I came to Newcastle in 1999 when I was awarded a PhD scholarship in Materials Science and Engineering. I completed my PhD with the thesis Micropitting and Related Phenomena in Case Carburised Gears (http://hdl.handle.net/10443/467).

Since August 2016 I am a Lecturer in the School of Engineering (Advanced Materials Group). I teach at all levels, from foundation year to postgraduate level and I also supervise postgraduate research students (PhD, MSc, MEng). My main areas of expertise are materials failure, tribology and materials informatics.

Qualifications

PhD, Newcastle University 2003

Previous Positions

Teaching Fellow (2014-2016), School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials, Newcastle University

Research Associate (2006-2014), School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials, Newcastle University

Research Associate (2004-2005), Design Unit, Newcastle University

Memberships

Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Teaching

Undergraduate Modules

Materials Science 0 - SFY0013 (Module Leader)
Foundation Physics A2 - SFY0014 (Module Leader)
Properties & Behaviour of Engineering Materials - ENG1006 (Module Leader)
Safety Risk and Engineering Practice - CME2031
Materials degradation and Component Life - CME3098 (Module Leader)

Postgraduate Modules

Introduction to Photovoltaics - SPG8017 (Module Leader)
Lifetime Prediction & Design for Reliability - CME8060 (Module Leader)
Modelling Materials and Processes - CME8129 (Module Leader)
Materials for Pipeline and Offshore Structures and Degradation - MAR8087 (Module Leader)

Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award 2016 in the Taught Supervisor of the Year category

Research

Research Projects

Aerogel composites for carbon capture and thermal management in commercial buildings
Gearbodies Innovative Technologies for Inspecting Carbodies and for Development of Running
Reducing the Costs of Marine Renewables via Advanced Structural Materials (ReC-ASM)
Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Hydrogen Embrittlement in Steel (PhD: Angel Izquierdo Sanchez)
Carbon capture and blast furnaces (PhD: Edward Long)
Modelling fracture in pipeline steels (PhD: Chima Wujah)
Metal Organic Frameworks for Air Separation (PhD: Ben Birch)
High Entropy Alloys (Gearbodies).

Other Expertise

DFT calculations and AIMD;
Materials behaviour using classical molecular dynamics
LaTeX for document preparation

PhD Students

Currently I supervise 7 PhD students.

Awarded PhDs

Hassan Izadi Gonabadi (Performance of low cost composites for tidal turbine applications) 2019

Silas Mulaudzi (An assessment of the potential of solar photovoltaic (PV) and hybrid renewable energy application in South Africa) 2018

Mohammed Kadhim (Characterisation of a nanoporous polymers for water treatment) 2017

Chi Lung (Micropitting and martensite decay in gears) 2015

Noushin Moharrami (Extracting reliable mechanical properties using the nanoindentation technique) 2014

Research Impact

World's oldest insect inspires a new generation of aerogels (see here: press release)

Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels (https://wiley.altmetric.com/details/39323574/news)

Aerogels and dragonfly video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/SIwRPrapMbc

The use of lubricants containing IFLM significantly increases the operational life of components (Machinery Lubrication by Noria)

