Wessex Institute of Technology
Ashurst Lodge
Ashurst
Southampton
SO40 7AA
UK
Telephone: 44(0) 23 80293223
Fax: 44(0) 23 80292853
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How to Find Us
The following links provide comprehensive details about travel from airports as well as transport in the New Forest and Southampton area.
Travel from outside the UK
The following four airports are within easy reach of the Wessex Institute;
Southampton International Airport
Southampton International Airport is located closest to the Wessex Institute and offers flights from a range of European cities across France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands with Flybe.
From the Airport
- Rail: Southampton Airport Parkway station is less than 50 metres from the airport terminal. Frequent services connect to Southampton Central station - please see Rail travel in the UK for onward travel details from these stations.
- Road: The airport is located 1km from Junction 4 of the M27 motorway. Several car hire companies operate at the airport and the 25km journey to the Wessex Institute will take approximately 35 minutes. Taxis are readily available from the airport and will cost approximately £35 to Ashurst Lodge.
Bournemouth International Airport
Bournemouth International Airport offers flights to and from many European cities including Alicante, Barcelona (Girona), Faro, Malaga, Murcia, Palma (Mallorca) and Pisa with Ryanair.
From the Airport
- Rail: Shuttle buses travel hourly from the airport terminal to Bournemouth Rail Station, between 7 am and 6.30 pm, seven days a week, costing £4. From Bournemouth, trains run direct to Southampton Central station – please see Rail travel in the UK for onward travel details.
- Road: Taxis are readily available from the airport and will cost approximately £40 to Ashurst Lodge. Several hire car companies operate at the airport, and the 35km drive will take approximately 45 minutes
London Heathrow Airport
Heathrow is the UK's largest international airport with regular arrivals from cities across all continents with most major airlines. The airport is located 22km west of central London, at junction 14 of the M25 motorway.
From the Airport
- Coach: National Express coaches travel throughout the day to Southampton, a single ticket will cost approximately £15.00 and should be booked in advance at www.nationalexpress.com.
- Rail: BAA's Heathrow Express connects the airport to London Waterloo station, where trains depart to Southampton Central - www.heathrowexpress.com. Please see Rail travel in the UK for onward travel details.
- Road: Most major hire companies operate at Heathrow. Join the M25 at Junction 14, and then take the M3 and M27 motorways to Southampton. Directions from here can be found in Road travel in the UK. If you prefer to travel by taxi, you should expect to pay a considerable amount
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick is one of the busiest airports in the UK, with flights from many European cities and other international airports. A large number of low-cost airlines offer flights to Gatwick from across Europe. The airport is located 45km south of London and is directly linked to the M23 motorway at Junction 9.
From the Airport
- Rail: The airport rail station is part of the airport’s South Terminal building, and can be reached by a free transit link from North Terminal. Direct trains run hourly during the day to Southampton Central station. For directions from this station, please see Rail travel in the UK.
- Coach: National Express coaches travel throughout the day to Southampton, a single ticket will cost approximately £22.00 and should be booked in advance at www.nationalexpress.com.
- Road: Most major hire companies operate at Gatwick. Join the M23 on leaving the airport, and then take the M25, M3 and M27 motorways to Southampton. Directions can be found in Road travel in the UK. If you prefer to travel by taxi, you should expect to pay a considerable amount.
Air travel in the UK
Flybe operates regular flights to Southampton International airport from cities across the UK including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Aberdeen.
Rail travel in the UK
Southampton Central is the closest major rail station to the Wessex Institute. Direct trains arrive from London Waterloo every half an hour on weekdays, less frequently at evenings and weekends.
From Southampton Central
- Taxi: Taxis are readily available at both station exits, travel to the Wessex Institute will cost approximately £18.
- Local Bus: Bluestar bus number 6 departs during the day from the station (exit at Platform 1) to the New Forest. A request stop is situated near the turning to the Wessex Institute, between Ashurst and Lyndhurst. This bus stop is approximately 1km from the Wessex Institute. A single fare should cost less than £5, and timetables can be found online at BlueStar Bus Number 6 Timetable Please note that services are reduced considerably at weekends.
From Ashurst New Forest
If you travel to Ashurst New Forest station, it is essential to book a taxi in advance by telephoning +44 (0)23 8029 3399 or 0800 66 66 66 (in the UK only) as taxis do not wait at the station. The short journey will cost approximately £6.50. We do not recommend walking from the station to the Wessex Institute.
Road travel in the UK
The Institute can be reached by leaving the M27 motorway at Junction 3 and joining the M271. From there, join the A35, signposted to Lyndhurst. The entrance to the Wessex Institute is approximately 1km past the village of Ashurst and 5km from the Junction of the M271 and A35. Ample parking can be found at the Institute.
Local Hotels
Below is a selection of local hotels you may wish to consider if visiting Ashurst Lodge. Please consider the distance from each hotel to Ashurst Lodge before making a reservation.
