People in Advanced Structures Group
If you would like to contact us, please add @cam.ac.uk to the IDs shown behind the names.
Principal Investigators
The lead researchers in the Advanced Structures Group are:
- Prof. Simon Guest – sdg13
- Dr Keith Seffen – kas14
Both studied at Cambridge University at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, obtaining first-class degrees and then PhD degrees in the former Deployable Structures Laboratory. They share a common research ethic based on first principles, novel experiments and detailed, usually compact (but not frightening) mathematical modelling. They also believe in the validity offered by finite element analysis, which features increasingly in their work. Both are always looking to take on PhD students: enquires are welcome but not as part of a larger mailshot - be personal and specific to their research ideas.
Graduate Students
The following PhD students are affiliated to the Advanced Structures Group.
- Mohammad-reza Golabchi – mrg47
- Mohammad is working on multistable textured shells, specifically the properties of shell surfaces where local indentations are used to replace the isotropic behaviour of the shell, for use as multistable structures.
- Paul Sobota – pmhs2
- Paul is working on the co-operative effects of neighbouring bistable units arranged in a cellular array: this work is tied closely to ersearch in the Nanophotonics Group at Cambridge University.
- Martin Walker – mgw39
- Martin is studying the effect of creases on the structural mechanics of plates and shells.
- Spencer Wilson – srw57
- Spencer is developing novel kirigami structures, which fold out of plane into three-dimensional shapes.
- Tim Watson – tw379
- Tim is studying grid-shells made from interlocking folded plate strips.
- Petia Tzokova – pst29
- Petia is considering the design of actively controlled modular buildings as part of the FIBE's Centre for Doctoral Training.
MEng Dissertation Students
The following students are studying their final year project with the Advanced Structures Group.
- Akos Medek: mechanics of pizza.
- Tom Unwin: mechanics of grid-shells.
- Weicong Chen: mechanics of interacting d-Cones.
- Sam Trueman: mechanics of k-Cones.
Alumni
The following people previously worked with the Advanced Structures Group.
- Pooya Sareh – pps25
- With a diverse background in art and engineering, Pooya is interested in linking engineering and industrial design with geometry, visual arts and architecture. His current research involves computational design of origami tessellations and geometry of folding. More of his artwork (mainly surreal cartoons) can be found on his website: www.pooyasareh.com.
- Dr Evripides Loukaides
- "Evros" considered the complete morphing behaviour of simple non-corrugated shells using, for example, Catastrophe Theory. He was the first researcher to manufacture a truly tri-stable shell; and he actuated shell shape-change using embedded magnetised particles. He is now a Research Associate in the Low Carbon Materials Processing - next door to the Advanced Structures Laboratory.
- Xin Liang – xl319
- Xin's research focussed on repetitive structures, such as zeolites and their corresponding 2-D cases (Kagome and Roman mosaic net), making extensive use of symmetry techniques. He awaits his PhD viva
- Dr Ioannis Mitsos – im330
- Ioannis investigated the structural behaviour of multi-modular tensegrity grids with pre-stress, and adapted techniques for measuring the tension in double-layer tensegrity space grids. This research involved experiments on a large-scale tensegrity space frame in collaboration with Expedition Engineering He now works for structural engineers, Waagner Biro.
- Dr Mark Schenk
- Mark's PhD research was on the mechanics of folded shell structures from an origami perspective, which continued into his work as a Research Associate on inflatable space structures. He is currently at Surrey Space Centre.
- Dr Videsh Seereeram
- Videsh investigated curved corrugated shells, specifically developing a deeper understanding of their nonlinear behaviour. He is now a structural engineer with VISE Consultants in Trinidad and Tobago
- Dr Andrew Viquerat
- Andrew's PhD research was on the kinematics of overconstrained spatial mechanisms, using polynomial continuation methods. As a Research Associate he worked on inflatable space structures before moving to Surrey Space Centre.
- Dr Arnaud Bonin
- Arnaud worked on the mechanics of wrinkled membranes used in space telescope applications. His focus was on finding techniques for mitigating wrinkle formation passively. He is now working as a structural engineer for the French national power company, EDF.
- Alex MacDonald
- Alex investigated protein kinematics using the tools of structural mechanics. His approach consolidated various disparate techniques currently being used in computational biology.
- Dr Alex Norman
- Alex worked on bistable corrugated sheets, and pioneered work in morphing curved corrugated shells. He is currently at Sagentia.
- Dr Pandia Raj Ramar
- Raj worked on using symmetry point groups to find tensegrity configurations. He is currently at DeepSea Engineering.
Much previous work was done within the Deployable Structures Lab under Professor Sergio Pellegrino, currently at CalTech.