Dr. Nesma Aboulkhair
Dr. Aboulkhair is the Director of Additive Manufacturing. Prior to joining TII, she was an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham (UK), where she stills holds a visiting academic role. Since 2013, She has been working on Materials & Manufacturing Research; with active projects spanning across several metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes (powder based and drop-on-demand). Coming from a mechanical engineering background and holding a PhD in Materials Engineering and Materials Design, she specialises on developing new materials, materials processing, manufacturing, and characterisation for metallurgy and mechanical properties.
As an early career researcher, she has an excellent track record of scientific publications (50, h-index 25, Field Weighted Citation Impact 5.37 – Materials Science, source: SciVal), funding (in excess of £3M), and invited and keynote talks at international conferences and reputable institutions.
At TII, she set up a state-of-the-art AM laboratory with facilities for powder production, manufacturing, post-processing, and characterisation, which is now fully operational. She works closely with the UAE’s local industries, providing them with support and business solutions for advanced manufacturing needs. She manages a team of researchers, training them to become AM specialists. She is also involved in a range of outreach activities to raise the public’s awareness about Materials & Manufacturing.
She has been awarded numerous awards and honours, including the prestigious Anne McLaren Fellowship (UK), Dean of Engineering Scholarship for International Research Excellence, Stanford’s World Top 2% Scientists (3 years in a row), among others. She was the Chair of the Early Career Researchers committee for the Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) and serves as an editor and reviewer for various reputable scientific journals.