Ken Mao, SUniversity of Warwick, UK

Ken Mao is a Professorof Mechanical Engineering, University of Warwick and on the world’s top 2% Scientists List (https://topresearcherslist.com/Home/Profile/851142) for the pastsix consecutive years. His research mainly focuses on high performance ofpolymer composite gears for lightweight gear transmission system and gearbox design. With over 30 years of research and industrial experience, he has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal papers on polymer composite gear performance and design. He has a strong track record of leading externally funded research, including Innovate UK projects (e.g. a KTP with SMT on polymer gear design), EPSRC funding, and major industry-led collaborative programmes such as motorcyclel ightweight gearbox development funded by TVS Motor. His research has deliveredinternationally recognised advances, including a unique non-stop wear-ratemeasurement method for misaligned polymer gears and a novelthermal-transition-based polymer gear design methodology. Prior to academia,his industrial experience at Ricardo involved the development of advancednon-linear contact simulation techniques, contributing directly tohigh-performance gear optimisation for globally competitive automotiveapplications, including Bugatti and McLaren. His nearly 10-year industrialexperience has made significant contribution to his current industrial-ledteaching approach in Warwick University.

 

Nan Li, Imperial College London, UK

Dr Nan Li is a Reader and the Research Leader of the Advanced Manufacturing Group at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London. Her Lightweight Design for Manufacturing team addresses a major challenge facing the global transport industry: delivering technological breakthroughs in the design and manufacture of high-performance lightweight vehicles with reduced environmental impact.
Dr Li’s work focuses on developing novel, low-cost and energy-efficient processes to form a range of lightweight sheet materials into complex components. She also conducts fundamental research in materials characterisation, modelling, process simulation and optimal design under complex processing conditions. In recent years, she has pioneered AI-driven approaches for sheet metal forming.
Her research has resulted in over 80 publications, including more than 50 refereed journal articles and 10 patents. She has led or contributed to research projects totalling over £10 million, funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK, the Royal Society, Aerospace Technology Institute, and industrial partners in the UK and internationally. She actively promotes the industrial application of advanced sheet forming technologies in the automotive and aerospace sectors, which led to the award of the Rowbotham Medal from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.