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Zohreh Asaee
Postdoctoral Fellow
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Background:
I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo within the Forming and Crash lab. My research has been focused on the development and characterization of lightweight composite-metal hybrid material systems. I hold an MSc degree in structural engineering with particular interest in structural health monitoring and a BSc degree in Civil engineering from Shiraz University of Iran. I have completed my PhD at Dalhousie University within the Advanced Composite and Materials Engineering lab. My PhD research was focused on the development of a novel hybrid composite material for application in the automotive industry. Throughout my PhD research, I introduced a newly developed 3D fiber metal laminate. I have conducted extensive research (both experimentally and computationally) on the mechanical behaviour of the proposed material under static and impact loading conditions. In particular, the low velocity impact response of the material has been systematically investigated.
Title of Research: Development of hybrid materials and structures combining start-of-the-art metallic and composite material systems
Aram Bahmani
Alumni
Current Position: PhD Candidate, McGill University
Miriam Bartkowiak
PhD Candidate
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Location: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Backgroud: Miriam Bartkowiak is a doctoral candidate at the Institute for Applied Materials IAM-WK at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany under the supervision of Professor Kay André Weidenmann and co-supervision of Professor John Montesano. She completed her M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at KIT in 2017.
Ms. Bartkowiak is a member of the International Research Training Group GFK 2078 “Integrated engineering of continuous-discontinuous long fiber reinforced polymer structures” (CoDiCoFRP) that aims to contribute significantly to a fundamental understanding of CoDiCoFRP with regards to material properties, simulation, process technology and design strategies (www.grk2078.kit.edu). Her current research focuses on the characterization and modeling of the fatigue behaviour of continuous-discontinuous sheet molding compound composites (SMC). The research involves the adaption of existing testing methods for composite materials like acoustic emission analysis, digital image correlation and in-situ µCT testing to systematically analyse the damage evolution of CoDiCoFRP that affects the macroscopic material behavior.
Title of research: Fatigue damage characterization of continuous-discontinuous sheet molding compounds
Aleksandr Cherniaev
Alumni
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Windsor
Ramin Chitsaz Dehghani
MSc Candidate
Background:
I currently work in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering as a graduate student at University of Waterloo. I do research in composite materials and adhesive bonding. I received my BSc degree in mechanical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology. During my B.Sc., I did experimental and numerical studies on adhesive bonding of polyethylene to E-glass/epoxy composites.
Title of research: Adhesive bonding of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP).
Pravin Gopal Samy Dharmaraj
MSc Candidate
Background:
I am currently pursuing MASc degree under the supervision of Professor John Montesano and Professor Jeff Wood. My research is focused on developing composite automobile structures with high performance by reducing the total weight of the vehicle which intern lower the fuel consumption and, as a consequence, lower carbon dioxide emissions. Before joining the graduate school, I worked as an Engineer in Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India where the main role was to design and validation of automobile BIW in making safe vehicles for the future. I have piloted to improve the vehicle performance and efficiency by design improvements and mass optimization to meet the new vehicle regulations.
Title of Research:
- Design and Simulation of CFRP Front end Technology Demonstrator.
- Design and Simulation of CFRP B Pillar Demonstrator.
Andrea Ferrarese
Alumni
Current Position:
Luiz Aun Fonseca
Alumni
<p>Current Position:</p>
Mehdi Ghazimoradi
Postdoctoral Fellow
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Background:
Mehdi is a postdoctoral fellow of the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering (MME) Department at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He obtained his master's (2010) degree and PhD (2018) degree in textile composites, respectively at I.A. University in Iran and Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Since 2014 to 2018, he worked on FEA of technical textiles as a researcher with the Chemistry, Material and Chemical Engineering department, at Politecnico di Milano and LaMCoS, INSA de Lyon in France. His special interests are:
- Multi-scale FEA of the mechanical behavior of textile composites
- Formability of composite materials
- Prediction of axial crush responses and bending behavior of CFRP
Title of Research: Impact simulation model for CFRPs (LS-DYNA), axial crush and bending tests for model validation
Devon Hartlen
PhD Candidate
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Background:
Devon completed his Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at Dalhousie University in 2016. He remained at Dalhousie University to complete his Master's of Applied Science (2018), with a focus on constitutive modelling, inverse analysis, and characterization of large deformation behaviour of sintered powder metal components.
Devon began his doctoral studies at the University of Waterloo in 2019 with the support of the Advanced Manufacturing Fellowship and the NSERC CGS-D. His area of research is in the characterization and modelling of the interfacial properties of co-cured fibre reinforced polymer-metal components under quasi-static and high strain rate loading conditions.
Title of Research:
Characterization and modelling of co-cured FRP-Metal interface behaviour under quasi-static and high rate loading
Benjamin Harvey
MASc Candidate
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Background:
Ben is a MASc student in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. After receiving his Bachelors of Technology (B.Tech) in Automotive and Vehicle Engineering Technology from the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University in 2019 he joined the Composites Research Group. Under the supervision of Professor John Montesano and Professor Michael Worswick, Ben’s research involves testing of CFRP components, including axial crush and bending tests, with different geometries, layups, and testing conditions for the purpose of model verification of an FEA model (LS-DYNA).
