“What I do find is that certainly on the aerodynamics [side] now, because CFD is such a great tool in terms of being able to visualise [things], you can start to understand the flow fields much more easily than the old days,” he explained.
“It will be looking at the CFD, trying to understand the vortex structures, the losses, the pressure fields, then working away on some details and some ideas. Quite often I find I get stuck, and I walk away, then a new idea might pop up – annoyingly sometimes in the middle of the night!
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“I always used to get up [immediately] and scribble it down, then sometimes I’d get up in the morning and [think], ‘What a load of rubbish, that wasn’t worth getting up and spoiling my night’s sleep for’. Now I tend to wake up and take the attitude of, ‘If it was a good idea, I’ll still remember it in the morning’.
“I use that now as a sort of first order filter, if you like. Others are much more short-term, [such as] getting up, going for a walk, getting a coffee… I find sometimes stepping away and then coming back is easier. Or it can be in the shower, all the usual things. Those tend to be iterative ones.
“The kind of more first principal ideas, they tend to be, if you like, freer, but almost always unexpected – [in] the shower, taking the dogs for a walk. The subconscious never ceases to fascinate me… how you can be doing something completely different, then this sort of thought bubble pops up.”
