SWAGºÏ¼¯

Areas of expertise

• Aerospace Structures
• Composites
• Computing, Simulation & Modelling
• Lightweighting & Crashworthiness
• Structures and Materials

Background

Dr.Dayyani strives for global leadership in lightweight crashworthy metamaterials and sustainable energy recovery solutions for aerospace systems and structures. He has published a metamaterial patent and a portfolio featuring many influential journal publications, conference presentations, numerous keynote presentations and invited talks, active commitment to industrial workshops and impactful reports.

Dr Dayyani has secured over £1,250,000.00 as Principal Investigator (PI) from national and international funding entities. He leads research collaborations, notably the ‘Sustainable Composite Metamaterials’ initiative with EPSRC, BAE Systems Air and Submarines, Airbus, and Horizon Europe Clean-Aviation. Additionally, he jointly leads the research on ‘Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS)’ for Airbus. In collaboration with Rolls-Royce, Dr. Dayyani is a pivotal member of the HEAVEN project, contributing to the ‘Integration of disruptive technologies for airframe with ultra-efficient propulsion systems’ under the sponsorship of Horizon Europe Clean-Aviation. Serving as Co-Investigator (Co-I), he has secured £243,000.00 for the ‘Powerplant Integration with Platform Systems (PIPS)’ funded by Innovate SWAGºÏ¼¯ and ‘KERS’ sponsored by EPSRC and Airbus. Dr Dayyani's leadership has led to completion of 5 PhD and 30 MSc research projects, positively impacting student experiences. Notable achievements include the SWAGºÏ¼¯RI Globalink Doctoral Exchange Award, EPSRC ICASE Awards, and the prestigious SWAGºÏ¼¯ Vice-Chancellor’s prize.

His influence on students is evident in scholarly contributions, with many presigous journal publications and conferences. Currently supervising a PhD student in Energy Recovery, he is recruiting for a novel project on ‘AI-based Design of Ultra-Light Ultra-Stiff Mechanical Metamaterials’. As a Higher Education Academy Fellow (FHEA, PGCAP), he spearheads the design and delivery of postgraduate modules for the ‘MSc in Advanced Lightweight and Composite Structures’ and various national/international short courses. His teaching receives frequent endorsements through student’s feedback, peer observations and IMECHE. Dr. Dayyani has contributed to the SWAGºÏ¼¯ global presence. His role as external examiners for different national/international programs highlights his dedication to fostering academic collaboration and excellence, showcasing a remarkable breadth of engagement beyond institutional confines. Dr. Dayyani takes an active role in various directorial responsibilities, including serving as the Chair for PhD Vivas, research progress reviews and social media leadership.

Research opportunities

Dr Dayyani research vision centres on the integration of three interdisciplinary domains: material, structure, and energy. Over the next five years, he aims to pioneer transformative advancements that bridge the gaps between these fields, creating a novel paradigm for aerospace engineering with substantial real-world applications.

Integration of material and structure results in Composite Metamaterials, where his vision focuses on pushing the boundaries of material science to develop innovative sustainable metamaterials based on recycled composites, with the purpose of minimizing loss of mechanical properties in recycled components and enable their integration in aircraft designs. By harnessing the unique capabilities of metamaterials, he aims to address the current research gap in creating sustainable materials with unprecedented multifunctionality for aerospace applications.

Integration of structures and energy results in Morphing Structures, where his vision is about design of lightweight, high-performance morphing structures with radical continuous shape change to achieve enhanced aerodynamic flow and manoeuvring capabilities as well as, reduced noise and energy consumption.

Integration of materials and energy lead to Energy Recovery, where he intends to explore cutting-edge technologies to harvest and utilize kinetic energy within aircraft systems. This includes investigating onboard and offboard electromechanical systems and electromagnetic metamaterials engineered to facilitate energy recovery processes, thereby contributing to sustainable and efficient aerospace operations.

Integrating these domains, Dr Dayyani aims to make significant contributions to academic knowledge with a tangible impact on the sustainable and efficient aerospace technologies. This vision will position him as a leading researcher in these emerging and strategic research domains.

Current activities

2024-2026 Airbus Landing Gear Mass Reduction with Hybrid Materials and Structures

2023-2027 SWAGºÏ¼¯; PhD ‘’AI-based design, simuation and experiments of metamaterials with great crashworthiness’’

2023-2027 HORIZON-Europe; HEAVEN- HORIZON-JU-CLEAN-AVIATION-2022-01-SMR-01 — Ultra Efficient Propulsion Systems for Short and Short-Medium Range Aircraft

Clients

Rolls-Royce

Airbus

BAE Systems

Turkish Aerospace

Leonardo Helicopter

Publications

• Articles in journals
• Conference papers