Former Group Members

Dr Nimrekha Kahavitage Dona  
PhD Student

Nimrekha completed her BTech degree in Science & Technology, specialising in Materials Science & Technology (2:1) from Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka in 2012 and obtained her MSc in the same field of materials science from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 2018. Her masters research particularly focused on the investigation of the potentials of surface-modified nano-fibre (Nanofibrillated cellulose) reinforced polyolefin composites in enhancing the thermal and mechanical properties. Nimrekha started her PhD in 2019 and her research focuses on the investigation of thermoplastic composite forming processes for automotive and industrial structures production.

Dr Ifiok Ekop 
PhD Student

Ifiok obtained his BSc in Building from the University of Uyo, and his MSc in Construction Technology from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He started his PhD in 2020 and his research focuses on strengthening and repairing concrete structures with (carbon) fibre reinforced polymers.

Dr Yanmei Cao  
PhD Student

Yanmei graduated from the China University of Geosciences with a Civil Engineering degree and was later awarded an MSc degree in the University of Manchester in Structural Engineering. She joined the research group in 2018 and her PhD project focuses on interfacial shear stress between single glass fibre and matrix in composite. She works on single fibre fragmentation test(SFFT) and numerical simulation of the SFFT by using ABAQUS. Her simulation work will make it easier to estimate interfacial shear strength between single glass fibre and matrix.

Dr Gaurav Khandelwal 
Research Associate

Dr. ​Khandelwal is a Research Associate in Materials and Manufacturing Research Group at the University of Glasgow. He completed his Ph.D. (with excellence) from the Department of Mechatronics Engineering at Jeju National University, South Korea, where he is a recipient of Brain Korea fellowship. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Nanotechnology from the Centre for Converging Technologies, U.O.R, India. He worked as Project Associate at the Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T), Delhi, India and as a research intern in the field of "Peptide-based nanofibers" at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (I.N.S.T), India. His current research area includes triboelectric nanogenerators, piezoelectric nanogenerators, self-powered sensors, electrospinning, nanomaterial synthesis and characterisation. Dr. Khandelwal has published more than 40 papers in highly reputed journals including Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, JMC-A, Nano Energy and so on.

Dr Satyaranjan Bairagi
Research Associate

Dr. Bairagi is a postdoctoral fellow under a project funded by EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), at the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. He completed his Ph.D. in Material Science from Indian Institute of Technology- Delhi, India. His area of research interest includes development of nanotechnology based piezoelectric and triboelectric materials for nanogenerators as well as textile based flexible advanced materials for renewable energy harvesting. He has published numerous research articles in various reputed peer-reviewed journals. In addition, Dr. Bairagi has published and written more than 30 book chapters which have been published and submitted in different books under various publishers such as Elsevier, Wiley, Springer and so forth.

Dr Johannes Schneider
​PhD Student

Johannes was awarded a Dipl.Ing. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on lightweight constructions by Technical University of Dresden, Germany. After graduation, he moved to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to work with Khalifa University.
​His PhD program with University of Glasgow started in 2020, focusing on additive manufacturing-enabled multifunctional cellular composites for biomedical applications.

Dr Guanbo Min
​PhD Student

Dr. Min is an Assistant Professor at Beijing Institute of Nano energy and Nano systems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. He received a B.Sc. degree in Electronic Information Technology from Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao S.A.R, China in 2015 and a M.Sc. degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from University of Glasgow in 2017. Subsequently, he was awarded a Ph.D. in Mechanical engineering by University of Glasgow in 2022. Then, Guanbo was working with an EPSCR supported project related to textile based triboelectric nanogenerator. His research interest includes energy harvesting and its devices, triboelectric nanogenerator, triboelectric materials, self-powered sensors and self-powered/ charging systems.

Dr Jason Lee
​PhD Student

Jason graduated from the University of Bristol with an BEng Aeronautical Engineering degree and completed a MSc degree in the University of Glasgow in Aeronautical Engineering. He started his PhD in 2018 and the aim of his project was to improve the buckling and post-buckling performances of mechanically coupled composite structures.

Dr Enrique Frutos Myro
​PhD Student

​Enrique completed his 5-year degree in Chemistry with a final year in Materials Science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Between 2012 and 2016, he worked as a volunteer at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in studies of heritage identification and conservation, at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in metallurgy and alloys for biomedical engineering and at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM-CSIC) for the study of new light high-entropy alloys. His PhD project focused on the characterization and optimization of dual-phase titanium alloys.

