8th Annual Conference

EPSRC CDT in Advanced

Composites for Innovation

and Science

(ACCIS CDT)

Introduction and Update

on ACCIS CDT Activities

Professor Paul Weaver

CDT Director

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Composites for Innovation and Science

3

Vision: To develop the next generation of technical leaders in advanced composites by stimulating

adventurous interdisciplinary research, which bridges the length scales, connects to and interfaces

between the disciplines of engineering, chemistry, physics and life sciences, and bestows enhanced

and added functionality to composite materials.

• Established in 2009, rebid in 2013, with £13.9 million award

from the EPSRC

• New CDT rebid success - £6.4 million from EPSRC to train

students from 2019 to 2028

• Embedded within the Bristol Composites Institute (ACCIS).

Funded by EPSRC, University and industrial partners

• Significant industrial support

• National and international academic collaborations

• Memorandum of Understanding with the National Institute of Aerospace

4

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Composites for Innovation and Science

• 4-Year PhD in Advanced Composites

• Cohort-driven training approach

• Transferable skills training

• Public engagement

• At least 10 funded places per year (UK/EU and International)

• Integrated taught component

– Small group teaching

– Flagship group design, build and test (DBT) project

– Individual 6-month exploratory research project

composites-cdt@bristol.ac.uk

www.bristol.ac.uk/composites/cdt/

CDT Staff and Management Committee5

CDT Chair

Prof. Michael Wisnom

CDT Director

Prof. Paul Weaver

Deputy Director

and Research Co-ordinator

Prof. Ian Hamerton

Interim Head of School

Prof. Steve Eichhorn

Teaching Co-ordinator

Dr Ian Farrow

CDT Lecturer

Dr Dmitry Ivanov

CDT Lecturer

Dr Alberto Pirrera

CDT Lecturer

Dr Valeska Ting

ACCIS

Project

Manager

Ms

Hajnal

Farkas

CDT

Manager (maternity

cover)

Ms Nikki

Horrobin

PG

Administrator

Mrs Kathinka

Watts

CDT15

Reps

B Ansari

A Rivero

Bracho

CDT16

Reps

J Cole

N Fedon

CDT17

Reps

F Morabito

U Sikander

CDT18

Reps

R Heeb

R Lincoln

6

Our Students

120+ PhD students since 2009

• 18% female, 33 different nationalities.

57 PhDs awarded; 51 graduated

• Recent destinations - University of Bristol,

University of Bath, Zodiac Aerospace,

iCOMAT (Spin-out company), Inductosense Ltd.

• Our 2018 CDT cohort

• 14 students – 27% female, 10 nationalities.

• Funded by EPSRC, UoB, industry and overseas government scholarship. At least 10 funded places per year (UK/EU and International).

• Academic backgrounds: Engineering (civil, aerospace, materials, mechanical) and Maths.

7

Innovative Teaching

2018/19 short courses

• Science Entrepreneurial Experience

Entrepreneurship, market research, technology commercialisation, financial planning, investment readiness, pitching for investment, client management and consultancy

• Confidence at Conference (VOX Coaching)

Design Build & Test

• Team project

• Hands-on experience

• 2019 = UAV box-spar demonstrator

• Materials testing

• Refined design

• Manufacturing trials

• Final structural test

• Knowledge sharing

• Skill development

• Documented on film. Watch on

‘The DBT is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the CDT

Programme, and something to be very proud of…

there is no doubt that it provides an incredibly

valuable learning experience’

(Prof. Ole Thomsen, External Examiner)

8

Industrial Seminar Series• Entirely student run – speaker selection, organisation (advertising, logistics, catering) &

hosting

• Develops communication, organisational and networking skills

• Valuable insight into changing needs of the composites community

Carlos G. Dávila

NASACohesive Solutions for Structural Integrity and

Fatigue Life Predication, and

The Long Road to Virtual Testing of Composite

Structures – Are we there yet?

Frederic Laurin

ONERA

Novel Test Methods to Characterise

Composite Materials

Tom Cook

AirbusImproved Structural Wing

Optimisation and industrial

Constraints

International Placements9

• One week to three months

• World-leading academic, industrial and research organisations

• Students bid for funding – proposal and presentation

• Voting panel of staff and students Recently completed placements

• N12 Technologies, Boston, USA

• TNO, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Upcoming

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

USA

Industry Sponsored CDT Prizes10

• Hexcel: Best extended research project (XP)

