Dr Zahra Sharif-Khodaei

Senior Lecturer, Department of Aeronautics

“My research focuses on non-destructive inspection techniques and damage tolerant design of composite structures, mainly for aerospace application. I am the co-founder and a member of our research group structural integrity and health monitoring. We have a very dynamic group where everyone makes a positive contribution to the research.

“In general, my research interest is improving the robustness, reliability and economics of operation of structures. To achieve this, I develop methodologies and technologies based on permanently mounted sensors on the structure that can monitor and record the in-service response of the structure and assess its structural integrity. The motivation for this research is to move from scheduled-based maintenance to condition-based maintenance for the next generation of smart aircrafts.

“What I enjoy the most about my research is the multi-disciplinary nature of the field. Our research contributes to several areas such as advanced numerical tools, actuator and sensor technology, inkjet printing, reliability analysis, design and optimization, data analysis and machine learning. I also enjoy teaching. It gives me great joy to be nominated for any teaching awards or to receive a positive feedback from any student. My goal is to inspire more female students to study engineering and be the leaders of tomorrow.”