The Materials, Optimisation and Design (MOD) research group is a part of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (Faculty of Engineering) at Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa and associated with its Mechanics division.
Our Focus: Structural analysis and optimisation
The research group’s members work on a diverse group of projects related to structural analysis and optimisation. The primary goal of which is producing or facilitating advanced engineering design.
Finite element analysis (and other numerical simulations), numerical design optimisation, material characterisation for numerical modelling purposes, meta-modelling, etc. are all of interest. Any application of these are welcome here.
Projects have dealt or are dealing with:
- inflatable structures (inflatable wings, dunnage bags, etc.)
- morphing wings/hydrofoils
- soft robotics
- large radio astronomy antennas
- heart valves
- composites
- vertical axis wind turbines
- particle swarm optimisation
- railway bogies
- mining truck tires
- material testing methods
- high-pressure water supply lines
- heat exchanger header boxes for industrial heat exchangers, etc.
Study leaders
All projects are supervised/co-supervised by Prof. G. Venter and/or Dr. M. Venter.
Many students are both associated with the MOD group and another research group at the department or broader faculty.
Group
The research group’s shared offices are located deep in the bowels of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering’s laboratories.
Typically group meetings are held about every two weeks to allow group members a chance to: practice presenting, discuss papers the group has read/reviewed, share useful/interesting information, manage group resources – and just generally learn from one another.
Several group socials occur throughout the year.