• Victrex: Best journal paper

• ORE Catapult: Best taught

mark

• Imetrum: Best DBT team

performance

* Winner:*

Jagan Selvaraj

* Winner:*

Rujie Sun

* Winner:*

Team Wilbur

* Winner:*

Kirk Willicombe

Other Collaboration Opportunities 11

Six-month Extended Research Projects (XPs)

• Undertaken in the first year (June to December 2019)

• Can develop into a PhD project

• Fully-funded by the ACCIS CDT

PhD Projects

• Undertaken in years 2-4 (1st January 2020 – 17th September 2022)

• Next project call: Sept/Oct 2019 (for 3 month projects)

Input into taught component (literature review topic)

XP Proposal deadline:

Friday 26th April 2019

Achievements12

• 127 journal papers

• 53 different journals

• 260 contributions to major national and international conferences

• 21 different countries

➢ 18th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM18)

➢ ASME 2018 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE 2018)

➢ 11th International Conference on Manufacturing of Advanced Composites (ICMAC 2018)

➢ 5th International Conference on Mechanics of Composites

➢Royal Aeronautical Society 6th Aircraft Structural Design Conference

Recent conferences ➢ 29th International Conference on Adaptive

Structures and Technologies (ICAST2018)

Achievements Cont . . . 13

• Best Student Paper in Structures 2019, AIAA SciTech Forum 2019,

San Diego, USA. 10 January 2019 - Andres Rivero Bracho

• Finalist in the SAMPE UK annual student seminar competition, July

2018 – Xun Wu

• Faculty of Engineering Thesis Commendation – Camilla Osmiani

• Best Oral Presentation Award, 29th International Conference on

Adaptive Structures and Technologies (ICAST 2018) South Korea,

October 2018 - Andres Rivero Bracho

Outreach

• ‘My Future My Choice’, Aviation and Shipbuilding events at

various local primary schools

• Filmed as part of a BBC Bitesize short film for the GCSE

Design Technology series

• Research Fair stand at ‘We the Curious’ European

Researcher’s Night

Alumni Spin-Out Companies

• iCOMAT and Nima Composites – Evangelos

Zympeloudis (CDT13)

• ActuationLab – Michael Dicker, Simon Bates,

Tom Llewellyn-Jones (all DTC12)

Spotlight on Alumni – Ettore Lamacchia14

• PhD thesis awarded January 2016, “Analysis of geometrically

non-linear shells for morphing applications”

• MSc Aerospace Structures (Delft University of Technology)

• BEng Aerospace Engineering (Universita degli Studi di Roma “

La Sapienza”)

Thales Alenia Space

Structural Analysis Skill Lead, 2016-present

Lead Engineer at TAS: Design and analysis of space structures, including satellite primary frames, mechanisms and deployable booms

Current missions: ExoMars, NeoSat and L5 Space Weather

University of Bristol

Research Associate 2016Structural Design of Novel Aircraft Concepts

• Lead Mechanical Engineer for the “Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere

Link Explorer” (joint ESA/NASA/CAS mission - launch 2021)

➢ 4 publications

➢ 3 conference pres

➢ ESA ECSS

Standards for FEA

Spotlight on Alumni – Evangelos Zympeloudis15

• PhD thesis awarded September 2019

“Development of a composite tape placement technology with advanced

fibre steering capability”

• MEng Mechanical Engineering (NTUA)

iCOMAT LIMITED

CEO and Co-Founder 2018 - Present

• UoB spin-off | Tape placement – Fibre steering

• Structural properties beyond traditional composites

• Lower production cost

• UoB New Enterprise Competition Winner

NIMA COMPOSITES LTD.

CEO and Co-Founder 2016 - 2018

• Startup | Liquid molding - Complex geometries

• Commercial projects across various sectors

• JEC Startup Booster finalist 2016

6 Awards (incl.): • JEC World 2018 Composite

Challenge

• Sampe UK & Ireland

Competition

• IMechE Aerospace Prize

Reference Path

Tape Width: 100 mmMin. Steering R: 50 mm

CDT Evolution – ‘CDT3’16

• Name change: EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Composites Science, Engineering and Manufacturing

• New Management and Management Structure

• Revision of the First Year Taught Component

• Strengthened links with International and Industrial Partners

• Recruiting students for September 2019; Training students to 2028 Prof. Steve EichhornCDT Director

Prof. Ian HamertonResearch Director

Dr Alberto PirreraProgramme Director

Hope you enjoy the

morningProfessor Paul Weaver

CDT Director

Paul.Weaver@bristol.ac.uk

Third and Fourth Year CDT

Students

Individual PhD Presentations

Prof. Ian Hamerton

CDT Research Co-ordinator

Research Themes19

• Materials

• Structures

• Manufacturing and Design