Prof Alistiar Forbes

 

Since joining NPL in 1985, Alistair Forbes has carried out research in mathematical and statistical modelling, algorithm design, uncertainty evaluation, numerical software development and validation with applications to metrology in physical and environmental sciences. He is the NPL science area leader for data analysis and uncertainty evaluation and his current research interests include:

  • Mathematical and statistical modelling, Bayesian inference, uncertainty evaluation and decision making, sensor networks and data fusion, Gaussian processes,
  • Measurement systems, process improvement, and cost engineering,
  • Computational science: numerical analysis and scientific computing, scientific software validation

He has been a Visiting Professor in Industrial Mathematics at the University of Huddersfield since 2000, and is a Chartered Mathematician and member of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and a Fellow in the Royal Statistical Society. He has published over 200 papers and reports and co-edited seven books on the application of mathematics to metrology.  He is on the organising committee/international programme committee for a range of international conferences, including: Advanced Mathematical and Computational Tools for Metrology, Laser Metrology and Machine Performance, and Mathematics for Metrology.  He received the Institute of Measurement and Control’s Alex Hough-Grassby Award for the application of mathematics to measurement in 2014.

2016.  B. Forbes. A hierarchical model for the analysis of inter-laboratory comparison data. Metrologia, 53:1295-1305, 2016.

2017. B. Forbes. Weighting observations from multi-sensor coordinate measuring systems. Measurement Science and Technology, 23 (online:025004), 2012.