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New Forest
The Crown Manor Hotel, Lyndhurst https://www.crownhotel-lyndhurst.co.uk/
Forest Lodge Hotel, Lyndhurst https://forestlodge.newforesthotels.co.uk/
Ormonde House Hotel, Lyndhurst https://www.ormondehouse.co.uk/
Lime Wood Hotel, Lyndhurst https://www.limewoodhotel.co.uk/
Stag Hotel, Lyndhurst https://thestaghotel.co.uk/
Rosedale B&B, Lyndhurst http://www.rosedalebedandbreakfast.co.uk/
Penny Farthing Hotel, Lyndhurst http://www.pennyfarthinghotel.co.uk/
Balmer Lawn Hotel, Brockenhurst https://www.balmerlawnhotel.com/
Careys Manor, Brockenhurst https://www.careysmanor.com/
Woodlands Lodge, Woodlands https://www.woodlands-lodge.co.uk/
Travelodge Stony Cross Lyndhurst https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/55/Stoney-Cross-Lyndhurst-hotel
In my last report, I spoke about the imminent prospect of a vaccine to provide protection against COVID-19 and the hope that, once it was available, life could return to something approaching normality. A year later, thanks to the efforts of scientists around the world, there are a number of effective vaccines and life is gradually returning to normal, albeit at varying rates as new variants emerge, so more slowly than I had hoped back in 2020.
By necessity, WIT has adapted to the prevailing conditions and all of its 2021 conferences have been virtual events. This has enabled us to continue our mission of facilitating the exchange of ideas by providing a forum for scientists and engineers to discuss advances in their fields of expertise and by publishing the results of their research. Our conference co-ordinating team has done an excellent job in difficult circumstances providing delegates with a rewarding experience. However, for the type of conference promoted by WIT - limited numbers and a high level of delegate interaction - physical meetings are a better medium.
My thanks go to everyone who has been involved in making the 2021 conferences so successful. The feedback we get from delegates is invariably encouraging and useful. Last year’s comments led to the introduction of a Q&A session at the end of each session which has proved popular. We also ran a series of webinars during the winter months at which selected delegates were able to present their conference papers to a wider audience. I am grateful to both the participants and those who chaired the webinars. We plan to hold another series of webinars during the coming winter.
The programme for our 2022 conferences has been published and our firm aim is to hold physical events because we believe they are more fulfilling for delegates and the medium-term trend is that travelling is becoming less difficult. We do, of course, have contingency plans in case severe travel restrictions are re-imposed and consequently delegates can be assured that, in one form or the other, the 2022 conferences will take place.
Our publication division has continued to maintain its reputation for publishing its SCOPUS accredited books and journals on a timely basis. All of the 2020 conference proceedings and a good proportion of those from the 2021 conferences have already been indexed. A number of other titles have been published during the past year including one co-authored by our Board member Santiago Hernandez and another co-edited by Ted Hromadka, also a member of our Board.
As regards our research programme, one project, which we undertook jointly with Bournemouth University, was completed during the year and another, also with Bournemouth, is progressing well. Our in-house research has been concentrated mainly on new applications for our boundary element code and several improvements have been progressed in the last twelve months.
Finally, I would like to thank all members of our staff and of the Board of directors for their invaluable support during the past year.
Alexander Brebbia
Chairman
Ashurst Lodge
The WIT Campus
Ashurst Lodge is the home of the Wessex Institute and is located in the New Forest, an outstanding National Park which borders the South Coast. It is attractive to those who enjoy walking, horse riding, cycling, sailing and fine landscapes.
Wessex Institute is a centre of excellence for a variety of disciplines ranging from technology to ecology. Ashurst Lodge is an ideal venue for conferences, courses and seminars.
Main Building Accommodation
Ashurst Lodge offers a number of high-quality individual rooms. The accommodation, on the second floor, is within easy reach of the main building services and facilities which are open to the residents. Visitors can also make use of the sporting facilities in the grounds.
Residents and their visitors may leave their cars in the main car park of the Institute.
Facilities
Residents at Ashurst Lodge have access to our facilities, including an outdoor all weather tennis court.
Founder: Professor Carlos A. Brebbia
Carlos was born in Argentina where he completed his first engineering degree. He spent two stimulating years after graduation as part of a small team setting up an Institute of Applied Mechanics. Following this, he registered at the University of Southampton in England for a higher degree, arranging to carry out his research partly at MIT. This experience, which he found most rewarding, established the basis for his long and close association with the USA.
After obtaining his PhD at Southampton he worked for the Central Electricity Research Laboratories in the UK, a leading research establishment at the time. He left the Laboratories to take an academic position at the University of Southampton where he rose from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer and Reader. During his time at Southampton, he took leave to become Visiting Professor at many other universities, including an academic year at Princeton University. After having been appointed Full Professor of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, he decided to resign his position and return to the UK to set up the Wessex Institute, of which he was the Founder and Director.
Carlos is renowned throughout the world as the originator of the Boundary Element Method, a technique that generates important research work at Wessex Institute. He has written many scientific papers, is editor of many volumes and is the author or co-author of thirteen books. He founded several international journals.
He established two International prizes, the highly regarded Prigogine Medal for Ecological Systems Research, co-sponsored by the University of Siena; and the George Green Medal, supported by Elsevier and co-sponsored by the University of Mississippi.
