Technical Chairs
The organising committee is comprised from academics and researchers from several key Australian institutes and universities.
Prof. Raj Das
Professor Raj Das is a Full Professor at RMIT University in the field of Structures and Materials and leads the Simulation of Advanced Materials and Structures (SAMS) research group. He is the ‘Program Director’ in the Aerospace Engineering and Aviation discipline of the School of Engineering. He is also an honorary academic in the University of Auckland, New Zealand and the University of Quebec, Canada. He has made significant contributions to the design, analysis and optimisation of engineering materials and structures, including that regarding computational mechanics, composite structures and failure analysis.
Affiliation: RMIT University, Australia
Emeritus Prof. Rhys Jones
Emeritus Professor Rhys Jones is a Full Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Monash University. He has made significant contributions to engineering practice for structural integrity assessment and repair of engineering structures. Most recently, his research has focused on the maturation of a new repair technique for aircraft structures, currently undergoing testing in industry. Additionally, he is involved in several projects including to sensing, rail and civil infrastructure, and degradation of metallic and composite structures.
Profile: Emeritus Prof. Rhys Jones
Affiliation: Monash University, Australia
Prof. Andrei Kotousov
Professor Andrei Kotousov is a Full Professor in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Adelade University. His recent research has covered acoustic-based structural health monitoring, fatigue in additively manufactured materials, and biomechanics, providing a significant impact to research in the failure of solids. Through his consultancy work, he has provided his expertise on structural integrity, failure, structural simulation and mechanical testing on machine component and engineering structures, as well as his knowledge on compliance and litigation in industry.
Profile: Prof. Andrei Kotousov
Affiliation: Adelade University, Australia
Prof. Yui-Wing Mai
Professor Yiu-Wing Mai is a Full Professor and University Chair at the University of Sydney in the field of Advanced Materials and Fracture Mechanics. He is distinguished for seminal work on fracture mechanics and materials science of advanced engineering materials. Through his many publications, Mai has made outstanding and lasting contributions to scientific and engineering knowledge in several areas, including the fracture of coarse-grained ceramics, nanocomposites and electromagnetic materials.
Profile: Prof. Yui-Wing Mai
Affiliation: University of Sydney, Australia
Prof. Mahmoud Mostafavi
Professor Mahmoud Mostafavi is Head of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Monash University. He previously held a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair at the University of Bristol. His research focuses on structural integrity, with contributions to experimental and computational approaches for understanding damage and failure (fatigue, fracture, and creep) in metallic materials. He is an expert in advanced experimental techniques such as synchrotron X-ray tomography and diffraction, as well as numerical methods including crystal plasticity finite element modelling. His current research integrates machine learning with experiments and physics-based modelling to enhance predictive capability in structural integrity assessment and engineering applications. He is Editor in chief of Elsevier’s International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping.
Profile: Prof. Mahmoud Mostafavi
Affiliation: Monash University
Prof. Anna Paradowska
Prof Anna Paradowska is Conjoint Professor in Advanced Structural Materials in Civil and AMME School in the University of Sydney, as well as Industrial Engagement Manager at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS) at ANSTO. Anna leads USyd Node and is a Program Leader of the $250M of the Australian Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (ACM CRC). Anna works as a scientist but is an engineer by heart and education. She has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Monash University (2008) and a MSc degree in Materials Science Engineering from Wroclaw University of Technology (2001), Poland. She specialised in residual-stress analysis using neutron and synchrotron diffraction with particular focus on welds and advanced manufacturing processes. Anna is international expert in neutron diffraction stress analysis, which she uses for advanced manufacturing procedures, in particular, additive manufacturing and welding.
Profile: Prof. Anna Paradowska
Affiliation: University of Sydney
Prof. Bernard Rolfe
Professor Bernard Rolfe is a Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at Deakin University, specialising in metal forming, lightweight structures and computational materials modelling. His research integrates advanced manufacturing, finite element analysis, artificial intelligence and materials engineering to improve metallic materials for automotive and aerospace applications. His work also includes additive manufacturing and digital engineering, contributing to collaborations on the world’s first fully 3D-printed gas turbine engine. Professor Rolfe currently serves as Chair of the Academic Advisory Board for FISITA and Director of Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia.
Profile: Prof. Bernard Rolfe
Affiliation: Deakin University
Prof. Dong Ruan
Professor Dong Ruan is a leading researcher in safety engineering whose research has been focused on (1) characterisation of the mechanical performance of various materials and structures under dynamic loadings; (2) additive manufacturing of continuous fibre reinforced composite materials and structures. She has published over 280 academic papers in top journals and conferences with over 12,000 citations (Google Scholar). Dong is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust). She is an Associate Editor of Engineering Structures (Q1 journal) and an Editorial Advisory Board member of a number of journals. She received two prestigious national awards: AGM Michell Medal from the Institution of Engineers Australia in 2022 and Eureka Prize in 2013 as a key team member of DMTC's Armour Applications Program.
Profile: Prof. Dong Ruan
Affiliation: Swinburne University of Technology
Prof. Chun Wang
Scientia Professor Chun Wang is the Head of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Professor Wang's research focuses on advanced composites technologies, with a particular focus on load-carrying high-performance structures, soft composites for wearable sensors, actuators, and energy storage devices. His research has made great impact on engineering practice, including for structural assessment of aircraft, transportation of cryogenic fuels, and multifunctional composites with electrical, thermal and mechanical properties.
Profile: Prof. Chun Wang
Affiliation: University of New South Wales, Australia
Prof. Wenyi Yan
Professor Wenyi Yan is a Full Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Monash University. His research covers rail/wheel contact mechanics, fracture and fatigue of composite and additively manufactured materials and structures, wear and design optimisation. Most recently, he has applied his expertise to design and testing of damage tolerance in automotive structures, additive manufacturing-based remanufacturing, and the application of machine learning tools for structural analysis and design optimisation.
Profile: Prof. Wenyi Yan
Affiliation: Monash University