Dr Saad Bin Jaber
​PhD Student

Dr. Saad Bin Jaber is an Assistant Professor at Iman Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saad was awarded an MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology by the University of Glasgow in 2017. Previously he completed a BSc degree in General Physics at Al-Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia. His PhD project at the University of Glasgow was on understanding and utilising the frictional behaviour of nano and micro-structured interfaces. ​​

Dr Ismail Mohsen Ibrahim Aldellaa 
​PhD Student

Ismail started his PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2019. His project aim is to investigate the influence of time dependence of concrete on corrosion-induced cracking. Before that, he has been working for 2 years with Civil Engineering Department at the College of Technical Sciences in Misurata, Libya and in 2016 he completed an MSc in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of South Wales, UK.
​He finished the undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering in the Higher Institute of Sciences and Technology in Libya in 2006. After that, he worked for 7 years as a member of the engineering team of the Contracting Company on infrastructure projects in Libya.

Dr Shalu Rani
​Research Associate

Dr. Shalu Rani is an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, India. She was a Research Associate under a project funded by EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) in the Materials and Manufacturing Research Group at the University of Glasgow. She received her Ph.D. degree in Nanotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. She completed her B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and her M.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kurukshetra University. Her research interest includes textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators and their integration with advanced flexible supercapacitors and micro-supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, and nanomaterials fabrication and characterization. Her research work is published in well-reputed IEEE (IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices), and Wiley (Advanced Electronic Materials) journals. ​

Dr Daniele Barbera
​Research Associate

Dr. Barbera is a Research Associate at University of Strathclyde. He worked as a Research Associate in the System Power and Energy Department within the School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow between 2017-2019.  He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (2017) a MEng in Aerospace Engineering (2013) and a BSc in Material Science (2010)  from the University of Strathclyde, University of Rome "La Sapienza" and "Tor Vergata" respectively.
​His main areas of research are process modelling of inertia friction welding for aerospace application and high-temperature structural integrity, focusing on material and structure numerical modelling. Currently, he is investigating new remeshing scheme for IFW and material modelling for nickel superalloys. During his Ph.D. and past research, he investigated the effects of high-temperature creep and fatigue on the crack initiation process in metallic structures. He also has other areas of interest such as advanced materials and space deployable structures.

Dr Sakineh Fotouhi
​Research Associate

Dr. Sakineh Fotouhi is a Lecturer at the University of West of England (UWE), Bristol, England. She joined the University of Glasgow as a research associate in May 2021 and her expertise lies in the design, manufacturing, monitoring and characterization of composite materials. She worked on a high profile EPSRC project (EP/V009451/1) to develop the next generation of high-performance impact-resistant composites with visibility of damage. Before joining the University of Glasgow, she was a research assistant at the University of Girona, since Sep 2020, working on 3D printing of laminated composites.
She holds honours BSc (2012), MSc (June 2015) and PhD (expected viva in June 2021) degrees in mechanical engineering. Her MSc was singled out for its quality in a university-wide assessment and she was awarded two best conference paper awards. She also has lectureship and industrial experience related to the design and manufacturing of engineering materials.
She has established a broad international network, collaborating with important composite research institutes including Bristol, Strathclyde, Nottingham Trent, Bologna, and AMADE Girona. These collaborations have proven very fruitful, leading to high-quality peer-reviewed publications, and providing early experience in research management and co-supervision of students.

Dr Lukman A. Yusuf
PhD Student

Lukman obtained his BEng in Electrical Engineering from Kano University of Science and Technology in Wudil, and his MEng in the same discipline from Bayero University, Kano both in Nigeria. Lukman started his PhD in 2018 on dynamic jobs scheduling at the University of Glasgow. Currently, his research focuses on incorporating preventive maintenance and energy saving plans in multi-objective dynamic jobs scheduling in the manufacturing industry.

Dr Ross Williams​
PhD Student

Ross graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2017 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. His interests lie at the intersection of continuum mechanics and computational materials science. These interests, coupled with an interest in the aerospace sector, were behind the decision to pursue a PhD, modelling the inertia friction welding process of nickel-based superalloys at both the macroscale (from a process modelling perspective using Abaqus), and the mesoscale (with non-isothermal phase field modelling accounting for multiple grains, phases, and components using MOOSE).
​He passed his viva in 2023.