Carlos ran a successful WIT programme of international scientific conferences in different locations throughout the world. He helped the Institute to develop academic links with first-class institutions around the world, which has resulted in many more research programmes and collaborative projects. He was also responsible for the publishing programme of the Institute which includes, in addition to the conference proceedings, a series of monographs and edited books by some of the foremost scientists in the world.
Chairman: Alexander Carlos Brebbia
Alexander Brebbia graduated as an engineer before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PwC.
Since then he has spent over 20 years as a private equity investor sitting on the Boards of numerous businesses including those in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.
Chief Academic Officer: Stavros Syngellakis
Professor Syngellakis has a long career in teaching and research in solid and structural mechanics. He has published well over 100 papers on advanced applications of analytical and computational techniques to a wide range of structural engineering and material technology problems.
His novel numerical work is mainly based on the Boundary Element Method and he also has considerable experience in the use of general-purpose finite element codes for advanced micromechanical, bioengineering, fatigue and fracture mechanics simulations.
He has supervised many doctoral programmes to completion and participated in various industry-sponsored projects.
Members of the WIT Board of Directors
Santiago Hernández
Professor Santiago Hernández from the University of A Coruña, Spain, is a leading expert in structural engineering, Bridge Design and Optimisation Techniques.
He is Co-Chairman of many WIT conferences, Adjunct Professor, as well as a member of the WIT Board of Directors. Santiago has numerous scientific publications and has written many books.
Alexander Cheng
Alexander Cheng is Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi.
He is also a Fellow of the Wessex Institute. He is a renowned expert on Boundary Element Methods and has written numerous books, well over 100 refereed journal papers and a similar number of papers for international conferences.
He was awarded the prestigious George Green Medal for his work on Boundary Element Research. The Medal is co-sponsored by Elsevier.
Jerry J Connor
Professor Jerry Connor is WIT’s representative in the Boston (USA) office and a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute.
He is Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is internationally renowned for his work in software engineering and analytical techniques.
He collaborates in many of WIT’s activities in addition to research, such as publications and conference scientific and technical organisation.
Daniele De Wrachien
Daniele de Wrachien is Professor of Irrigation and Drainage at the Department of Agricultural Engineering of the State University of Milan from where he graduated in Geology.
His research interests are water resources management; irrigation and drainage technology; modelling of transport processes in porous media; debris and hyperconcentrated flow simulation; flood control and mitigation measures; desertification and environmental impacts of climate change.
Daniele is author of many papers in his field of interest and he has participated in numerous scientific conferences. His activities at WIT have included the organisation of special seminars and conferences on water resources, flood and debris flow.
Among his many distinctions, he has been President of EURAgEng (European Society of Agricultural Engineers) and member of the Executive Board of ICID (International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage).
Theodore Hromadka
Ted Hromadka is Professor at West Point and Principal at Hromadka & Associates, Costa Mesa, California.
His expertise includes designing master plans for surface water hydrology and the development of computer systems. In addition, he has written plans for water quality enhancement, sediment and debris protection, and run-off management.
Dr Hromadka has written more than 20 books on various topics related to hydrology.
Stefano Mambretti
Stefano Mambretti is Associate Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches and carries out research.
His field of expertise is hydraulics and hydrological models, topics in which he has numerous publications. Stefano is also internationally renowned for his work on debris flows, urban water, flood systems and flood prevention, management and recovery.
He has organised several WIT International Conferences and has served on the Editorial Board of multiple journals published by WIT Press.
Giorgio Passerini
Giorgio Passerini is Associate Professor at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche at the Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy.
His research team has focused on the following three areas: air pollution assessment and remediation; the evaluation of airborne pollutants due to the treatment of organic fraction of municipal solid waste; Smart Cities and management and optimisation of municipalities with special attention to energy consumption.
He represents WIT at many of our conferences and has been associated with many training, research and publishing activities at WIT.
George Pinder
George Pinder is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont in Burlington.
His area of research is the development and application of applied mathematics, especially numerical methods to solve groundwater contamination and supply problems.
George is author of several books and many scientific and technical papers. He has also acted as a consultant in many important projects.
He became associated with WIT when it was first started and has participated in many training and publishing activities. One of these initiatives was the launching of the Journal of Water Resources, now published by Elsevier.
Dragan Poljak
Professor Dragan Poljak from the University of Split, Croatia, is an international expert on electromagnetic radiation and carries out research in this field. Prof Poljak has been awarded the National Prize for Sciences by the Croatian Committee of Science and Technology, sponsored by the National Parliament.
He has numerous publications in his field, including several well-known books.
Eckart Schnack
Eckart Schnack is Professor of Solid Mechanics at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.
He is an expert in numerical methods of continuum mechanics and on experimental methods of mechanics.
He has over 200 publications to his name and has obtained many prestigious awards throughout his career.
Antonio Tadeu
Professor Antonio Tadeu from the University of Coimbra has collaborated with the Institute in many conferences and publications.
He is an expert in computational modelling and has applied techniques for the solution of structural, acoustic, fluid dynamics and many other problems.
He has recently been awarded the prestigious George Green Medal for his research into Boundary Element Methods.
Wessex Institute