Announcements

Professor Paul Robinson has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Aeronautics in the Faculty of Engineering from 1 October 2017, for a period of five years. He succeeds Professor Ferri Aliabadi, who has been Head of Department since 2009.

Professor Robinson joined Imperial in 1988 as a Lecturer, becoming Professor of Mechanics of Composites in 2013. He has held many leadership roles within the department, including Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of the Composites Centre, Director of Green Aviation, and most recently Deputy Head of the Department.

Professor Robinson’s research has been primarily focused on the susceptibility of polymer matrix composites to delamination. This activity has included the development and investigation of tests for characterising delamination resistance and the development of methods for predicting delamination growth in composite components due to static loading and fatigue. More recently he has been developing composites that exhibit a ductile failure process and other composites which possess controllable stiffness and shape memory.

John Neilson
College Secretary & Registrar

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VICE-DEAN (EDUCATION)

Professor Omar Matar has accepted appointment as Vice-Dean (Education) for the Faculty of Engineering from 1 August 2017, for a period of 5 years.

Professor Matar joined Imperial as a Lecturer in 1998, becoming Professor of Fluid Mechanics in 2007. He has undertaken many roles in the Department of Chemical Engineering, including Undergraduate Admissions Tutor and Director of Undergraduate Studies. He is currently the departmental Director of Research – a role which he will continue to hold in conjunction with his new role of Vice-Dean (Education).

Professor Matar’s main area of research interest has been in interfacial fluid mechanics, transport phenomena and multiphase flows. He currently holds a Royal Academy of Engineering/PETRONAS Research Chair in Multiphase Fluid Dynamics.

VICE-DEAN (RESEARCH)

Professor Mary Ryan FREng has accepted appointment as Vice-Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Engineering from 1 August 2017, for a period of 5 years.

Professor Ryan joined Imperial as a Lecturer in 1998, becoming Professor of Materials Science and Nanotechnology in 2012. She has undertaken a range of roles in the Department of Materials, including Associate Head of Department for Research, Athena SWAN Coordinator, and Director of Postgraduate Studies. Currently Professor Ryan is the Faculty Ambassador for Academic Women and she will continue in this post in conjunction with her new role of Vice-Dean (Research).

Her research interests are in the area of applied electrochemistry, nanomaterials deposition and toxicity, and materials degradation; with a focus on developing in-situ approaches to the study of interfacial behaviour in nanoscale systems. She is the Director of the Imperial-Shell University Technology Centre in Advanced Interfacial Materials Science, a member of the EPSRC Strategic Advisory Network and a Trustee of the National Heritage Science Forum (as Imperial’s representative). She was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2015.

John Neilson
College Secretary & Registrar

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