Draft:Michael Rotter

John Michael Rotter, FREng, FRSE, FICE (born 31 October 1948) is a British structural engineer, designer and academic. He was Head of the Department of Civil Engineering (1989–1996) and Head of Engineering (1996–1999) at the University of Edinburgh.

Early life and education

Rotter was born on 31 October 1948 in Chesterfield, England. He was educated at Monkton Combe School in Somerset, England. He studied Engineering at Clare College Cambridge and graduated with First Class Honours in 1970. He completed a PhD in Civil Engineering at Sydney University under the mentorship of Jack Roderick in 1977.

Career

After 15 years as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at Sydney University, Rotter was appointed to the Chair of Civil Engineering at the University of Edinburgh in 1989.  He was first Head of Department of Civil Engineering, then Director of Engineering (Chemical, Civil and Mechanical Engineering),. He retired in 2015 and was appointed Emeritus Professor.

During his academic career, he held appointments as Visiting Professor at Washington University St Louis, TU Graz, INSA de Lyon, INSA de Nancy, TU Vienna, Hong Kong Polytechnic and Imperial College London.

In teaching, he devised and presented many different courses covering structural behaviour, the form, function and philosophy of design of structures as well as  mathematics and structural mechanics. He supervised numerous PhD students, including Professor Jin-Guang Teng, who is now the President of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Rotter's expertise is in the field of thin shell structures, silos and bulk solids storage structures, tanks and wind turbine towers with an emphasis on stability, buckling and plasticity. His chief contribution has been to draw the applied mechanics and mathematics of shell structural forms into practical simple design provisions, together with the application of advanced computer treatments. He developed the computer-oriented design methodology "Reference Resistance Design". He also set out the first simplified analytical treatment of the buckling of structures with plasticity termed LBA-MNA.

Rotter led the committees that devised and still maintain the European Standards for the design of Steel Shell Structures (EN 1993-1-6), Loads on silo walls (EN 1991-4) and Steel Silo structures (EN 1993-4-1), from their inception in 1992 until 2022. He chaired the European committee on shell buckling, under the auspices of the European ECCS, producing the European Recommendations on Shell Buckling 5th Edition in 2008 and 2015.

He was a major contributor to the Australian Standard on loads on bulk solids storages, the American Concrete Institute standard on silos, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers standard on bulk solids storages, and the ISO standard on pressures in silos.

Rotter has also investigated failures of structures in service in many countries, from the late 1970s until 2023, with over 140 reports written as expert witness statements in relation to over 25 major failure investigations and 20 innovative design verifications.

Honours

Rotter is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the British Institution of Civil Engineers. His contributions were celebrated in the 2018 International Conference "Structures and Granular Solids: from Scientific Principles to Engineering Applications", Festschrift J. Michael Rotter, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Edinburgh. He was given the Charles Massonnet Award of the European Convention on Steel Structures in 2017. He was appointed the Royal Society Kan Tong Po Professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2007. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2018.

Selected works

Rotter has authored or co-authored more than 480 scientific publications. Selected works include:

• Rotter, J.M. (2001) "Guide for the Economic Design of Circular Metal Silos", Spon, London, ISBN 0-419-23460-8224.
• Rotter J.M. and Schmidt, H. (eds) (2008, 2013) "Stability of Steel Shells: European Design Recommendations: Fifth Edition 2008", Publication P125, European Convention for Constructional Steelwork, Brussels, Oct. 2008, ISBN 92-9147-000-92.
• Rotter, J.M. (2008) "Structures, stability, silos and granular solids: a personal adventure", pp 1-15 in Chen, Ooi & Teng (eds), Structures and Granular Solids, From Scientific Principles to Engineering Applications, An International Conference in Celebration of the 60th Birthday of Prof. J. Michael Rotter, Taylor & Francis, London, ISBN: 978-0-415-47594-5.
• EN 1993-1-6 (2007) Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures, Part 1.6: Strength and stability of shell structures, Eurocode 3 Part 1.6, CEN, Brussels.
• EN 1993 4 1 (2007) Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures, Part 4.1: Silos, Eurocode 3 Part 4.1, CEN, Brussels.
• EN 1993 4 2 (2007) Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures, Part 4.2: Tanks, Eurocode 3 Part 4.2, CEN, Brussels.
• EN 1991-4 (2006) Eurocode 1: Basis of Design and Actions on Structures, Part 4 - Silos and Tanks, Eurocode 1 Part 4, CEN, Brussels.