Khalifa University
Prof. Rehan Umer is a full professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department at Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KUST), Abu Dhabi, UAE. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Center for Advanced Composite Materials (CACM), The University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2008. He then worked as Research Engineer at the newly established Airbus helicopter site in Brisbane, Australia. He then moved to the USA and worked as a Post Doc. Research Fellow at the Composite Vehicle Research Center (CVRC), Michigan State University, USA on polymer composites processing for vehicle applications. In 2012, he started his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, KUST, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is the co-founder of the Aerospace Engineering department and the Advanced Research and Innovation Center (ARIC) at KUST. Prof. Umer has also been the acting chair of the department in 2021. Prof. Umer’s research has been focused on advanced composites manufacturing covering both experimental and modelling studies. Dr. Umer has worked very closely with several academic institutes, research centers and industries around the globe. Prof. Umer has four US patents, authored and co-authored books, book chapters, research papers in refereed journals, and presented at a number of international conferences. Prof. Umer’s research interest is in composites manufacturing including, thermoset and thermoplastic composites, smart manufacturing, graphene and 2D materials, liquid composites molding, automated fiber placement, pultrusion, process modelling and simulations, multifunctional nano-composites, 3D printing and additive manufacturing, lightweight lattice and sandwich structures.
One of the potential applications of 2D materials is to enhance multi-functionality of structures and components used in aerospace, automotive, civil and defense industries. These multi-functional attributes include sensing, energy storage, EMI shielding and property enhancement. Recently, we have explored the potential of using graphene as data generating materials in Industry 4.0. A complete roadmap will be presented to cover three emerging technologies i.e. advance materials, artificial intelligence and block-chain technology. The utility of 2D materials such as graphene is yet to be explored as an interface for digitalization of a modern factory i.e. “factory-of-the-future”. How graphene enhanced composites can act as an interface between physical and cyber spaces will also be addressed. An overview of employing graphene-based smart embedded sensors at various stages of composites manufacturing processes and their application in real-time structural health monitoring will be presented (as shown in Figure 1). The technical challenges associated with interfacing graphene-based sensing networks with the digital space will also be discussed.
Figure 1: Graphene as data generating material in composites.
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