Dr Cise Unluer
Reader

Dr. Cise Unluer is a Professor at The University of Manchester. Cise’s research aims to contribute to a sustainable built environment through the development of innovative and functional construction products with high performance and durability. In her work, she focuses on the use of waste materials, carbon sequestration, recycling, self-healing and 3D printing processes involving cement-based mixes. Within these topics, she is interested in studying the relationship between reaction mechanisms, mechanical performance and microstructural development, as well as the environmental impacts of various binder systems and materials.
​Cise joined Glasgow as a Reader in Smart Infrastructure Materials in 2020. Prior to this, she completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge (2009-2012). She worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Concrete Sustainability Hub of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2012-2013) and a lecturer at Nanyang Technological University (2013-2020), and senior lecturer at The University of Glasgow (2020-2023) where she established her research group on the development of novel binders and sustainable construction products.

Dr Charchit Kumar
Research Associate

Dr. Charchit Kumar is now an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. He was a Research Associate in Materials and Manufacturing Research Group at the University of Glasgow. He received his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University and M.Tech. in Materials Science from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). He obtained his joint PhD in the field of polymer tribology at the Freiburg Centre for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, University of Freiburg (Germany) and the Institut Charles Sadron (CNRS), University of Strasbourg (France). His PhD research was focused on adhesion and friction mechanics on complex hierarchical micro-structured surfaces. During his PhD, he was a fellow member of the International Doctoral Programme, and his bi-national thesis was recognised as a Cotutelle de thèse from the Franco-German University Saarbrücken. Following his PhD, he was a Postdoctoral Research & Teaching Associate at the Laboratoire ICube (CNRS) Strasbourg.
His research interests lie primarily within the polymer materials engineering, biomechanics, and tribology. Currently he focuses on the following areas: triboelectric nanogenerator (energy harvester), flexoelectricity, polymer materials, tribo-adhesion, and contact mechanics.

Dr Iain Campbell  
PhD Student​

Iain was awarded an MEng (1.1) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Glasgow in 2017. His PhD project is on tribology in composites forming.  The work has three main aims: understanding the underlying physics of friction in forming, improving predictive forming models and reducing and controlling friction during the forming process. ​

Dr Chris Triantafyllou
PhD Student

Chris graduated from the University of Glasgow with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 and first joined the research group during his final year project. His dissertation focused on the cold dwell fatigue behaviour of Ti64 and led to the development of a crystal plasticity model capable of capturing this complex behaviour. As an undergraduate he spent two months at the Karlsruhe Insitute of Technology in Germany as a manufacturing research assistant. His PhD project is a continuation of his work on cold dwell fatigue with further focus on the influence of high stress concentrations and the effect of cross-rolling. He is the founder and current president of the non-profit aerospace education organisation, JetX Engineering.

Dr Euan Wielewski
Lecturer

Euan's research focused on understanding the mechanical behaviour of materials at the microscopic scale. His research used advanced materials characterisation and simulation tools, capable of capturing the effects of a material's microstructure on it's mechanical response, to develop physically-based, predictive modelling tools. 

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Dr Zhaofei Xiao
Research Associate

Zhaofei Xiao was a Research Associate in composites manufacturing and design. He joined the Materials and Manufacturing Research Group at the University of Glasgow in October 2017. Zhaofei completed his PhD in Materials Engineering and Design at the University of Nottingham in 2018, MSc in Materials Science and Technology at Loughborough University in 2013, and BEng in Materials Science and Engineering at Shandong University in 2012.
Zhaofei’s present research focuses on the development of a low-cost steered fibre laminates manufacturing process and optimisation of mechanical properties of composites structures via numerical modelling. His previous research spans manufacturing process automation, experimental mechanics and characterisation for both composites and metal alloys.

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Dr Kayleigh Nelson
PhD Student

Kayleigh completed her PhD on the deformation of titanium alloys using in situ micro-mechanical testing and advanced microscopy techniques. She has obtained a position of Visiting Scientist at Cornell University, NY, USA (2016). Previously completing a Masters degree in Product Design Engineering as a joint venture between the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art.

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Dr Jimeng Yang
PhD Student

Jimeng graduated from Tianjin University with an BEng from the Mechanical Engineering School and started her PhD research at the University of Glasgow in 2016. Now in her third year, her research is focusing on multi-objective optimisations applied into Additive Manufacturing (AM) which aims at providing a genetic approach to predict time, energy consumption, product performance and seeks for an optimal manufacturing solution for AM.

