3D printers are supposed to bring many innovations to the industrial world. These products promise to change the way we do business and collaborate with supply chain partners, since the mass production process will have to change to a widely distributed, highly flexible, small-scale manufacturing. Some researchers believe that first-order implications will cause businesses all […]

This research project is to better understand the flight dynamic characteristics of airfoils. The candidate will conduct an experimental study of the flow around airfoils in the wind tunnel. He will analyze the data to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of the vortex structures produced. The experimental study will be conducted in the wind tunnel located […]

Safety of transportation of oil and gas provides a guarantee for sustainable energy supply. The fracture of linepipe may lead to environmental catastrophe and significant economic losses. Hydrogen induced cracking (HIC), sulphide stress cracking (SSC) and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in various types of linepipe steels are phenomena that are responsible for the majority of […]

offshore oil well platforms are supported by huge guy wires. Ocean waves and motion in the control stations would cause continuous change in tension and slack in the wires. This can cause failure in internal fibers in the wire, which would be invisible. Breakage of a large number of internal fibers can lead to a […]

The project proposes the preparation of innovative nanostructured photo-electrodes and their integration in high efficiency excitonic solar cells via spray pyrolysis technique. Quantum dot solar cells are based on photoexcitation of quantum dots (QDs) adsorbed onto the surface of metal oxide nanoparticles (TiO2, SnO2, ZnO). The QD harvests the incident light and injects electrons into […]

Because they seek to maximise their surface and height in order to capture the most sunlight, plants must rely on their flexibility to change form and reduce their drag when subjected to wind. We say that they reconfigure. This behavior is highly interesting for biomimetics because plants rely on passive reconfiguration and lack complex control […]

Robotic grasping devices are commonly used in many fields to perform tasks in place of humans, such as assembly lines, spatial missions and surgical operations. Moreover, they can be used as prosthetics for amputees. While robotic prosthetics are not currently adequate for reasons of both cost and weight, many groups are working to solve these […]

Development and use of compuational methods for the simulation of full coupling between stress solid and pore fluid diffuion in dam embakments. Soils are porous media which behave inelastically under loads. The presence of water and air has a great impact on the stress and strain developments; and overall on the structure safety. Numerical methods […]

The de-icing of aircraft wings is done on ground by specialised technicians highly constrained in time and in-flight by the pilots who activate the de-icing system. Many incidents occurred in the past because of communication problems. Typically, incidents occur when aircrafts collide with workers or de-icing trucks. The aim of the research project is to […]

An aircraft can fly in icing conditions if it has proper ice protection systems. Often, these systems use heat to remove ice on critical aircraft part, such as anti-icing system using hot bleed air from engines. The design challenge is to use the less energy possible to heat the surface while keeping the aircraft safe […]

This project involves the design and control of micro-scale swimmers inspired by living micro-scale organisms. In 3D, swimming can be executed by several types of motion. At the micro-scale low-Re environment, fluid flows are classified as ‘creep’ or Stokes flows, and thus are speed-independent. To create forward motion, symmetry must be broken in the swimming […]

The current discourse around the widespread adoption and particularly domestic use of 3D printing is focused on the notion that this technology will give users access to customized or highly specific objects/parts (which might otherwise be difficult to obtain) when the need arises. The goal of this research will be to examine the validity of […]