Dr. Wesley Cantwell
Dr. wesley cantwell Associate Dean of Research Professor Aerospace Engineering

Contact Information
wesley.cantwell@ku.ac.ae +971 2 312 5533

Biography

Dr. Wesley Cantwell is a Professor in Aerospace Engineering at Khalifa University. He received his BSc in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southampton and MSc and PhD degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College, UK. He then worked as a Research Scientist in the Department of Materials at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne for nine years and as a Lecturer/Reader/Professor at the University of Liverpool for eighteen years. During this time he directed a research team focusing on the impact behavior of lightweight structures. He joined Khalifa University in 2012.  His research interests are in composite materials, additive manufacturing, the impact response of structures and smart materials. He has presented a number of keynote addresses at leading international conferences since joining Khalifa University, including at the 2014 European Conference on Composite Materials, the 2017 International Conference on Composite Structures and the 25th International Conference on Composite Materials. He is a member of the advisory board of the Advanced Materials Center at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi and has been a member of the Research Grant Council in Hong Kong for eight years.


Education
  • BSc Aeronautical Engineering, University of Southampton
  • MSc Aeronautical Engineering, Imperial College
  • PhD Aeronautical Engineering, Imperial College


Affiliated Research Institutes/Centers
  • Advanced Digital & Additive Manufacturing Center
  • Advanced Research and Innovation Center

Research
Research Interests
  • Composite Materials
  • Additive manufacturing
  • Lightweight structures

Research Projects

The Advanced Research and Innovation Center (ARIC) at Khalifa University was established in 2012 as a joint effort between Mubadala Aerospace and Khalifa University to undertake cutting-edge research in aerospace engineering.

The Center aligns itself with the strategic plan of Strata, a local composite aero-structures manufacturing operation. Its initial focus is on manufacturing and characterising the properties of new and novel lightweight materials and structures for use in advanced aerospace applications. ARIC helps Strata to design and manufacture the next generation of high-performance aerospace structures.

The Center also acts as a global research hub – collaborating with leading universities across the world, developing research opportunities over a broad spectrum of areas, and assisting technology transfer and innovation possibilities across the aerospace sector.

ARIC houses a wide range of facilities, including advanced manufacturing equipment for the cost-effective production of aerospace components, testing and characterization facilities for evaluating the properties of materials under extreme loading conditions, and advanced modeling capabilities for predicting the behavior of larger structures in operational conditions.

 

The ADAM center serves as a state-of-the-art R&D and educational facility in the area of AM and a platform to provide R&D services to industries across the UAE. This is fulfilled by adapting an integrated approach combining a full suite of digital design, modeling/simulation, fabrication, characterization, experimental testing and analysis facilities, to minimize time to market with high quality products. The center addresses the challenges and limitations in the current status of AM and works towards developing new processes and advanced materials to mitigate these limitations. The center also seeks to develop local expertise in digital additive manufacturing by empowering the building of human capacity. ADAM focuses on working closely with businesses to tackle major research challenges, ensuring that the UAE remains at the forefront of AM and its application in Industry 4.0.


Research Staff and Graduate Students:

Staff
Dr. Asha Viswanath Post Doctoral Fellow
Students
Mariam Aldhaheri PhD student
Ibrahim Mohammed PhD student
Khaja Hussain PhD student
Tayyab Khan PhD student
Mohamed Abdelmageed Abdelhameed PhD student