Dr Michael Bromfield CEng, CErgHF, FRAeS, FHEA, MCIEHF, SFTE(M)

School of Metallurgy and Materials
Associate Professor in Aerospace
Deputy Aerospace Programme Director

Contact details

Telephone: (+44) (0) 1214147839
Email: m.a.bromfield@bham.ac.uk

Mike Bromfield is a Chartered Engineer (1992) and Chartered Ergonomist/Human Factors Specialist (2019) affording a unique perspective and understanding of complex, ‘human in the loop’ systems. Mike is a Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering and Deputy Aerospace Programme Director within the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham.

His teaching responsibilities include flight dynamics, flight testing, modelling, simulation and human factors at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

His research interests are Loss of Control In Flight (No.1 fatal accident category), Flight Data Monitoring and future aerospace vehicle design (especially eVTOLs). His teaching is informed by applied research involving undergraduate and postgraduate student projects supplemented by guest speakers from industry and academia.

He gained his PhD. in Flight Dynamics/Flying Qualities from the School of Engineering & Design, Brunel University in 2012. He completed a technologist apprenticeship in aerospace with Westland Helicopters Limited (now Leonardo) providing a solid, practical grounding in aerospace engineering.

A trained flight test engineer (NTPS, USA), current private pilot, aircraft owner Mike received the UK Light Aircraft Association ‘Peter Clarke Award’ for contribution to UK aviation safety in 2014. In the same year, he jointly received the Royal Aeronautical Society Bronze Award for ‘Best Technical Paper’.

Qualifications

PhD. in Flight Dynamics/Flying Qualities – Brunel University (2012)
PGCert. in Higher Education Professional Practice – Coventry University (2014)
MPhil. in Computer Aided Design – Glamorgan University (1988)
Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies – Glamorgan University (1988)
BSc. (Hons.) in Aeronautical Engineering – Bath University (1984)

Biography

Flying cars - will they ever take-off?

Mike Bromfield is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Ergonomist/Human Factors Specialist affording a unique perspective and understanding of complex, ‘human in the loop’ systems. Mike is a Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering within the School of Metals & Materials at the University of Birmingham.

Mike divides his time between teaching (aviation safety, flight dynamics, flight test and flight simulation at undergraduate and postgraduate levels). research and consultancy activities. Mike is a trained flight test engineer. He is a Fellow of The Royal Aeronautical Society, Member of the Institute of Ergonomists and Human Factors, Member of The Society of Flight Test Engineers and American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. In 2014, Mike was (jointly) awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Bronze Medal for a ‘Best Written Journal Paper’ and in the same year he was awarded the ‘Pete Clark Award’ by the UK Light Aircraft Association for his contribution to aviation safety. Mike is a private pilot and holds EASA PPL(A), UK NPL(M) and Australian PPL (A) licences.

Mike’s current research activities include the investigation of Loss of Control In Flight (LOC-I) encompassing prevention, recognition and recovery strategies. This research encompasses aircraft design, flight safety technologies, pilot education and training and use of flight data for continuous safety improvement. In his work, he makes extensive use of flight dynamics, flight testing, flight simulation/modelling and human factors principles.

Mike has completed a number of international collaborative research projects with both industry and academia including UK CAA/DfT, EASA, Breitling (Red Bull) Air Race Team, UBER Elevate, Purdue University, UNSW, USP (Brazil).

Prior to joining the University of Birmingham, Mike was Urban Air Mobility Lead in the Institute for Future Transport and Cites, Coventry University, involved in future aerospace vehicle design, including Electric Vertical Take-off & Landing (eVTOL) vehicles.

Before joining Coventry whilst at Brunel University, Mike was awarded the Thomas Gerald Gray Charitable Trust PhD Scholarship in Aviation Safety and became a part-time lecturer in Aerospace. He was active in LOC-I research with particular interests in pilot workload and performance related to aircraft flying qualities. Mike was involved in industry-driven collaborative research into Loss of Control events. His teaching included contributions to BEng. and MEng./MSc. programmes founding and delivering modules in Aviation Safety, Flight Testing and Flight Simulation.

Prior to joining Brunel University, Mike was principal of a flight simulation and training company based in NSW, Australia. He has also held systems and technology roles working with Westland Helicopters (now Leonardo), IPL(BAe Systems) and senior management roles with Unilever Engineering, Tyco International and Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting).

Teaching

Aircraft Design and Flight Dynamics
Flight Dynamics & Control
Aerospace Projects
Human Factors in Aerospace

Postgraduate supervision

Open to accept PhD applicants

Research

Loss of Control In Flight (LOC-I)
Aircraft Flying Qualities
Flight Test Principles and Practice
Flight Data Monitoring/Flight Operations Quality Assurance
Urban Air Mobility
eVTOL Design

Other activities

Technical Committee Member (Modelling & Simulation), American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics since Mar 2019
Working Group Member, Transformative Vertical Flight, NASA since Dec 2018
Committee Member, Corporate Aviation Safety Executive since Jul 2018
Working Group Member, EASA European Operators Flight Data Monitoring Workgroup since Apr 2016
Committee Member, UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC) since 1 Apr 2014
Council Member, General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo) since Apr 2013
Former Committee Member, Royal Aeronautical Society, Coventry Branch (until July 2020)
Former Representative, Association of Aeronautical Universities (July 2020)

Publications

Chui, T, Molesworth, B., & Bromfield, M., (2020), Feedback and Student Learning. Matching learning and teaching style to improving student pilots’ performance, International Journal of Aerospace Psychology.

