David’s research interests include prognostics and health management, energy systems, sensing technologies and microsystems.
In a project with the potential to create a global blueprint for our future energy infrastructure, Professor Flynn leads a multidisciplinary research team from Heriot-Watt on a £28.5M Whole System Demonstrator Project, Responsive Flexibility (ReFLEX), one of only four projects funded by Innovate UK. Based in Orkney, ReFLEX explores how communities are transforming their relationship with energy services, and how this research can not only deliver a renewable and resilient energy future, but also the potential to transform communities through distributed wealth creation.
Hybrid Fusion Energy Systems (HyFES); an Innovate UK consortium looking into the optimisation and coordination of hybrid energy systems in transport. Beyond the lower, fundamental, TRL research, Professor Flynn's team also successfully develops technology with industrial partners, for example; utilising Innovate UK support in collaboration with Siemens delivering the Asset Guard and second-generation Dialoc technology platforms. Creating the world's first holistic health management and planning system for subsea power cables with Scottish and Southern Energy.
David is an Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Scholar, as a recipient of the Leslie H Paddle Prize (2006).
David has authored over 70 journals and conference papers, published UK RAS White papers on resilience and extreme environments, secured several international patents for inline monitoring technologies, contributed to book chapters and crown estate reports.
David works on several CESI Work Packages, and is lead for Work Package 4:
