Role
Qualifications: BSc, MSc, PhD, PGCAP, FHEA, CEng, MIMechE
Dr Mahdi Bodaghi is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Mechanical Engineering in the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University. He is the module leader for the Solid Mechanics and Dynamics, and Medical Applications of Smart Materials UG and PG modules. Mahdi acively pursues research on Smart Materials, Composite Structures, 3D, 4D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) Technologies and Biomedical Device Design (h-index: 32, citations: 3300). He is also the founder and director of the 4D Materials & Printing Lab (4DMPL) that hosts a broad portfolio of projects focusing on the electro-thermo-mechanical multi-scale behaviours of smart materials and 3D/4D printing technologies. His vast experience and research on smart materials and additive manufacturing has led him to co-found the 4D Printing Society and to co-edit the book series- Smart Materials in Additive Manufacturing (Vol. 1 & 2) published by Elsevier. His research has also resulted in the publication of over 155 scientific papers in prestigious journals.
Taught Modules at NTU:
Solid Mechanics and Dynamics (2018-19/2019-20/2020-21/2021-22)
Medical Applications of Smart Materials (2019-20/2021-22)
Innovation and Engineering Solutions (2018/2019) (partially involved)
Industrial Design & Product Case Studies (2018/2019) (partially involved)
Career overview
Mahdi received his BSc, MSc and PhD Degrees in Mechanical Engineering in 2007, 2010 and 2015, respectively. For his doctoral research, he developed constitutive models for functional Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) and Piezoelectrics and assessed their sensory and actuation performance in controlling shape and vibration of smart wing-like Composite Structures by non-linear Finite Element Analysis. He received the Best Doctoral Thesis Award in 2015. During his PhD training, he also served as a Teaching Assistant and a Lecturer for the modules of Mechanics of Materials (I, II, III), Engineering Plasticity and its Applications, and Manufacturing Processes and Technologies.
From July 2015 to July 2018, he was working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Smart Materials and Structures Laboratory at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He worked with Prof. Wei-Hsin Liao to develop advanced multi-functional shape-memory structures fabricated by 3D and 4D Printing Technologies for Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Applications. Since October 2018, Mahdi has been with the Department of Engineering at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). He received Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice from NTU in November 2020. Mahdi has been ranked amongst top 2% of the most influential researchers in 2022, 2021 and 2020 in the world by Elsevier and Stanford University (Published: 8 October 2020; 19 October 2021; 10 October 2022). He has served as Chairman and member of Scientific Committees for 15 International Conferences, as Guest Editor for 10 Journals, as Editorial Board Member for 10 scientific Journals, and as Reviewer for over 150 Journals. Mahdi’s research awards include the Best Doctoral Thesis Award of 2015, 2016 CUHK Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Annual Best Paper Award in Mechanics and Material Systems presented by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2017, 2018 Horizon Fellowship Awardee, 2021 IJPEM-GT Contribution Award recognized by the Korea Society for Precision Engineering, and Gloal Talent endorsed by the Royal Academy of Engineering, in the UK.
Research areas
Research Expertise:
- Computational Mechanics
- Mechanics of Composite Materials
- Mechanobiology
- Smart Materials and Structures
- Meta-materials
- Soft Robotics
- Bio-inspired Design
- Additive Manufacturing
- 3D and 4D Printing Technologies
- Machine Learning
- Customization in Health Care
Mission:
Developing and exploiting emerging capabilities of Smart Materials and Structures, 3D and 4D Printing Technologies to create and support innovative advanced device technologies for Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Applications.
Research Topics:
- Computational and experimental mechanics of advanced materials
- Materials testing and characterisation
- Design principles for intelligent environments
- General purpose sensors/actuators based on multi-functional active materials
- Piezoelectric sensors for structural health monitoring and energy harvesting
- Piezoelectric sensors-actuators for structural vibration control
- Piezoelectric micro-sensors/actuators
- Innovative mechanical energy absorbers
- Martensitic-austenitic phase transformation
- Adaptive structures with shape memory alloys and polymers (SMPs) for aerospace applications
- Innovative mechanical/bio-medical devices with SMA/SMP actuators
- SMA damping devices for mechanical and civil applications
- Innovative hybrid composite structures with SMA/SMP fibres
- Advanced Nano-carbon-fibre composites
- Bio-inspired design of materials and composites
- Sustainable materials for smart structures and products
- Fatigue life of advanced composite structures
- Functionally graded materials and additive manufacturing
- Material extrusion for additive manufacturing
- Sustainable 3D and 4D printing technologies
- Lattice medical implants and auxetics customised by 3D printing
- Bio-materials and scaffolds by 3D printing
- Self-folding/shrinking/expanding biomedical structures by 4D printing
- Self-tightening surgical sutures, self-conforming splints and self-deploying stents by 4D printing
- Electronic memory devices like tactile displays and surface adaptive structures by 4D printing
- Recoverable rolling-up chiral meta-materials by 3D printing
- Load-resistance supportive auxetics by 3D printing
- Soft meta-material tissues by 3D printing
- 4D printing self-morphing structures
- Advanced biological particle detectors
- Topology optimization of 4D printed soft actuators
- Nano-to-macro multi-scale analysis
- Finite element method and simulation
- Mesh-free computational methods
- Constitutive material modelling
- Autonomous damage recognition by deep learning
- Visual inspection of laminated composite structures
Open PhD Research Topics:
- Self-funded PhD Position in Smart Materials, Bio-Functional/Inspired Materials, Meta-Materials, 3D and 4D Printing Technologies, and Biomedical Device Design
Opening:
1) A fully funded PhD position on "towards the next generation drag controlling mechanisms with smart skin technology". Apply here (deadline: Friday 14 January 2022)
2) Enquires are very welcome from those who are keen to pursue PhD and MPhil degrees in the areas identified above. Please contact Mahdi directly to discuss future opportunities. Further information may be obtained on the NTU Research Degrees website.
