Dr Amir Sakhaei

Dr. Amir Hosein Sakhaei (PhD, FHEA, PGCHE) is currently Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Head of Mechanical Engineering Group, and Course Lead for Mechanical Engineering Program in the School of Engineering at the University of Kent.

He attained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from National University of Singapore (ranked 9th according to QS ranking) under Singapore International Graduate Award in 2014. His PhD research was focused on Micromechanical Modelling of Shape Memory Alloys and its application in Smart Structures. He also was a guest researcher in the Aerospace Structures and Materials department at the University of Delft, Netherlands in 2013.

Upon finishing his PhD, Dr Sakhaei worked for almost three years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Singapore University of Technology and Design within the SUTD-MIT International Design Centre (2015-2016) and Digital Manufacturing and Design Centre (2016-2017). There, he was working on different research projects on Modelling the Advanced Materials and Structures fabricated with Additive Manufacturing Technologies (4D Printing, High stretchable elastomers, Meta materials, …) and Soft robotics.

Before joining University of Kent, Dr Sakhaei was a Lecturer in University of Exeter for almost two years where he was teaching Mechanical Engineering modules to undergraduate and postgraduate students and performing research under EPSRC grant ADAPT (Analysis and Design for Accelerated Production and Tailoring of composites).

From January 2020, Dr Sakhaei has been the Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and he is a regular reviewer of multiple international Journals from Elsevier, Springer, MDPI. He was also the Guest Editor of the Special Issue of "3D Printable Soft Robotics and Soft Actuators" at Actuator, MDPI (2020-2022).  

Dr Sakhaei has extensive research experience and rapidly growing international profile in:

• Advanced Functional Materials.
• Sustainable Manufacturing.
• Mechanics of Smart Materials.
• Sustainable Composite Materials.
• Additive Manufacturing (3D and 4D printing).
• Applied Robotics, Soft Robotics and Soft Actuators.
• Data-Driven Methods and Machine Learning for Mechanical Design.
• Metamaterials and lightweighting.
• Finite Element Analysis.

This is evidenced by his strong publication records, his externally funded researches by the Royal Society, the Innovate UK, and EPSRC. Furthermore, his research outputs (published in Nature Scientific Reports and Advanced Materials) appear in popular media outlets, including the MIT News, Nature World News, ScienceDaily, and MaterialsToday.

Please check out his Google Scholar or ResearchGate Page for further information regarding his research.

Dr Sakhaei has several years’ experience in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate modules and mentoring under/postgraduate students in Mechanical Engineering courses.

His current teaching responsibilities include:  

• EENG3240, Fundamental of Materials and Mechanics (Module Convener)
• EENG5180, Dynamics of Machines (Module Convener)
• EENG6478, Finite Element Analysis (Module Convener)
• EENG6000, Final Year Research Projects

Dr Sakhaei obtained several awards including “University of Kent Teaching Award 2022 (as a team)” and nominated for “Kent Union Above and Beyond Award 2022 and 2023”. Dr Sakhaei is also the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and holds the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE).  

Dr Sakhaei has supervised/co-supervised/mentored several PhD students, research assistants and MEng/BEng students during his different academic roles. Some of the PhD projects he has supervised/co-supervised are listed below:

Please contact Dr Sakhaei directly, if you are a PhD candidate and interested in any of the following research areas: Smart Materials and Structures, Advanced/Additive/Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies, 3D & 4D Printing, Composite Materials, Metamaterials Applied/Medical Robotics, Soft Robotics, Computational & Experimental Mechanics of Materials.

• Data-Driven Framework for Design with Lattice-Structured Materials (Kent)
• Additive Manufacturing of Sustainable Composite Materials (Kent)
• Deformation Measurement of Lattice-Structured Materials Using Image analysis Techniques (Kent)
• Control, Programming and Augmented Reality for Robotic Applications (Kent)
• Multiscale Modelling of Defects in Composite Forming Process (Exeter)
• Design and Fabrication of Topological Interlocking Joinery (SUTD-MIT International Design Centre)

Funded Research Projects:

• Royal Society Research Grant, RGS\R1\221342, (2022-2023), (PI)
• Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA), (2010-2014), (PI)
• AKT2I Innovate UK (2022-2023), (Co-I)

Awards and Nominations:

• University of Kent EDI Staff Award 2023 (nominated)
• Kent Union Above and Beyond Award 2023 (nominated and shortlisted for Research Led Education)
• University of Kent Teaching Award 2022 (as a team)
• Kent Union Above and Beyond Award 2022 (nominated)
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) - Since Jan 2020
• A&D Asia-Pacific Award 2017 (as a team)
• Core77 Design Award 2017 (as a team)
• Bronze A' Design Award winner 2017 (as a team) 
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue of "3D Printable Soft Robotics and Soft Actuators" at Actuator, MDPI (2020-2022).
• Regular Reviewer of international Journals from Elsevier, Springer, Whiley.
• External examiner for several PhD viva.