Publications

Articles
- Gonabadi H, Oila A, Yadav A, Bull S. Investigation of the Effects of Environmental Fatigue on the Mechanical Properties of GFRP Composite Constituents Using Nanoindentation. Experimental Mechanics 2022, 62(4), 585-602.
- Gonabadi H, Oila A, Yadav A, Bull S. Investigation of anisotropy effects in glass fibre reinforced polymer composites on tensile and shear properties using full field strain measurement and finite element multi-scale techniques. Journal of Composite Materials 2022, 56(3), 507-524.
- Oila A. Atomistic simulation of martensite decay. Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering 2022, 30(6), 060401.
- Gonabadi H, Oila A, Yadav A, Bull S. Structural performance of composite tidal turbine blades. Composite Structures 2021, 278, 114679.
- Gonabadi HI, Oila A, Yadav A, Bull SJ. Fatigue Damage Analysis of GFRP Composites Using Digital Image Correlation. Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy 2021, 7, 25-40.
- Izquierdo-Sanchez AA, Oila A, Charles A. Atomistic simulation of tensile tests on iron and ferrite. Materialia 2020, 13, 100822.
- Kadhim M, Oila A, Bull SJ. PolyHIPEs for water treatment. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2019, 1294, 052072.
- Han X, Hassan KT, Harvey A, Kulijer D, Oila A, Hunt MRC, Siller L. Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels. Advanced Materials 2018, 30(23), 1706294.
- Gonabadi HI, Oila A, Bull S. Fatigue of Sandwich Composites in Air and Seawater. Journal of Bio- and Tribo-Corrosion 2016, 2, 1-7.
- Moharrami N, Oila A, Bull SJ. Extracting mechanical properties of copper coatings on oxidized silicon substrates by nanoindentation. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 2014, 47(31), 315104.
- Oila A, Bull SJ. Experimental assessment of the elastic properties of thin TiN/AlN superlattice and nano-multilayer coatings. Surface and Coatings Technology 2014, 257, 87-94.
- Oila A, Lung C, Bull S. Elastic properties of eta carbide (η-Fe₂C) from ab initio calculations: application to cryogenically treated gear steel. Journal of Materials Science 2014, 49(5), 2383-2390.
- Abadaia FB, Bull SJ, Oila A. Surface wear resistance of 304 austenitic stainless steel modified by colossal carbon supersaturation and TiN coating. Journal of Materials Science and Engineering B 2012, 2(2), 103-111.
- Bull SJ, Sanderson L, Moharrami N, Oila A. Effect of microstructure on hardness of submicrometre thin films and nanostructured devices. Materials Science and Technology 2012, 28(9-10), 1177-1185.
- Oila A, Sanderson L, Bull S, Fleischer N. Inorganic fullerene-like materials for increased operational life in rolling/sliding applications. Tribology - Materials, Surfaces and Interfaces 2010, 4(4), 163-166.
- Oila A, Bull SJ. Atomistic simulation of Fe-C austenite. Computational Materials Science 2009, 45(2), 235-239.
- Oila A, Bull SJ. Phase transformations associated with micropitting in rolling/sliding contacts. Journal of Materials Science 2005, 40(18), 4767-4774.
- Soare S, Bull SJ, Oila A, O'Neill AG, Wright NG, Horsfall A, Dos Santos JMM. Obtaining mechanical parameters for metallisation stress sensor design using nanoindentation. Zeitschrift für Metallkunde 2005, 96(11), 1262-1266.
- Soare S, Bull SJ, Oila A, O'Neill AG, Wright NG, Horsfall A, Dos Santos JMM. Obtaining mechanical parameters for metallisation stress sensor design using nanoindentation. International Journal of Materials Research 2005, 96(11), 1262-1266.
- Oila A, Shaw BA, Aylott CJ, Bull SJ. Martensite decay in micropitted gears. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology 2005, 219(2), 77-83.
- Oila A, Bull SJ. Assessment of the factors influencing micropitting in rolling/sliding contacts. Wear 2005, 258(10), 1510-1524.
- Oila A, Bull SJ. Nanoindentation testing of gear steels. Zeitschrift fur Metallkunde 2003, 94(7), 793-797.
Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)
- Kadhim M, Oila A, Bull SJ. PolyHIPEs for Water Treatment. In: 2nd International Science Conference. 2019, University of Al-Qadisyah, Iraq: Institute of Physics Publishing.
- Gonabadi HI, Moharrami N, Oila A, Bull SJ. Wet Flexural Fatigue Behaviour of Tidal Turbine Blade Composite Materials. In: 11th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference. 2015, Nantes, France.
- Gonabadi HI, Moharrami N, Oila A, Bull SJ. Flexural Characteristics of Tidal turbine blades made of composite materials. In: 11th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference. 2015, Nantes, France.
- Shaw BA, Aylott CJ, Oila A, Jao TC. Characterisation of microstructural transformations in micropitted gears. In: Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Annual Meeting and Exhibition. 2009, Lake Buena Vista, FL, United states: Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers.
- Soare S, Bull SJ, Oila A, O'Neill AG, Wright N, Horsfall A, dos Santos J. Determination of mechanical parameters for rotating MEMS structures as a function of deposition method. In: Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties X. 2004, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Materials Research Society.
- Soare S, Bull SJ, Oila A, O'Neill A, Wright N, Horsfall A, dos Santos J. Determination of mechanical parameters for rotating MEMS structures as a function of deposition method. In: MRS Fall Meeting 2003. 2004, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- dos Santos JMM, Horsfall AB, Soare SM, Oila A, Bull SJ, Wright NG, O'Neill AG, Walton AJ, Gundlach AM, Stevenson JTM. Residual Stress Sensor for the Microelectronics Industry. In: Eurosensors XVII: the 17th European Conference on Solid-State Transducers. 2003, Guimaraes, Portugal: Elsevier.
- Dos Santos JMM, Wang K, Soare SM, Horsfall AB, Bull SJ, Wright NG, Oila A, O'Neill AG, Terry JG, Walton AJ, Gundlacj AM, Stevenson JTM. Hinge optimisation in a micro-rotating structure for stress gauging in integrated circuit interconnects. In: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings. 2003, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Soare S, Bull SJ, Oila A, O'Neill AG, Wright N, Horsfall A, Dos Santos J. Determination of mechanical parameters for rotating MEMS structures as a function of deposition method. In: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings: Thin Films - Stresses and Mechanical Properties X. 2003, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Materials Research Society.
- Soare S, Bull SJ, Oila A, O'Neill A, Wright N, Horsfal A, dos Santos J. Determination of mechanical parameters for rotating MEMS as a function of deposition method. In: Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties X. 2003, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Materials Research Society Symposium.

Dr Adrian Oila

Senior Lecturer

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