| Building: | Mackenzie, Room 4512 |
| Department: | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering |
| Degrees: | B.Eng., Ph.D., Carleton University |
| Website: | https://carleton.ca/aircraftdesign/ |
Biography
Research/Lab Websites:
Research Interests:
- Processing and testing of composites and fibre metal laminate airframe materials
- Design of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) and micro aerial vehicles (MAVs)
- Low velocity impact modelling and testing for composites
- Biomimetic and bio-inspired structures for air vehicles
Research:
My research focuses on novel aircraft structures, composite materials and hybrids and next generation air vehicle concepts (e.g. UAVs and MAVs).
Most recently I have workded on project on fibre metal laminate (FML)processing, micro aerial vehicle (MAV) structures and the qualification of primary composite airframe structures.
From 2001 to 2008 I was a Research Officer with the Structures Group and then the Composites and Novel Airframe Materials (CANAM) Group of the National Research Council Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC-IAR). For the last few months of my time at NRC I had the opportunity to lead the Composites Team within the CANAM Group. During this time I continued my research on FMLs, conceiving and leading an in-house project entitled Advanced Processing for FMLs in which we developed improved processing methods to reduce residual stresses in the laminates to improve fatigue life. My colleagues on this project also worked on the development of new non-destructive inspection methods and an improved fracture mechanics model for FMLs. During this time I have also led or co-led several large projects on next generation composite primary structures for aircraft with a number of Canadian OEMs including the Bonded Wing Survivabilty Demonstration with Bell Helicopter Textron, DRDC-Valcartier, Concordia, Ecole Polytechnique, IAR-AMTC, TPC, CRIAQ and Pratt and Whitney Canada.
During this time my other main activity area was the study of uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) structures. This has included work on full size vehicles and also on biomimetic structures for MAVs with Dr. Marcias Martinez (NRC), Prof. Jeff Dawson (Carleton) and Ms. Katharina Schnackenburg.
From 1998 to 2001 I was a guest worker at the NRC-IAR while I completed my PhD work and supported other activities mainly with Bombardier Aerospace on the testing and qualification of hybrid fibre metal laminates (FMLs). My doctoral research was on the experimental and numerical investigation of low-velocity impact damage in fibre-metal laminates (FMLs).
In 2005-2007 I served on the organizing committe for the Inagural UVS Canada Student UAV Compeition. I was Local Organizing Committee Co-Chair with Ms. Laura Petrescue for the 4th Canadian-International Composites Conference (CANCOM 2003) held in Ottawa in August 2003. I was also a conference volunteer for CANCOM 2001 in Montreal. Over the years I have served as a session developer for a number of other CANCOM and CASI conferences. From 2006 to 2008 I was the Canadian Air Force representative on The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) Polymer Composites Panel (MAT-TP-7). From 2006 to 2008 I was an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University.
Research
Composite and hybrid (e.g. fibre metal laminates) manufacturing and processing, mechanical properties of composite and hybrid materials; bonded and bolted composite structures; aircraft design; uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) and micro-aerial vehicle (MAV) design; application of finite element analysis to assess impact damage in fibre metal laminates and composites; biologically inspired and bio-mimetic structures and materials for aerospace applications.
