M Ali Aravand
Senior Lecturer
Academic Staff
Dr Ali Aravand is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests are focused on:
- Novel fibre composite layup design and optimisation methods (including double-double (DD) configurations).
- Design and fabrication of hybrid thermoplastic composites via composite injection overmoulding.
- Fracture behaviour, toughening, and interface formation in multiphase polymer composites.
- Nano-engineered hierarchically structured polymer composites for aerospace applications.
In connection with his research interests, Dr Aravand has been leading several industry collaborations with companies such as Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Bombardier UK), Collins Aerospace UK, Wright Bus, Denroy Plastics, CCP Gransden, and Datum Design, among others. He has been the recipient of high-impact and fundamental research awards, including an EPSRC NIA grant on Composite Injection Overmoulding (Project OVERComp), a UK RI Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) in collaboration with Collins Aerospace, Innovate UK grant focusing on sustainable composite materials for automotive and aerospace applications, as well as other industry collaborations funded by Invest Northern Ireland through NIACE (further details here).
Alongside his research, Dr Aravand instructs MEng students in Advanced Finite Elements and Design Optimisation, as well as Fracture Mechanics, at Queen's University Belfast's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Dr Aravand earned his BSc and MSc in Polymer Engineering before completing his PhD in Materials Engineering in 2014 at the Composite Materials Group (CMG) at KU Leuven in Belgium. His doctoral research centred on enhancing fracture toughness and lowering damage initiation thresholds in nanomodified carbon fibre epoxy composites. In 2014, he was a visiting PhD researcher in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, USA, where he conducted research on CNT-grafted (fuzzy) FRP composites at NECSTLAB.
Prior to his current role, Dr Aravand joined Queen's University Belfast in 2015 as a post-doctoral research fellow at the NIACE (Northern Ireland Advanced Composite and Engineering) centre. Between 2005 and 2007, he worked as a technical consultant in the polymer composite pipe industry in the Netherlands and Germany, and contributed to the co-authorship of national standards on plastic pipes and fittings.
For further details on Dr Aravand's research activities, please follow: