Dr Daniel Pitchforth (he/him)

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering

Research Associate

d.j.pitchforth@sheffield.ac.uk
Mining Block, RC08, Sir Frederick Mappin Building

Full contact details

Dr Daniel Pitchforth
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Mining Block, RC08
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

Daniel Pitchforth is a research associate in the dynamics group at the University of Sheffield. His research interests focus on the integration of physical knowledge within machine learners, directed toward answering a few favourite questions: How can we most effectively combine physics and data for a particular task? What benefits can physics-informed models provide over purely data/physics-based approaches? How can we reap such benefits with application to structural dynamics?
During his PhD, he developed physics-informed models for offshore structures, with a specific focus on wave loading prediction. Currently, his research role involves working with industrial partners to implement PIML on real-world engineering challenges. Throughout his research career, an enthusiasm has grown for Gaussian processes, Kernel design and Autoregressive modelling.

Research interests

Physics-informed machine learning, Gaussian processes, Autoregressive modelling, Structural dynamics

Publications

Journal articles

  • Pitchforth DJ, Jones MR, Gibson SJ & Cross EJ (2026) . Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 254.
  • Jones MR, Pitchforth DJ & Cross EJ (2024) . Proceedings of the 10th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2024), 29(7).
  • Pitchforth DJ, Jones MR & Cross EJ (2024) . Proceedings of the 10th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2024), 29(7).
  • Cross EJ, Rogers TJ, Pitchforth DJ, Gibson SJ, Zhang S & Jones MR (2024) . Data-Centric Engineering, 5(11).
  • Pitchforth DJ, Rogers TJ, Tygesen UT & Cross EJ (2021) . Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 159.

Book chapters

  • Jones MR, Pitchforth DJ, Lin W, Worden K, Mills RS & Cross EJ (2025) (pp. 29-48). Wiley
  • Cross EJ, Gibson SJ, Jones MR, Pitchforth DJ, Zhang S & Rogers TJ (2022) In Cury A, Ribeiro D, Ubertini F & Todd MD (Ed.), Structural Health Monitoring Based on Data Science Techniques (pp. 347-367). Springer Cham

Conference proceedings

  • Pitchforth D, Gibson S & Cross E (2025) . Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Uncertainty Quantification in Computational Sciences and Engineering (UNCECOMP) (pp 112-121), 15 June 2025 - 18 June 2025.
  • Pitchforth DJ, Jones MR & Cross EJ (2024) Physics-informed Gaussian processes - a guide to what physics where?. Proceedings of ISMA 2024 International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering and Usd 2024 International Conference on Uncertainty in Structural Dynamics (pp 4469-4481)
  • JONES MR, PITCHFORTH DJ & CROSS EJ (2023) . Proceedings of the 14th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring
  • PITCHFORTH DJ, MILLS RS, ROGERS TJ, TYGESEN UT & CROSS EJ (2023) . Proceedings of the 14th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring
  • Pitchforth DJ, Rogers TJ, Tygesen UT & Cross EJ (2022) Physically-informed kernels for wave loading prediction. 11th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure, Vol. 2022 (pp 452-457). Montreal, Canada, 8 August 2022 - 8 August 2022.
  • Pitchforth DJ, Rogers TJ, Tygesen UT & Cross EJ (2022) Incorporation of partial physical knowledge within Gaussian processes. Proceedings of ISMA 2022 International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering and Usd 2022 International Conference on Uncertainty in Structural Dynamics (pp 4865-4877)
  • Pitchforth DJ, Rogers TJ, Tygesen UT & Cross EJ (2020) A grey-box model for wave loading prediction with uncertainty propagation. Proceedings of ISMA 2020 International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering and Usd 2020 International Conference on Uncertainty in Structural Dynamics (pp 3611-3622)

Preprints

  • Cross EJ, Rogers TJ, Pitchforth DJ, Gibson SJ & Jones MR (2023) , arXiv.
  • Cross EJ, Gibson SJ, Jones MR, Pitchforth DJ, Zhang S & Rogers TJ (2022) , arXiv.
  • Pitchforth DJ, Rogers TJ, Tygesen UT & Cross EJ (2021) , arXiv.
Research group
Dynamics Research Group