Abbas Milani

Faculty of Applied ScienceSchool of Engineering

Abbas Milani

Professor

Mechanical, School of Engineering

Other Titles: Tier 1 Principal’s Research Chair in Sustainable & Smart Manufacturing; Director, Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI)
Office: EME4203
Phone: 250.807.9652
Email: abbas.milani@ubc.ca

Graduate student supervisor. Only considering applications with exceptional academic record.

Research Summary

Textile Composites/Biocomposites; Materials Constitutive Relations; Finite Element Modelling; Robust Inverse Methods; Material Selection for End-of-Life Design Strategies; Multiple Criteria Decision Making; Design and Analysis of Computer & Physical Experiments; Surrogate Models for Process Optimization; Industry 5.0

Courses & Teaching

Mathematical Methods in Modelling Engineering Materials; Multi-Objective Optimization and Decision-Making; Continuum Mechanics; Composite Materials; Engineering Vibrations

Biography

Dr. Milani is a tenured Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UBC. His major scholarly and administrative roles include:

• Founding Director, UBC Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI)
• Technical Director, Composites Research Network (CRN)
• Lead, Canadian-International Biocomposites Research Network
• Lead, UBC-Pacific Economic Development Canada-Advancing Circular Economy (ACE) program
• Lead, UBC-NRC IRAP National Circular Economy CtO (Contribution to Organizations) Program
• Lead, NSERC CREATE in Immersive Technologies (CITech)
• Co-Lead, Advanced Materials and Fabrication Core Competency, Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR) program

His primary expertise falls into advanced modeling, simulation, and multi-criteria design optimization of composite/biocomposite materials, structures and manufacturing processes. His research to date has resulted in over 300 publications, including six books, and his projects are well supported (>$15M) by government and numerous industrial organizations. Over 100 students and postdoctoral fellows have graduated from Dr. Milani’s laboratory and have secured employment in the composite industrial sector as well as academia. Dr. Milani is the recipient of multiple scholarships and research awards; including the 2015 UBC Okanagan Researcher of the Year Award, and the prestigious Killam Faculty Research Award in 2016 which provided funding to conduct an international research project with MIT on developing artificial intelligence (AI) to account for uncertainties in manufacturing of advanced composites. For his active contributions to teaching excellence in our community, he has been recognized twice through the Honour Roll Award by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at UBC Okanagan, as well as by the School of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award. He has developed and taught experimental design and advanced manufacturing courses, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. For his excellence in service, Dr. Milani has been recognized by international journals and organizations; most recently, a Gold Medal Service Contribution Award by the Academics World (AW) organization, and a Reviewer Contribution Award by the ASM International, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance.

In 2020, Dr. Milani was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (RSC)–College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists which is Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership.

Websites

Composites Research Network – Okanagan Laboratory

Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute

BioComposites Research Network

Degrees

Postdoctoral- Mechanical Engineering (MIT)
PhD- Mechanical Engineering (McGill)
MSc- Mechanical Engineering (IUST)
BSc- Mechanical Engineering (IUST)

Research Interests & Projects

A multi-scale modeling and identification tool for multi-objective design optimization of woven fabrics
Comparison of different weighting methods in modeling non-repeatabilities in the response of woven fabrics
Modeling and indentification of unbalanced TWINTEX® materials (in collaboration with CADLM, École Polytechnique France)
Finite element simulation and optimization of a multi-stage roll forming process (in collaboration with AS Composite Inc., IMI-NRC, NUWC)
A design-of-experiments approach in processing, surface engineering and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles for optimum drug delivery and imaging (in collaboration with Sharif University of Technology and the University of California at Davis)
An adaptive one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) methodology for cost optimization of laminated structures under manufacturing errors (in collaboration with MIT)
A signal-to-noise analytical hierarchy process for robust multi-criteria material selection (in collaboration with Rolls-Royce Canada)