Professor Philip Thomas
B.Sc. (1st class hons.), D.Sc
Expertise
Philip Thomas spent the first half of his career in the chemical and nuclear industries (ICI then UKAEA) and the second in academia first at City, University of London and latterly as professor of risk management at Bristol.
Current positions
Visiting Professor
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Contact
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Biography
Philip Thomas researches risk management and developed the Judgement- or J-value (http://jvalue.co.uk/overview.php ), which enables objective decisions to be taken on expenditure to protect humans and the environment. His team applying the J-value and complementary techniques to find how best to cope with a big nuclear accident eg. Chernobyl or Fukushima. The national + international press reported the results of the multi-university study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/process-safety-and-environmental-protection/vol/112/part/PA ). His J-value insights on managing the coronavirus pandemic attracted similar press coverage. He warned in March 2020 that, as well as saving lives now, lockdowns would cost lives in the future and quantified the balance point in terms of GDP per head. He has written extensively on Covid-19 measurement and control strategies for The Spectator (https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/philip-thomas ).
Professor Thomas gained 20 years' experience in the chemical and nuclear industries, first at ICI developing control and instrumentation systems for large chemical plants then with the UK Atomic Energy Authority, where, inter alia, he was Customer Project Manager for the green-field decommissioning of the 100MWth/33MWe Windscale AGR. He took up a chair in Engineering Development at City, University of London in 2000. The University of Bristol appointed him Professor of Risk Management in 2015. He is a Freeman of the City of London and Senior Warden elect of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. He has published over 130 journal and conference papers on control, instrumentation, nuclear decommissioning, risk assessment, economics and law. He authored the book, Simulation of Industrial Processes for Control Engineers, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simulation-Industrial-Processes-Control-Engineers-ebook/dp/B00G4N7BLS .