Bogg, A., Birrell, S., Bromfield, M., & Parkes, A., (2020) Can we talk? How a talking agent can improve human autonomy team performance, Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science.

Macedo, J.P.C., Bidnotto, J.H., & Bromfield, M.A., (2020), Loss of Control in Flight: comparing qualitative pilot opinion with quantitative flight data, (AIAA 2020-2911), 2020 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Online, 15-19 June 2020.

Bogg, A., Parkes, A., Bromfield, M., (2020), Can We Talk?–The Impact of Conversational Interfaces on Human Autonomy Teaming Perception, Performance and Situation Awareness, International Conference on Intelligent Human Systems Integration, Part of the Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing book series (AISC, volume 1131), Springer, pp 983-944.

Bromfield, M.A., & Horri, N., (2020), Air Accident Data Analysis, Modelling & Simulation Consultancy Report prepared for: Accident Investigation Board of Norway, Appendix to Report on aviation accident at Oslo airport Gardermoen, Norway on 11 January 2017 with Cessna Aircraft Company 560 Encore, LN-IDB, operated by Hesnes Air AS.

Bromfield, M.A., Walton, T., & Wright, D., (2019) “Evaluation of Low Cost Solutions to Support Flight Operations Quality Assurance”, AIAA Journal of Air Transportation, Published Online 19 Sep 2019.

Bromfield, M. A., and Landry. S. J., (2019) "Loss of Control In Flight (LOC-I) – Time to Re-define?", (AIAA 2019-3612), 2019 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Dallas, Texas, USA, 17-21 June 2019,

Wolfert, F., Bromfield, M.A., Scott, S. and Stedmon. S., (2019) "Passive Sidesticks and Hard Landings – Is there a Link?", (AIAA 2019-3611), 2019 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Dallas, Texas, USA, 17-21 June 2019,

Thomas O. Milward, Michael A. Bromfield, Nadjim Horri, Rashid Ali, and Steve Scott. (2019) "Multipoint Angle of Attack sensing for Avoidance of Loss of Control in Flight", (AIAA 2019-1540), AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum, 2019,

Bromfield, M.A., Ogwueze, O., Garcia, F., and Schrage, D., (2018) “Performance and Handling Qualities Assessment of a Ducted Fan Canard Electric VTOL (PDF)”. Proceedings of the International Powered Lift Conference, Royal Aeronautical Society, 13-15 Nov 2018 in Bristol, UK.

Bromfield, M.A., Walton, T., Wright, D. , & Rusby. M, (2018) “Evaluation of COTS Solutions to Support Flight Operations Quality Assurance in Business/Corporate Aviation” (AIAA 2018-3197), 2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, 2018.

Bromfield, M.A., (2018) “Urban Air Mobility – Human Factors Considerations”. Proceedings of the Charted Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors – Human Factors in Future Transportation Conference, 18-19 Jun 2018 in Birmingham, UK https://events.ergonomics.org.uk/event/human-factors-in-future-transport/

Everett, S.B., Bromfield, M.A.,Scott. S., & Stedmon, S., (2018) “Angle of attack displays in the cockpit – are they fit for purpose?” (AIAA 2018-3263), 2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, 2018

Gratton, G.B, Hoff, R.I., Lawson, N. & Bromfield, M.A., (2017) “Recovery from mishandled stalls in single engine aeroplanes (ZIP)” 49th European Symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots Conference, Bristol, UK, 11-15 July 2017.
Bromfield, M.A., (2017) "Re-defining Loss of Control In Flight”, EASA European Operators Flight Data Monitoring Conference, Cologne, Germany. June 12-13, 2017.

Bromfield, M.A. & Belberov, A., (2016) ‘The flying classroom – a cost effective integrated approach to learning and teaching flight dynamics’, European Journal of Engineering Education, Published online December 28th, 2016.

Bromfield, M.A., (2016) "Evaluating Commercial off the shelf (COTS) solutions for Flight Data Monitoring”, EASA European Operators Flight Data Monitoring Conference, Cologne, Germany. April 5-6, 2016.

Bromfield, M.A., Walton, T., Wright, D. & Rusby, M., (2016) 'Commercial off The Shelf (COTS) Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) Solution For Business Aviation’ CAP 1394, Civil Aviation Publications, United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, Gatwick, UK.

Bromfield, M.A. & Dillman, B.G., (2015) 'The Effects of Angle of Attack on Pilot Performance & Workload’. Applied Human Factors & Ergonomics (AHFE) Conference 2015, Jul 26-30, 2015, Las Vegas, USA. doi:10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.873

Bromfield, M.A., Gratton G.B. & Young M.S., (2015) 'The Effects of Stick Force Gradient on Pilot Mental Demand’. SciTech 2015 Proceedings, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Jan 5-9 2015, Kissimmee, Florida, USA.