Title of Research:
Axial Crush and Bending Testing of CFRP for Impact Model Verification (LS-DYNA)
Sanaz Saadatmand Hashemi
PhD Student
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Sanaz began her doctoral studies in Jan 2019 at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Willett and Dr. John Montesano. She has received her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tabriz, Iran, 2014 and she has received her master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Iran, 2017 where her research was focused on modelling passive and active behaviour of skeletal muscles. After graduating from her master, she started working as Research Assistant at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Amsterdam, where she worked on the biphasic constitutive model to compare mechanical properties of intervertebral disc tissue with hydrogels being considered as IVD substitutes. Sanaz currently is working on micromechanical modelling of by-design 3D-printable nanocomposite biomaterials for advanced bone reconstruction technologies.
Geng (Richard) Li
Alumni
<p>Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, National University of Defence Technology , China</p>
Francesco Mariano
Alumni
<p>Current Position: Engineer, Italy</p>
Brent McCleave
Alumni
Current Position:
John Montesano
Professor/Director
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John Montesano is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo and the Director of the Composites Research Group (CRG). His expertise lies in the field of mechanics of fiber-reinforced composite materials and structures, with specific focus on advanced manufacturing, multi-scale material constitutive characterization and modeling, non-destructive testing, damage mechanics and failure, fatigue and long-term durability, impact and crashworthiness, and computational simulation.
Prior to joining Waterloo, Professor Montesano was an NSERC Postdoctoral Researcher in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Toronto, where he developed multi-scale computational models for predicting failure of lightweight composite materials and structures. He received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at Ryerson University in 2012, where he studied the long-term durability of aerospace grade composite materials at elevated temperatures. In addition, he has more than five years of industrial experience working as a mechanical designer and structural analyst in the aerospace sector.
Mehdi Nikforooz
Alumni
<p>Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran</p>
Matteo Rosso
Alumni
Current Position: Master's Student, Politecnico of Torino
Khizar Rouf
PhD Candidate
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Background:
Khizar Rouf is currently a PhD student in the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering department at the University of Waterloo. His current research focuses on high strain rate constitutive modeling, experimentation and crash analysis of fiber reinforced polymer composites. He graduated with an MS degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering from Purdue University, USA, where he was a member of the Multiscale Structural Mechanics group. During his MS degree, he worked on several research projects related to the multiscale structural modeling of slender and thin heterogeneous structures.
Title of Research: Strain-rate dependent multi-scale constitutive modelling of fiber reinforced composite materials
Nisarg Shah
Alumni
Current Position:
Farzad Sharifpour
PhD Candidate
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Background:
Farzad Sharifpour is a PhD student in the department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering of the University of Waterloo. He received his BSc degree from K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Iran, 2013 and MASc in Mechanical Engineering from Iran University of Science & Technology, Iran, 2015.
Extensive applications of advanced composite materials in aerospace, automotive, and marine industries have attracted much attention on the assessment of their long-term durability. Despite composite materials having superior fatigue properties, the initiation of the failure and progression of damage is not fully understood. Mr. Sharifpour is working on “multiscale damage-based modeling of lightweight composite structures subjected to cyclic loading” to simulate cycle-by-cycle fatigue loading in practical composite structures and to evaluate corresponding critical and sub-critical damage evolution and stiffness degradation. His research focuses on micro- and macro-damage mechanics, multiscale modelling, fatigue, and durability assessment of fiber-reinforced polymers.
Title of research: Multiscale damage-based modeling of lightweight composite structures subjected to cyclic loading.
Aaditya Suratkar
PhD Candidate
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Background:
Aaditya Suratkar is currently a doctoral candidate at in Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department at Western university, London, under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Wood and co-supervision of Dr. John Montesano. He completed his M.Sc. with Honours in Chemical Product Engineering at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, where he worked on development of biomimetic semi-flexible micellar networks and simultaneously conducted a first ever study on electrical breakdown phenomenon in novel self-healing epoxy/mica composites. He also worked at Fraunhofer Institut für chemische Technologie (ICT), Germany, where he investigated the influence of fibre-matrix adhesion on mechanical properties and crystallization kinetics in fibre reinforced thermoplastics. His current research involves quasi-static characterization of non-crimp fabric carbon fibre/epoxy composites and energy-based modelling of failure.
Title of Research: Constitutive characterization and modeling of failure in non-crimp fabric fiber/epoxy composites
Alberto Trejo
Alumni
Current Position:
Camille Vagner
Alumni
Current Position: Master's student at University of Bordeaux
Dhairya Vora
Alumni
<p>Current Position: Engineer, Canada</p>
Yu Zeng
MSc Candidate
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Title of research: Mechanical characterization and constitutive modeling of the epoxy matrix material
Milos Zivkovic
Alumni
<p>Current Position: Undergraduate Student, University of Waterloo</p>