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Dr D. Khoa Do
PhD Student

Khoa achieved his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering in Hochiminh City University of Technology, Vietnam. He started his PhD program in University of Glasgow in 2017 after 2.5 years working in Singapore Center for 3D Printing (SC3DP). His research topic is material modelling and development for Additive Manufacturing including Selective Laser Melting and Metal Extrusion-based Method. He is working on Ti-6Al-4V and 316L stainless steel alloys for aerospace and biomedical applications.

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Dr Mark Docherty
PhD Student

Mark's academic background started out by studying an HNC qualification in Mechanical Engineering at the University of the West of Scotland back in 2010/11. This lead him to study a BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering at Edinburgh Napier University from 2011-2015 where I gained a 2:1 classification. Following the completion of his BEng degree, he then successfully completed an MSc in Advanced Materials Engineering, again at Edinburgh Napier University during the 2015/16 academic year. His PhD focused on the thermo-mechanical processing of nickel superalloys. He passed his viva in 2020.

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Dr Scott Sneddon
PhD Student

Scott completed his undergrad in mechanical engineering and his masters in Advanced Materials Engineering in at Edinburgh Napier University. His master's project involved a collaboration with Rolls-Royce investigating alpha-case growth found in titanium 6/4. His research interests are found in titanium alloys where he is investigating the deformation of low aluminium titanium alloys. He passed his viva in 2020.

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Dr Alex Hamilton
PhD Student

Alex was awarded an MEng (1.1) in Biomedical Engineering by the University of Glasgow in 2017.  His PhD project is on optimised bonded interfaces utilising nano and micro-structured surfaces. The aim of this work is to examine the potential for nano and micro structured interlocking interfaces to enhance joint performance (i.e. through increasing strength, toughness, repeatability etc.). ​

Dr Mohammad Fotouhi
Lecturer

Dr. Mohammad Fotouhi is an Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands. Mohammad joined the University of Glasgow as a lecturer in September 2019 and his expertise lies in composites design, manufacturing and integrity. He is currently working on generative design, lightweight/smart bio-inspired composites, 4D printed self-morphing structures and multi-functional materials. He has made innovations in designing high-performance composite T-joints, Pseudo-ductile and notch insensitive composites, and novel damage detection methods.
Before joining Glasgow, Mohammad was as a lecturer at the University of the West of England and previously led the Hybrid Composites developments in the HiPerDuCT programme (EP/I02946X/1), as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol. He also has 3 years of industrial experience in R&D activities including reverse engineering, manufacturing, CAD/CAM and material analysis.
Mohammad graduated with honoured MSc and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering (manufacturing and production), both his MSc and PhD theses were on acoustic emission-based damage monitoring of composites, and were singled out for their quality in a University-wide assessment. He is in editorial board of international journals: Composite Materials, Science publishing group, and Journal of engineering and technology.

Dr Paul Barron
Research Associate

Paul’s research focuses on incorporating shape memory materials into ultrasonic devices. He completed his PhD at the University of Manchester in 2021, where he worked on developing novel alloys for nuclear fusion applications. He is currently working as a postdoctoral research associate on the Ultrasurge project and in the Adaptus group. His present work is examining how the phase transformations of Nitinol, a nickel-titanium shape memory alloy, can be exploited to manufacture ultrasonic surgical devices that are capable of resonating at different frequencies.

Dr Enric Grustan-Gutiérrez
Lecturer

Dr. Enric Grustan-Gutiérrez is a Lecturer at University of Cranfield. He was previously a Lecturer at The University of Glasgow. He holds a "Top International Managers in Engineering" double master's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from BarcelonaTech and University of Padua (Italy) respectively. He was awarded a Balsells fellowship to pursue a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of California Irvine.
After his graduation, he joined Lanzalab (Soochow University, China) as a Postdoctoral researcher on 2D materials characterisation and its uses on microelectronics.
Enric's research focuses on the use of microfabrication, rapid prototyping and new materials on Space Thrusters and the uses of electrospray for fabrication and surface engineering.

Dr Colin Souza
PhD Student

Colin began his PhD on acoustoplasticity in 2017. His project aims to develop better techniques for characterising the interaction of a high intensity ultrasonic wavefield with quasi-static loading during metal deformation, identifying the microstructural responses. Currently his research focusses on adapting high-speed imaging techniques for use with material deformation under ultrasonic motion. Colin graduated from the University of Glasgow with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering in 2008. Before returning to Glasgow he spent eight years in industry as a mechanical engineer, working on a variety of interesting projects such as high-speed valve actuation for a digital-hydraulics research spin-out, and cryogenic neutron-moderator systems for the UK’s neutron source facility in Oxfordshire.