{"id":13301,"date":"2022-11-01T17:38:51","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T16:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/?post_type=leadership&#038;p=13301"},"modified":"2025-08-22T09:36:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:36:23","slug":"gerald-deshais","status":"publish","type":"leadership","link":"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/our-experts\/gerald-deshais\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerald Deshais"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"13301\" class=\"elementor elementor-13301\" data-elementor-post-type=\"leadership\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-54ae025f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"36097\" data-id=\"54ae025f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2b5d1d38\" data-eae-slider=\"27626\" data-id=\"2b5d1d38\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d478e0d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d478e0d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Gerald completed his PhD in Materials Science at the University of Cambridge in 1999, where he investigated the resistance of 7XXX alloys to stress corrosion cracking on behalf of P\u00e9chiney (now part of Rio Tinto Alcan). Using transmission electronic microscopy and spectroscopy, he characterised the effects of grain boundary chemistry on crack propagation and compared it with fracture mechanics models.<\/p><p>In 1999, Gerald\u2019s interest in the aerospace industry led him to join Rolls-Royce Materials\u2019 Department, working on the advancement of testing and analytical methods to predict low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue failure in titanium compressor blades. He then went on to co-ordinate a research project on the subject with 12 European partners, funded by the European Commission.<\/p><p>From 2002, he became involved with the design of increasingly complex aero-engine systems for Airbus and Boeing airframes. Firstly, by project managing the certification of control systems, then by leading the development of innovative transmissions and gas turbine structures.<\/p><p>In 2011, upon joining GE Aviation Systems, Gerald expanded his expertise into the design of novel composite wing structures for the Airbus A350-XWB aircraft. Reflecting on the importance of processes and systems engineering in the development of safety critical products, he took on a 6-sigma Black Belt role followed by senior management roles in Systems Engineering at GE Aviation\u2019s Electrical Power Distribution division.<\/p><p>His work in aerospace has allowed him to gain an in- depth understanding of failure mechanisms in both mechanical and electrical systems.<\/p><p>Gerald joined Hawkins in October 2022 and is a Senior Associate based in our Bristol office.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7008cd54 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"87697\" data-id=\"7008cd54\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-16ed55fd\" data-eae-slider=\"79569\" data-id=\"16ed55fd\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4c851273 elementor-widget-divider--view-line_icon elementor-widget-divider--element-align-right elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"4c851273\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon elementor-divider__element\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32866918 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"32866918\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong style=\"color: inherit; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-00b086a-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: var( --e-global-typography-00b086a-font-size ); letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-00b086a-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-00b086a-word-spacing ); background-color: initial;\"><span style=\"color: #0a527a;\">LANGUAGES<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gerald is also proficient in <span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-size ); font-weight: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-weight ); background-color: initial;\">French.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gerald completed his PhD in Materials Science at the University of Cambridge in 1999, where he investigated the resistance of 7XXX alloys to stress corrosion cracking on behalf of P\u00e9chiney (now part of Rio Tinto Alcan). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13387,"parent":0,"template":"","service":[],"location":[34],"management":[],"experties":[65,66,68,101],"region":[79],"class_list":["post-13301","leadership","type-leadership","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-bristol","experties-engineering","experties-fire-explosions","experties-materials-chemistry-biology","experties-power-energy","region-uk-ireland"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gerald Deshais | Fire &amp; Explosion Investigator | Hawkins &amp; Associates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gerald Deshais investigates fire and explosion incidents across various sectors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hawkins.biz\/our-experts\/gerald-deshais\/\" \/>\n<meta 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