC-funded ARCC DOWNPIPE (Design of Water Networks using ProbabilistIc PrEdiction) project. The project is one of a number that are organised collectively by the ARCC framework, and that depend upon the direct application of datasets derived from Defra’s UKCP09 climate projections, with the aim of developing appropriate adaptation strategies to minimise localised flood risk.Dr Jack is currently Director of Research in the School of the Built Environment at Heriot-Watt, a post she has held since October 2008.