Bromfield, M.A. (2014) 'An Innovative Approach to Flight Testing Using Digital Multimedia'. Proceedings of the 25th European Symposium – Society of Flight Test Engineers, '25th European Symposium – Society of Flight Test Engineers'. Jun 15-18, 2014, Lulea, Sweden.

Gratton, G.B., Hoff, R.I., Bromfield, M.A., and Williams, S. (2014) 'Evaluating a Set of Stall Recovery Actions for Single Engine Light Aeroplanes'. Aeronautical Journal, May 2014. DOI: 10.1017/S0001924000009313

Bromfield, M.A., and Jones, C. (2013) 'An Innovative Approach to Flight Dynamics and Flight Test Education Using Digital Media Technologies'. Proceedings of the Royal Aeronautical Society Flight Simulation Group Conference on the Digital Media Technologies,. Nov 2013, London.

Bromfield, M.A. (2013) 'Flight Testing in a University Environment- Challenges and Lessons Learned'. Proceedings of the 24th European Symposium – Society of Flight Test Engineers, '24th European Symposium – Society of Flight Test Engineers'. 11-13 Jun 2013 in Braunschweig, Germany.

Bromfield, M.A, & Gratton, G.B., (2012) ‘Testing the relationship between stick force gradient, workload, and loss of control in light aeroplanes’, X-Cockpit – The Journal of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Jun-Dec 2012.

Bromfield, M.A., and Gratton, G.B. (2012) 'Factors Affecting the Apparent Longitudinal Stick-free Static Stability of a Typical High-wing Light Aeroplane'. Aeronautical Journal 116 (1179). DOI: 10.1017/S0001924000006990

Bromfield, M.A., Gratton, G.B., and Young, M.S. (2011) 'Loss of Control of Light Aircraft- Using Flight Test to Unlock the Mystery?'. Proceedings of the 22nd European Symposium – Society of Flight Test Engineers, '22nd European Symposium – Society of Flight Test Engineers'. 14-16 Jun 2011 in Toulouse, France.

Bromfield, M.A., Gratton, G.B., and Young, M.S. (2011) 'Using Flight Simulation to Investigate Factors Affecting Loss of Control of Light Aircraft'. Proceedings of the Flight Simulation Group Conference on the Contribution of Flight Simulation to Aviation Safety, 'Flight Simulation Group Conference on the Contribution of Flight Simulation to Aviation Safety'. 09-10 Nov 2011 in London, UK.

Bromfield, M.A., Gratton, G.B., and Young, M.S. (2010) 'Investigating Loss of Control in the UK General Aviation'. Proceedings of the Flight Operations Group Safety Conference, 'Flight Operations Group Safety Conference'. 19 Oct 2010 in London, UK.

Bromfield, M.A., and Gratton, G.B. (2010) 'Loss of Control Testing of Light Aircraft and a Cost Effective Approach to Flight Test'. Proceedings of the 41st Annual International Symposium, '41st Annual International Symposium'. Sep 2010 in Washington, USA.

Bromfield, M.A., and Gratton, G.B. (2010) 'Loss of Control of Light Aircraft: Balancing Cost and Safety in Flight Test'. Proceedings of the 4th SETP/SFTE 4th European Flight Test Safety Workshop, '4th SETP/SFTE 4th European Flight Test Safety Workshop'. 28-29 Sep 2010 in London, UK.

Bromfield, M.A., and Gratton, G.B. (2009) 'Investigation of Factors Affecting Loss of Control of General Aviation Aircraft'. Society of Experimental Test Pilots Meeting Papers, 'Society of Experimental Test Pilots Meeting'. Held 20-21 Mar 2009 in La Jolla, USA. Available from http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/3255

Bromfield, M.A., and Gratton, G.B. (2009) 'Supporting the investigation of factors affecting loss of control of light aeroplane'. Proceedings of the 40th Annual International Symposium, '40th Annual International Symposium'. Held Sep 2009 in Sweden. Available from

Gratton, G.B., Bromfield, M.A., Aspects of General Aviation Flight Safety Research, Proceedings of the Royal Aeronautical Society 2008 General Aviation Conference. Cambridge, 28 September 2008.

Evans, W.T., & Bromfield, M.A., Microexcavator Design Optimisation, Proceeding of the International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED ’89), Harrogate Conference Centre, 22-25 August 1989.

Bromfield, M. A., & Evans, W. T. (1986). Structural analysis of a microexcavator'. In Proc. Third Int. Conf. on Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements, CML Publications (September 1986).

Bromfield, M. A., & Evans, W. T. (1988). Computer modelling of microexcavator. Computer-Aided Design, 20(9), 549-554.
Thomas, D. P., Bromfield, M. A., & Evans, W. T. (1986). Rapid data acquisition using a data logger interfaced to a microcomputer. Strain, 22(4), 183-189.

View all publications in research portal