University News Last updated 04 November 2016
A Birmingham City University Professor has been named among the world’s most influential academics, according to a new website ranking scholars’ impact on their field.
David Edwards, Professor of Plant and Machinery Management at Birmingham City University, is listed in the top 10 per cent of all disciplines on social network Research Gate which scores and ranks millions of academics according to their level of influence.
Professor Edwards, who has published more than 250 articles, has nearly 200 listed on the site which have clocked up a staggering 23,000 reads and have been quoted more than 1,600 times.
More than 11 million researchers and academics worldwide are listed on the site, with Professor Edwards’ score of 33.23 rating him above higher than more than 90 per cent of his peers.
His research, which includes engineering design, and machinery health and safety, has seen him work alongside the the UK and US Departments of Defence, various government bodies and named as a Ghanaian Chief in a special ceremony held in Kumasi.
Research Gate takes into account the impact, number of views and citations of an academic’s work to calculate a score which ranks them against others from across the globe.
Professor Edwards said: “My good friend and colleague Professor Peter Love, distinguished Professor at Curtin University Australia first pointed out that I was the most widely read researcher in the University for several months now. When he went onto inform me that I was also in the world top ten percent of academics across all disciplines - I was astonished.
“There is much to be said for the virtues of life-long learning and it is an honour to be able to share my knowledge and experience with the next and future generations of construction, engineering and management students.”
Professor Edwards who joined Birmingham City University in 2010, has lived in the region for most of his life having grown up in Lower Gornal, Black Country.
He is currently part of a unique panel advising the US government on the safe use of power tools in space travel and defence, and is senior professor within the Centre for Integrated Design and Construction.