Dr Opukuro David-West is a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering in the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, at the university of Hertfordshire.

He obtained a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde and his research was on composite structures. After his Ph D, he has worked as Researcher at the University of Strathclyde, Queen’s University of Belfast, Kingston University and Plymouth University. He is a corporate member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and registered as a chartered engineer.

Dr David-West has combined research, teaching and administrative duties with the involvement in the development of degree programme, and he has published widely his research work in composite structures in leading academic journals and conference proceedings.

Research Interest

Engineering design, Composite structures, Dynamic loading (impact, blast, crashworthiness etc), Vibration measurement, Finite element analysis, Modal analysis, Green composites, Stress Analysis, Model updating, Model optimisation, noise reduction, Structural integrity, Condition monitoring, computational methods, wave energy converter.

He is an external examiner for: Solent University in Southampton and was the external panel member for the programme review at Buckinghamshire New University.

Journal editor

Editorial Board Member for - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications.

Reviewer

Reviewed academic papers for publication for several journals, some of which are: Advanced Composite Letters, Journal of Composite Materials, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Composite Structures, Book chapter review for Wiley Publishers, Journal of Textile Engineering & Fashion Technology, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Structural Health Monitoring etc.

Grant proposal review for UKRI

External roles:

• Module moderator to Changzhou Institute of Technology (CIT).
• Module moderator to Global Academic Foundation (GAF) in Egypt.
• Module moderator to Oakland college.

Internal roles:

• Member, School module board.
• Development team member, Periodic Review Mechanical Engineering,
• Module Leader: Statics & Dynamics, Fundamentals of Static Systems.
• Previous module leadership: Mechanical Science, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Engineering Mathematics, FEA & Application
• Research team member – Materials & Structures.

Research sponsors, Partners & Collaborators:

• Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council.
• Technology Strategy Board.
• Caterpillar
• Royal Academy of Engineering
• Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• Engineering systems project.
• Parker Hannifin Manufacturing Limited.
• Raytheon UK