CIMCOMP - Key Persons
Alex Hammond is the Hub Deputy Manager and assists with the day-to-day operations of the Hub. Her background is in corporate governance, finance and project management. She has worked at the University of Nottingham since 2012 and joined the Future Composites Manufacturing Research Hub in May 2020. She has over 10 years' experience of managing large-scale multi-partner research projects funded by the EU and UKRI.
Alex Trenam graduated with an MMath Mathematics from The University Of Sheffield in 2019. He is now a mathematics PhD student, in Cohort 2 of the Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems Centre for Doctoral Training (AAPS CDT) at the University of Bath, working under the supervision of Prof Tristan Pryer. His research lies in the field of numerical analysis and is currently centred around the design of structure-preserving numerical methods for battery electrolyte models, with a particular focus on discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods.
Alex became involved with modelling the formation process of composite materials as part of the NCForm project whilst undertaking a three month Research Assistant role at the Institute for Mathematical Innovation at the University of Bath.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Technologist
- Industrial Representative
Amir Rezai is the Principal Technologist for Advanced Materials at BAE Systems.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chair of the PDC
- Deputy Chair of the Postgraduate Development Committee
Andrew Mills is Deputy Chair of the PDC in the Management Group for the Hub and Principal Research Fellow in Composites Manufacturing. He leads the development of technology for the cost effective manufacturing of lightweight composite structures in close partnership with industry. Andrew has led the Airbus UK/Cranfield project AMCAPS, which investigated novel materials and process technology for large composite wing manufacture, some techniques from which have now been qualified for manufacturing the Airbus A380. Currently, alongside CIMComp projects he is leading two AMSCI projects which are developing knowledge tools for carbon fibre composites design for manufacture and is vice-Chairman of SAMPE UK.
Job Titles:
- Industrial Representative
- Is Director of Research and Development, Gordon Murray Design
Arjun Radhakrishnan is a PhD student in the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Advanced Composites for Innovation and Science. The PhD focusses on formulating the design space for a novel closed-loop out-of-autoclave processing for multi-matrix multifunctional polymer composites. He received his MSC in composites from Imperial College London and worked on the processing of carbon-nanotube-based multi-level polymer composites for his thesis. He is an aerospace engineer by degree and completed his Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India.
Job Titles:
- Industrial Representative
Dr Alex Skordos is Senior Lecturer in Composites Modelling. He is involved in research on simulation and optimisation of composites manufacturing, processing and functionality of polymer nanocomposites and development of constitutive models for polymer composites. Alex lectures in the Manufacturing and Materials Department on the subjects of Finite Element Modelling, Composites Processing and Composites Performance. His general interests are on the development of efficient simulation tools and of cost effective monitoring methods for materials processing and their integration with inverse techniques. One specific area of interest concerns the experimental characterisation and computational simulation of variability in polymer composites and the investigation and exploitation of trade-offs between variability, cost and performance.
Alex is also Principal Investigator on a recently awarded Hub funded Core project "Layer by Layer", which follows the success of the Hub funded Feasibility Study "Layer by Layer".
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder of Axis Composites
Dr Alistair McIlhagger is a Reader in the School of Engineering and a member of the Engineering Research Institute (ERI). He is Director of the Engineering Composites Research Centre (ECRE) at Ulster University. Alistair's research interests are focussed on the development of smart/functional nano-composites and novel composite textiles for aerospace, renewable and transport applications. Most recently, he has been working on the design, development and subsequent manufacturing of advanced textile reinforcements for composite structures through a variety of research programmes including those funded by TSB, EU and international industrial partners. Alistair is one of the founding academics in the Northern Ireland Advanced Engineering Centre (NIACE) and has been the university representative on various management and steering boards. He also sits on the technical committee of the associated composites competence centre (NIAECC). For 4 years he was the university representative on the Aerospace, Defence, Security (ADS) Northern Ireland Council. He has been a member of the EPSRC Peer review college, IOM3 Marketing and Meeting Committee (British Composites Society) and chaired the International Conference for Manufacturing Advanced Composites (ICMAC Belfast 2009, 2011). He has developed and implemented the Bombardier Transformation Programme which is now in its 7 th year. He is a visiting Research Fellow at Glyndwr University and more recently Concordia University (Montreal).
