Stephen Salter

For the Australian politician, see Stephen Salter (politician). For the English architect, see Stephen Salter (architect).

Stephen Salter
Born(1938-12-07)7 December 1938
Johannesburg, South Africa
Died23 February 2024(2024-02-23) (aged 85)
Edinburgh, Scotland
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
Known for• Salter's Duck
• Cloud reflectivity enhancement
• Wave generation and absorption in wave tanks
AwardsMBE, FRSE
Scientific career
FieldsWave power
Engineering
Geoengineering
Fluid dynamics
InstitutionsUniversity of Edinburgh

Professor Stephen Hugh Salter, MBE, FRSE (7 December 1938 – 23 February 2024) was a South African-born Scottish academic who was Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Edinburgh[1] and inventor of the eponymous Salter's duck wave energy device.[2][3] Salter was also a proponent of geoengineering and was responsible for creating the concept of the mechanical enhancement of clouds to achieve cloud reflectivity enhancement.[4]

The wide wave tank at the University of Edinburgh—a novel design and invention by Salter, built in 1977—was the world's first multi-directional wave tank equipped with absorbing wavemakers. Feedback control systems on the wavemaking flaps were used for the absorption of reflected waves, propagating along the water surface of the tank interior towards the 89 flaps.[5][6][7] These force-feedback wave paddles were further developed and commercialised by Edinburgh Designs, and are used in many facilities worldwide. Salter argued in 2001 that to properly test wave and tidal energy devices required a circular combined wave and current basin, which ultimately led to the construction of the FloWave Ocean Energy facility at the University of Edinburgh.[8]

Together with Win Rampen, Salter also played a key role in the development of digital-displacement pump-motors, later manufactured by Artemis Intelligent Power.[8][9] Salter was a Specialist Advisor at wave energy company Aquamarine Power advising on the development of the Oyster wave energy converter,[10] however the company ceased trading in 2015.

Salter was "one of the leading voices" of the marine cloud brightening movement.[11] Born in Johannesburg on 7 December 1938,[12] he died in Edinburgh on 23 February 2024, at the age of 85.[13]

  1. ^ Brown, Paul (8 March 2024). "Stephen Salter obituary". The Guardian.
  2. ^ McGrath, Jane (14 July 2008). "Could Salter's Duck have solved the oil crisis?". Green Science. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  3. ^ Salter, S.H. (1974). "Wave power". Nature. 249 (5459): 720–724. Bibcode:1974Natur.249..720S. doi:10.1038/249720a0. S2CID 4278688.
  4. ^ Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Latham, John; Sahraei, Jalil; Salter, Stephen (2006). "Computational assessment of a proposed technique for global warming mitigation via albedo-enhancement of marine stratocumulus clouds". Atmospheric Research. 82 (1–2): 328–336. Bibcode:2006AtmRe..82..328B. doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2005.11.013.
  5. ^ Salter, S.H. (1981). "Absorbing wave-makers and wide tanks". Conference on Directional Wave Spectra Applications. ASCE. pp. 185–202.
  6. ^ "Wide Wave Tank 1977 – 2001". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  7. ^ "Wave master". The Engineer. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  8. ^ a b "Announcing the death of Professor Stephen Salter | School of Engineering". www.eng.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  9. ^ Ehsan, Md.; Rampen, W. H. S.; Salter, S. H. (26 June 1997). "Modeling of Digital-Displacement Pump-Motors and Their Application as Hydraulic Drives for Nonuniform Loads". Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control. 122 (1): 210–215. doi:10.1115/1.482444. ISSN 0022-0434.
  10. ^ "Aquamarine Power". Aquamarine Power. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  11. ^ Smedley, Tim. "How artificially brightened clouds could stop climate change". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  12. ^ Birse, Ronald M. (1983). Engineering at Edinburgh University: a short history, 1673–1983\. ISBN 9780950892009.
  13. ^ "Stephen Hugh Salter". The Times. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.