External activity
SProfessional Society:
- Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (M-IMechE), London, UK and Chartered Engineer (CEng) recognized by IMechE and registered by the Engineering Council
- Member of the IEEE Robotics and Intelligent Sensing Technical Committee
- Member of the Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC)
Journal Service:
- Editorial Board Member of Smart Materials and Structures Journal
- Editorial Board Member of Macromolecular Materials and Engineering Journal
- Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
- Editorial Board Member of Smart Materials in Manufacturing Journal
- Editorial Board Member of Sustainable Futures Journal
- Editorial Board Member of Science and Engineering of Composite Materials Journal
- Editorial Board Member of Journal of Functional Biomaterials
- Editorial Board Member of Designs Journal
- Editorial Board Member of Journal of Composites Science
- Editorial Board Member of Soft Science
- Review Editorial Board Member of Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering (Solid and Structural Mechanics)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Smart Materials and Structures Journal (ISSN 2227-7390, IF: 1.105): 4D Materials Design and Additive Manufacturing (it is open for submission; deadline: April 30, 2023)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Mathematics Journal (ISSN 2227-7390, IF: 1.105): Analytical and Computational Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Functional Structures (it is open for submission; deadline: March 25, 2022)
- Topic Editor of the Research Topic in Frontiers in Robotics and AI (ISSN 2296-9144, IF: 3:31): 4D Printing and 3D Printing in Robotics, Sensors, and Actuators Manufacturing (it is open for submission; deadline: 5 April 2022)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of International Journal of Bioprinting (ISSN 2424-8002, IF: 6.638): Mechanical Behaviours of 3D/4D Printing Biomaterials and Smart Structures (it is open for submission; deadline: Nov 30, 2022)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Progress in Additive Manufacturing (ISSN 2363-9520): Special Issue on New Trends in 4D Printing (it is open for submission; deadline: February 28, 2023)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825, IF: 1.99): Smart Materials in Robotics and Actuators (it is open for submission; deadline: Nov 30, 2022)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050, IF: 3.251): Sustainable 3D/4D Printing Systems, Materials, and Applications (it is open for submission; deadline: Oct 30, 2022)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Polymers Journal (ISSN 2073-4360, IF: 3.164): The Next Generation of Smart Materials and 3D/4D Printing Technologies (closed; deadline: June 20, 2021)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Applied Sciences Journal (ISSN 2076-3417, IF: 2.217): Acoustic Metamaterials and Acoustic Foams: Recent Advances (closed; deadline: Dec 10, 2020)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of Applied Sciences Journal (ISSN 2076-3417, IF: 2.217): 3D-printed Soft Robots and 4D Printing: Modeling, Fabrication, and Control (closed; deadline: Dec 30, 2021)
- The top 1% of reviewers in the cross-field ranked by Web of Science
- Reviewer for 130 International Journals verified by Web of Science (700 reviews)
Member of organising/international committee of the following conferences:
- POLYMERFORUM 2023, San Francisco, USA, September 04-06, 2023.
- 2022 International Symposium on Computing and Artificial Intelligence (ISCAI 2022) organized by the Hong Kong Society of Robotics and Automation (HKSRA) and Dalian University of Technology, Beijing, China, Dec 16-18, 2022.
- 4D Materials Design and Additive Manufacturing Conference, Sept 1-2, 2022.
- International Conference on Nanotechnology & Materials Science, Barcelona, Spain, September 25-27, 2023.
- International Summer School on New Advances in Materials for Additive Manufacturing, Brescia, Italy, September 5-9, 2022.
- The 6th International Conference on Innovative and Smart Materials, Krakow, Poland, December 9-11, 2022.
- International Conference on Additive Manufacturing for a Better World, Singapore, August 23-25, 2022.
- WCCM-APCOM 2022: 1003 Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Functional Materials and Advanced Manufacturing, Yokohama, Japan, July 31 to August 5, 2022.
- International Undergraduates Poster Competition (IUPC 2022), Johor Bahru, June 29-30, 2022.
- The 2nd International Conference on Additive Fabrication of Composites, November 23-24, 2021.
- Global Summit on Polymer Science and Composite Materials (PolyScience2021), Valencia, October 18-20, 2021.
- Smart Devices Symposium 2021 (SDS2021), Osaka, May 19-21, 2021.
- The 3rd International Conference on Biosciences and Medical Engineering, Johor Bahru, June 29-30, 2021.
- TII Advanced Materials Seminar, Khalifa University, December 14-15, 2020.
- 4D Printing & Meta Materials Conference, Online, March 9, 2021, 6th edition, 14:00-18:00 CET.
- The 3rd Annual International Conference on Computer Science and Mechanical Automation, Wuhan, November 2017.
- The 23rd Annual International Mechanical Engineering Conference, Tehran, May 2015.
Public Engagement:
- Social media coordinator of the Department of Engineering
Sponsors and collaborators
Collaborators:
- Deakin University
- Amirkabir University of Technology
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Delft University of Technology
- University of Glasgow
- University of the West of England, Bristol
- Tarbiat Modares University
- Changwon National University
- University of Southern Denmark
Publications
Mahdi’s research has led to the publication of 155 scientific papers in leading journals in the mechanics, manufacturing and materials science, and the presentation of his work at major international conferences. A list of publications can be found at Google Scholar, IRep, and ORCID.
Press expertise
- Smart Medical Devices
- Smart Cities
- Green Design
- Sustainable Futures
- Manufacturing the Future
- 4D Printing Technology
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Mahdi's Main Goals