Alistair is a co-founder of Axis Composites, a university spin out company established to commercialise advanced preforming and associated technologies. His role has resulted in securing significant contracts across different sectors including aerospace, materials development and training (Horizon 2020, InnovateUK, NIAECC, private venture, etc.)
Alistair graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Biochemical Science and a PhD in polymer composite processing from Ulster University. He was appointed to a Lectureship at Ulster 2005 and promoted to his current position in 2013.
Alvaro Silva Caballero worked on the CIMComp Core Project 'Innovated Multi-material and Multi-architecture Preforms' under Professor Prasad Potluri. He is a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Manchester; his research focuses on robot forming of aerospace composites/AFP.
Anatoly Koptelov is a Research associate in the Bristol Composites Institute (BCI), University of Bristol. After receiving his Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering in Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, Anatoly continued his studies as a PhD student at the BCI. His dissertation on topic "Autonomous and objective characterisation of composite precursors in manufacturing" was focused on application of modern machine learning techniques for challenging composite modelling problems. In particular, he worked on the development of a real-time experimental analysis framework for autonomous testing of composites. Currently, he is working on the application of modern AI and Deep learning techniques for predicting woven architectures of 3D textiles, experimental characterisation of prepreg materials, and exploration of overmolding effects in stiffened panels during manufacturing.
Job Titles:
- Research Associate at the University of Cambridge
Dr Andrea Codolini is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge working on the Hub Core Project; Design Simulation Tools and Process Improvements for NCF Preforming. He completed his i-case PhD at The University of Manchester on mineral-filled polymers, with a specific focus on efficiency of material modelling implementation in Finite Element codes for automotive sponsors. At the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, he worked on a Hub follow-on project funded by Innovate UK (ALPA2). His current research interest is the exploitation of artificial intelligence to design for manufacturing of composite structures within the aerospace and automotive sectors.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor in Composites Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham
Dr Andreas Endruweit is Associate Professor in Composites Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham, having joined the university in 2003 Andreas has worked as a Research fellow in the Polymer Composites research group. Andreas obtained a degree in Physics (Diplomphysiker - equivalent Master of Science) at Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universitaet Wuerzburg in 1995 and a Master's degree in Polymer and Composites Engineering at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1997. He completed a PhD (Doctor of Technical Sciences) at Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zuerich in 2003.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham
Dr Andrew Parsons is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. He is lead investigator on the recently awarded Feasibility study "Incorporation of thermoplastic in situ polymerisation in double diaphragm forming". His research activities include the development of new composite materials and components, including carbon, novel glass and nanoparticle reinforcements and both thermoset and thermoplastic matrices. Applications are principally in the aerospace and medical device sectors. He is also familiar with a wide range of characterisation techniques including thermal and mechanical assessment, as well as surface characterisation.
Dr Andrew Rhead is Senior Lecturer in Composites in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His work focuses on the impact and damage tolerance of aerospace composite structures. He is particularly interested in the detection and modelling of mechanisms of failure and Non-Destructive evaluation (NDE) of impact damage.
Andrew graduated with a MSci(MMath) with a focus on Dynamical Systems, specifically Mechanics, Control theory, Chaos theory, Fluid dynamics, Fractals and Quantum mechanics, from the University of Bristol in July 2006. He obtained a PhD on the Analysis and optimisation of damage tolerant, post-buckled composite laminates from the University of Bath in 2009. His research was sponsored by GWR and Airbus. Between November 2009 and April 2010, Andrew was awarded an EPSRC grant for improving departmental use of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and Ultrasonic C-scan equipment.
Andrew's six-month research project in 2010 on analysing and optimising the damage tolerance of stiffeners subject to in-plane impact was funded by Airbus and was used to confirm allowable strain in the structure of the Airbus A350-XWB wing.
