Declan Nolan is a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, with research interests in design to simulation automation, and structural impact analysis. He received his PhD in 2013, with thesis titled “Defining Simulation Intent”. This novel approach to simulation aims to capture modelling and idealisation decisions, which can then be redeployed or altered to reduce manual pre-processing efforts. Prior to his current role, he spent time in industry with Michelin, Williams F1 and B/E Aerospace, gaining valuable experience within each organisation which continues to motivate his research.

At Williams F1 he worked as a Stress Engineer, ensuring structural integrity and optimisation of metallic and composite racecar components. At B/E Aerospace, he was Senior Structural Engineer, specifically focused on the introduction of novel composite components into Aircraft Seat Structures. His particular interest, was the performance of these composite structures under a range of in-service and crash events.

Having taken up his current position in 2017, his more recent research projects have centred around simulation technologies, structural impact analysis and bio-inspired design.

A Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Dr Nolan sits on the EPSRC Early Career Forum in Manufacturing and the Circular Economy, and is a board member of the UK Association for Computational Mechanics.

Dr Nolan has been Postgraduate Research Director in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since 2022.

Mechanics of Materials 1 (MEE1004) (2017 - Currently)

Mechanics of Materials 3 (MEE3033) (2022 - Currently)

Computer Aided Engineering 4 (MEE4023) (2017 - 2022)