Dilum Fernando
Professor
Dilum Fernando is a researcher and educator in structural engineering, with a particular interest in application of fundamental theories of material behaviours and geometric concepts to develop novel efficient hybrid/composite structural systems. To address the technological challenges associate with the use of advanced composites in infrastructure, Dilum Fernando has and continue to develop composite research programs by investigating various processes for FRP materials as well as systems for innovative infrastructure solutions through theoretical and experimental research projects that bring together architectural, manufacturing, material, design and construction challenges. The key thematic areas of his research programs include: (a) Manufacturing Technologies for Composites in Civil Infrastructure, (b) Construction Techniques for Composites in Civil Infrastructure, (c) Optimized Materials for Composites in Civil Infrastructure, and (d) Advanced Composite Structural Systems.
Dilum Fernando obtained a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Monash University in 2005 and Doctor of Philosophy from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2010. He has also worked as a structural design engineer at Connell Wagner (pty) Ltd. In Melbourne, Australia from 2004 to 2006, and as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ), Switzerland from 2010 to 2013. Dilum Fernando joined The University of Queensland (UQ) in August 2013 as a lecturer in School of Civil Engineering, then promoted to a senior lecturer in 2016 and an associate professor in 2019. He also held the positions of the Deputy Director and then the Director of the Australian Research Council funded Future Timber Hub. Dilum Fernando is also the lead inventor of the Double Skin Tubular Arch Bridge, which won the inaugural BERD’FEUP Prize for World Innovation in Bridge Engineering. He is also the winner of UQ’s Excellence in Innovation award and was selected as one of the Australia’s 30 Most Innovative Engineers in 2019 by Engineer Australia. Dilum Joined the University of Edinburgh as the Chair Professor in Structural Engineering in 2021.
Marcelo Dias
Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering
Dr Dias obtained his BSc and MSc in physics from the State University of São Paulo, Brazil. In 2012, he obtained a PhD degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA, where he researched on the mechanics of origami structures and growth mechanisms. Dr Dias has worked as a researcher on a broad range of topics in structural engineering and applied mathematics at Brown University School of Engineering (USA), Aalto University (Finland), and the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics at KTH (Sweden). Dr Dias was also an Associate Professor of mechanical engineering at Aarhus University in Denmark, where he led his research group 'Mechanical Metamaterials and Soft Matter’. Currently, Dr Dias is a Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering and he has been awarded the EPSRC Open fellowship.
Sergio Lopez-Dubon
Research Fellow
Dr Sergio Antonio Lopez Dubon is responsible for developing the facility's data structure and the data analysis's main algorithms. Moreover, he will lead the design and implementation of new data-driven algorithms to improve FastBlade performance and the study of the different tested specimens. This will reduce the time of new technology transfer, helping FastBlade be at the vanguard of fatigue testing of composite structures.
Before joining, he obtained a civil engineering degree and a master's in hydrology. He worked for a hydrometeorological service for a few years, where he started to handle big data problems. Later, he enrolled in a PhD focused on long-term river morphodynamics, using a physical-statistical modelling approach completed from 2014 to 2018. Following that, he worked in Italy as Data Scientist in the industry. His role centred on developing quasi-real-time control algorithms for big data environmental measurements and designing and implementing relational algorithms for data-driven support decisions.