Between 2010 and 2012 Andrew worked on ABBSTRACT 2 - EPSRC, an Airbus and GKN funded project assessing the feasibility of using curved fibres to manufacture aerospace components. Andrew provided experimentally validated analytical models for the damage tolerance of curved fibre structures that can be used in conjunction with minimum mass optimisation tools.
During the manufacture and operation of an aircraft, layered Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) components are subject to a variety of low-energy impacts. These impacts typically leave minor surface indentations that go unnoticed during routine inspections. However, dangerous internal damage is also created which can lead to catastrophic failure when loaded. The lack of damage tolerance of composite structures is one of the greatest barriers to improvement of airframe structural efficiency; a critical driver for increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. Andrew's research has focused on assessing the residual strength of impact damaged composite laminates and has been supported by the EPSRC, Airbus and latterly by GKN Aerospace.
Anthony Evans was a PhD student at the University of Nottingham researching High Volume Production of Next-Generation Hybrid Composite Architectures. He is a postdoctoral Research Fellow on the Hub Core Project 'Technologies framework for Automated Dry Fibre Placement'.
Job Titles:
- Industrial Representative
Dr Jin Zhou is a Research Associate working on composite forming in Micromechanics research group in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He has completed a EPSRC feasibility study on Composite Forming Limit Diagram in collaboration with industrial partners including Dassault Systèmes and Hexcel. He has been a Research Fellow working on impact response of lightweight composite structures in the School of Engineering at the University of Liverpool between 2015 and 2017. Prior to returning to academic research at the University of Cambridge, Jin was a Senior Structural Engineer in industry working on structural mechanics and friction welding to obtain industrial approvals following international standardization. His research interests include the impact response of composite materials, sandwich structures, hybrid metal-composite structures, lightweight structures and composites forming.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Postgraduate Development Committee
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- Industrial Representative
Job Titles:
- Business Engagement Manager
Job Titles:
- Industrial Representative
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director and Chair of the Strategic Development Committee
Job Titles:
- Industrial Representative
Andy Smith is Director of Research and Development, Gordon Murray Design.
Job Titles:
- Administrator
- Hub Administrator
Adam Thompson worked on the CIMComp Core Project 'Defect Generation Mechanisms in Thick and Variable Thickness Composite Parts - Understanding, Predicting and Mitigation (DefGen)' under Professor Stephen Hallett. Adam is a PhD student at the University of Bristol working on Deformation Modelling of Dry Fabrics.
Albert Gibbs is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham. His background is in mechanical engineering with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering, also from The University of Nottingham. He specialised in 2D-3D composite forming during his master's degree and over a placement with Aston Martin. He is continuing in that area with research that focusses on improving the fidelity of forming simulations to better predict defects in formed composite parts. One of the aims of his PhD is to understand the reasons for the random variation in material shear characterisation and investigate the stiffness seen at very low shear angle in Non-crimp fabrics.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Vice - Chancellor at the University of Nottingham
Professor Andy Long is Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nottingham, leading the project on "Manufacturing techniques for optimised fibre architectures". Having worked for 25 years in manufacturing and design of composite components, Prof Long has an international reputation for his work. He has led several collaborative EPSRC, TSB and industry funded projects, with a portfolio valued at £18million. Professor Long has supervised many PhD students, published three textbooks and 300 papers. He has twice received the IoMMM Composites Award for best published literature. In 2006 he received the Rosenhain Medal for his contribution to materials science and in 2014 was elected a SAMPE Fellow.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Advisory Board
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- Deputy Director and Chair of the Knowledge Exchange Committee
Job Titles:
- Director of the IDC
- IDC Director
Job Titles:
- Industrial Representative
Job Titles:
- Aerospace Engineer
- Chairman of the Researcher Network
Ángela is an aerospace engineer, with postgraduate education oriented towards advanced materials. Her research project consists of a study of the fibre orientation and its effect in composites forming process. She is aiming to use the APODIUS system to understand how the fabrics are deforming and improve the prediction of wrinkling. Ángela was appointed Chair of the Researcher Network in January 2024.