Contact
Biography
A Chartered Mechanical Engineer (since 1994) and member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Dr Ashforth-Frost is presently Associate Professor and Faculty Safeguarding Lead. She has over twenty years' experience of lecturing and tutoring on under-graduate and post-graduate degree courses, short courses to industry and post-graduates, as well as having industrial experience. She has developed a particular aptitude for teaching (or facilitating learning for) adults from a range of backgrounds, with a range of entry qualifications and ages, as well as other demographics. Dr Ashforth-Frost has also built a strong research track record, and has disseminated her research extensively in authored or co-authored academic articles published in refereed journals, conferences and press releases. She is an experienced personal tutor and project supervisor, having supervised 12 PhD students and over 150 MSc/MEng projects to successful completion. Dr Ashforth-Frost is also a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and the National Foundation Year Network. She has previously volunteered as a member of the IMechE Regional Panel, undertaking Professional Review Interviews for IMechE membership.
Expertise Summary
Over the last ten years, I have focussed my scholarly activities on helping learners with different demographic characteristics (age, entry qualifications, ethnicity, religion, social class, background etc.) from the UK/EU and overseas, to transition into higher education and prepare for degree level study at the University of Nottingham and my present research interests revolve around improving this student experience. In particular, I am active in the area of assessment and feedback (such as introducing feed-forward mechanisms, analytic rubrics and 'flipped' teaching) and, in improving the transition and integration of overseas students.
My previous research interests have focussed on the investigation and optimisation of heat transfer and fluid flows in various heat exchange geometries, in particular, impinging geometries relevant to turbine blade cooling; experimental modelling using Laser-Doppler Anemometry (LDA), Hot Wire Anemometry (HWA), Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Liquid Crystal Thermography (LCT) and other flow visualisation techniques; numerical modelling using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); validation of CFD; exploitation of these techniques and application to other disciplines.
With an established research and publication track record, I have been successful in securing research funding from funding bodies such as the Leverhulme Trust, the Nuffield Foundation, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) including a prestigious EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship. I am a panel member of the EPSRC Peer Review College (1998 - 2009, 2015 - present) and have participated in organising committees for various international conferences and seminars and peer reviewed many articles for international journals. I have also been involved in knowledge transfer to/from industry as the lead academic in a Teaching Company Scheme (now Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)) as well as the development and delivery of bespoke short courses to industry and consultancy relevant to my research experience.
Teaching Summary
I have over 20 years experience of teaching, supervising and providing pastoral care in higher education. Recent teaching activity includes FHEQ levels 3, 4 and 6 namely, Mechanics, Electrical… read more
Ashforth-Frost S. 2017. Using flipped learning to engage and integrate international students. 8th Annual InForm Conference: Innovative ideas for enhanced student engagement. University of Reading, 15 July 2017.
Ashforth-Frost, S. 2016. Student Experience of Feed-Forward Assignments. National Foundation Year Network Conference, University of Southampton, 5 - 6 July 2016.
I have over 20 years experience of teaching, supervising and providing pastoral care in higher education. Recent teaching activity includes FHEQ levels 3, 4 and 6 namely, Mechanics, Electrical Circuit Principles, Engineering Study Skills and supervision of final year projects.
Previous modules have included Instrumentation, Fluid Mechanics, Thermo Dynamics, Numerical Methods, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) at FHEQ levels 4 to 8, and supervision and examination (internal and external) of MPhil/PhD degrees in the area of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer.
At present, my scholarly activities focus on helping a student cohort with different demographic characteristics (age, entry qualifications, ethnicity, religion, social class, background etc.) from the EU and overseas, to transition into higher education and prepare for degree level study at the University of Nottingham and my present research interests revolve around improving this student experience. In particular, I am active in the area of assessment and feedback (such as introducing feed-forward mechanisms, analytic rubrics and 'flipped' teaching) and, in improving the transition and integration of international students.