Invited Speakers

Lightning interactions with composite materials
Dr Daniel Mitchard, Cardiff University
Advanced Composites manufacturing
Dr Hamed Vazdani Nezhad
High-Rate Composite Braiding: Achieving Superior Out-of-Plane Performance for Mass Production
Ellie Payne, NCC

Dr Mark Eaton is a Senior Lecturer in Composite Materials at Cardiff University. His research interests cover the manufacture and characterisation of composites and nanocomposites, and the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of composite structures. He has a particular interest in the use of Acoustic Emission to better understand the failure of composite materials.

Professor Stephen Hallett is Professor in Composite Structures at the University of Bristol, where he is co-Director of the Bristol Composites Institute and Director of the Rolls-Royce supported Composites University Technology Centre. His work is wide ranging across many composites topics including advanced numerical modelling, fracture and failure, through-thickness reinforcement, process simulation and textile composites.

Dr. Meisam Jalalvand is an Associate Professor specialising in Composite Materials and Structures at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on high-performance hybrid composites, as well as natural fibre and biodegradable composites, aiming to enhance understanding, performance, safety, and sustainability. These areas are particularly relevant in addressing pressing global issues such as climate change and plastic pollution. Prior to current appointment at the University of Southampton, he was Chanceller’s Fellow at the University of Strathclyde and Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol.

Dr Geoff Neale is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and Lecturer at Cranfield University. His is a materials engineer specialising in a fibre-reinforced composites and hybrid materials for the energy, defence and aerospace sectors. His work focuses on non-structural behaviours in materials, where he has contributed to several UK and EU funded research consortia. Geoff holds an MEng in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Bristol and a PhD in Advanced Composite Materials from Ulster University. Alongside his research, Geoff has a keen interest in leading interdisciplinary research, engaging with government, and shaping national policy positions me to contribute meaningfully to enhancing science informed policy capability in the UK.

Dr Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami works as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London. His research interests include multiscale and multiphysics modelling of failure in advanced composite materials and structures with an emphasis on applied machine learning. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and serves as an Associate Editor of Mechanics of Materials (Elsevier) and Ceramics International (Elsevier) journals. His research on developing ML-augmented computational frameworks and tools is supported through funding from EPSRC, Royal Society, British Council and industry.

Dr Elena Sitnikova is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southampton. Elena carries out research in a broad field of computational mechanics of composite materials with the overarching theme of her research being characterisation and design of 3D textile composites for aeronautical applications. Elena has expert knowledge in multiscale material characterisation, having co-authored a monograph “Representative Volume Elements and Unit Cells: Concepts, Theory, Application and Implementation”. Another topic of special interest is failure and damage prediction in anisotropic materials under both quasi-static and high intensity loading.