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Dr Hafiz Ali

Job: Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering

Faculty: Computing, Engineering and Media

School/department: School of Engineering and Sustainable Development

Address: Âéw¶¹´«Ã½, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: N/A

E: hafiz.ali@dmu.ac.uk

 

Personal profile

My research interest includes additive manufacturing processes and the design of programable lattice structures. Being a lecturer at Âéw¶¹´«Ã½, teaching subjects like Digital Manufacturing, Theory of Machines and thermodynamics including BSc and MSc student project supervision.
Before joining Âéw¶¹´«Ã½, I was working in the mechanical engineering industry as a consultant and as a design engineer. Throughout my professional and academic career, I have been learning new skills in CAD & FEA and also playing important role in various innovation activities and sustainability. 

Research group affiliations

Publications and outputs

  • Ali, H.M.A., Abdi, M. (2023). Multi-objective shape optimization of body centred cubic lattice structures for additive manufacturing. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing.
  • Ali, H. M., Abdi, M., Zahedi, S. A., & Sun, Y. (2023). Design of a programmable particle filtering medium using a novel auxetic metamaterial. Smart Materials and Structures, 32(6), 064006.
  • Ali, H. M. A., Abdi, M., & Sun, Y. (2022). Insight into the mechanical properties of 3D printed strut-based lattice structures. Progress in Additive Manufacturing, DOI: 10.1007/s40964-022-00365-9

Research interests/expertise

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Cellular structures
  • 3D Modelling
  • FEA (Finite Element Analysis)
  • Machine Design
  • Product development
  • Sustainable Innovations

Areas of teaching

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechatronics Engineering
  • Aeronautical Engineering 

Qualifications

  • BSc Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan (awarded 2015)
  • MSc Mechanical Engineering from DeMontfort University, United Kingdom  (awarded 2019)     
  • PhD Mechanical Engineering from DeMontfort University, United Kingdom  (awarded 2023)                                                                                   

Âéw¶¹´«Ã½ taught

  • ENGT5155-Digital Manufacturing
  • ENGD1106-Mechanical Principles-Dynamics
  • ENGD2005-Theory of Machines and Thermodynamics
  • ENGT3000-BSc project supervision
  • ENGT5301-MSc project supervision
  • ENGD3120-Design for 3D printing
  • ENGD3112-Machines and mechanisms
  • ENGT5257-Structural Integrity: Designing against failure
  • ENGD1102-Engineering Mathematics
  • ENGD3110-Power and Energy systems
  • ENGZ0006-Design and Technology
  • ENGP5406-Resource efficient design and digital manufacturing
  • ENGE1003-Machine design and manufacturing-1
  • ENGE1004-Machine design and manufacturing-2

Professional licences and certificates

  • United Kingdom Professional Standard Framework (UKPSF) Descriptor 2 (D2) Fellow in higher education FHEA.
  • Level 3 Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF) 
  • Level 3 Mental Health First Aid in the workplace (RQF). 

Conference attendance

  • EU-US Symposium at Nokia Bell Labs, NJ, USA, (Oct-2023).
  • EPSRC DfAM Network, Design for AM - A Focus on Polymers (Jun-2023).
  • Sustainable Plastics Live / Global Research & Innovation in Plastics GRIPS, (May-2023).
  • Learning and Teaching conference, (Sep-2022).
  • 4D material design and additive manufacturing conference, (Sep-2022).
  • Net-Zero conference, (Jun-2022).
  • Peace, equality and social justice and SDG16 conference, (May-2022).
  • California entrepreneurship educators conference CEEC, (Apr-2022).
  • International conference for metamaterials application in the industry (UKRI) KTN, (Feb-2022).
  • Blue Economy, Green Economy and Digital Business Toward Sustainable Development, (Dec-2021).
  • CEM Postgraduate research (PGR) conferences, (Sep-2021-2024).

Externally funded research grants information

  • Solid fuel technology enhancement for green energy and environmental resilience in rural Indonesia, British Council International Science Partnership Fund - Research Collaboration Grants, 2024.
  • Reducing pollution resulting from domestic burning, Innovate UK SBRI, Phase 2, 2024.
  • Optimising the thermal efficiency of the vacuum vessel, Innovate UK’s Accelerated Knowledge Transfer to Innovate (AKT2I), UKRI, 2022.
  • Design and development of 3D printing technology for Microfluidic chips, Higher Education Innovation Fund HEIF, UKRI, 2021.

Published patents

  • Auxiliary motor arrangement and sprocket member for a pedal-powered vehicle. 2021 (Patent Published: GB2590933A, WO2021/140306 A1)
  • 3D printer head. 2021 (Patent Published: GB25906953A, WO2021/123836 A1)
  • Electrode with lattice structures. 2021 (Patent Published: GB2592359A, WO2021/16568 A1)
  • Toothbrush 2020 (Patent Published: WO2021/2434332 A1)

PhD project 

Title

Design and optimization of lattice structures and mechanical metamaterials for additive manufacturing.

Abstract

Metamaterials are manmade advanced materials which exhibit physical and mechanical properties that are not usually found in nature. An auxetic metamaterial is one of the kind that shows a characteristic mechanical property called “Negative Poisson’s ratio” or NPR, unlike any other natural materials that have a positive Poisson’s ratio. Auxetic metamaterials also show interesting physical and mechanical properties like vibration isolation, stiffness, impact energy absorption etc. The design and development of the programable auxetic metamaterial lattice structure require advanced CAD techniques and the hybrid manufacturing processes that are also under study during the research. This novel material and hybrid manufacturing process unveils the new possibilities of the fabrication of advanced metamaterials that are not achievable through conventional additive manufacturing processes. The 2D/3D models of novel auxetic metamaterial lattice structures can be produced intuitively, by generative design, by topology optimization or through implicit/explicit mathematical equations.

Awards

  • Best student award 2020 (Âéw¶¹´«Ã½)
  • Best MSc project award 2020 (Âéw¶¹´«Ã½)
  • Winner of the Ebike design competition held by PETRONAS (National Petroleum Limited) (2015)
  • Winner of the Innovation project exhibition by University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan (2015)
  • Project innovations awards at Pakistan Auto Show (2014)
Hafiz Ali