I joined the Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton, Southampton UK, in April 2013. As an Academic, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work on interesting research projects, both nationally and internationally, and to teach students developing their skills and ambitions in engineering.
I have developed an outstanding profile in teaching and research forged by a number of unique multi-cultural experiences (BSc and MSc degrees in Italy, Double MSc degree in Sweden, PhD degree in UK), which mark my modus operandi.
Teaching quality. Since the start of my teaching career in the Academic Year 2013/2014, and without any previous relevant experience, I have received consistently good ratings (about and above 4 out of 5) for teaching to a cohort of about 120 students. Nominations to “Outstanding Lecturer” at the Excellence in Teaching Awards 2014 & 2015 reflect the students’ satisfaction.
I am working with my colleagues at the University to modernise the programme of study. For example, I have designed a Level 7 of FHEQ module on Aeroelasticity (15 CATS) that reflects the rapidly changing needs of the aerospace industry. The module is industry-led, with an external company running a training workshop to provide students with the knowledge and skills expected in their future workplace. The module is also research-driven, with current research topics being used to complement the classic treatment of aeroelasticity.
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Research interests
Research interests include computational fluid dynamics methods for aeroelasticity and aircraft design, and the development of nonlinear model reduction techniques for large coupled systems. The impact of my research activities has gained significant visibility within the international community reflecting the pivotal role I have played in the development of two software tools.
The initial involvement with NeoCASS (Next generation Conceptual Aero-Structural Sizing), a design tool based on computational methods for the aero-structural analysis and multidisciplinary optimization of aircraft layouts at the conceptual design stage, has been superseded by an active role in the development of CEASIOM (Computerised Environment for Aircraft Synthesis and Integrated Optimisation Methods), considered as one of the world’s most advanced tools for multi-fidelity integrated aircraft design. A strength of the tool is the possibility to quickly generate aerodynamic databases that can be used for stability analysis.
Track record of research funding. My research activities are or have been financially supported by a number of funding bodies. These include the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Airbus Operations Ltd, and the University of Southampton. To date, I have received about £0.3M as Principle Investigator.
In addition to traditional control, the project will investigate the use of inverse simulation as a tool to bypass control system design.The objectives of the project are two-fold. The first is to investigate novel control strategies to control highly non-linear aero-servo-elastic systems by using the appropriate level of fidelity. The second objective is to investigate, design, test, and manufacture a mechanism to harvest energy from ambient sources and structural vibrations.
The project will focus on two configurations from the experimental database, both based on the same axisymmetric body with and without wings at M=2.5 and AoA=14. The project will look at different meshing strategies, numerical schemes and turbulence models.
The objective is the development and assessment of reduction techniques to drastically reduce the computational cost of simulations for engineering problems.
The objective is to provide a robust and efficient numerical framework for the aero-servo-elastic assessment of highly flexible aircraft which can be adopted to design next-generation aircraft. This would allow to bridge the gap between present capabilities and those required to develop future aircraft concepts.
The work will be developed around the CEASIOM software which is a very extensive package for aircraft conceptual design. The objective of this project is to integrate, develop, and validate the aerodynamic module which is the core of the entire software.
Akram, U., Cristofaro, M., & Da Ronch, A. (Accepted/In press). Virtual flight simulation using computational fluid dynamics. In P. Marques, A. Da Ronch, & S. Tsach (Eds.), Novel Concepts in Unmanned Aircraft Aerodynamics, Flight Stability, and Control Chichester, GB: Wiley-Blackwell.
