PhD, FHEA, CEng MIMechE
Lecturer
- 51cg
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- Email Address
- peter.dunning@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272614
- School/Department
- School of Engineering
Biography
2019: Became a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
2016: Achieved Chartered Engineer status with IMechE.
2015: Joined 51cg as a Lecturer in the School of Engineering.
2014-2015: Research Associate at University of Bath, UK. Research areas: Mulit-scale topology optimisation, buckling constrained topology optimisation and simultaneous material-topology optimisation.
2013-2014: Research Scholar at National Institute of Aerosapce, VA, USA. Contracted to NASA Langley Research Center. Main reserach area: Aeroelastic topology optimisation.
2011-2012: Structural analyst at Eatec Ltd (Engineering consultancy company, Yate, UK)
2007-2011: PhD from University of Bath, UK. Thesis title: Introducing Loading Uncertainty in Level Set-Based Structural Topology Optimisation
2002-2007: MEng in Aerospace Engineering from University of Bath, UK
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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- Programme leader for Mechanical Engineering
Previous:
- School of Engineering outreach activities coordinator
- Member of college ethics board
- External Memberships
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Reviewer for several journals:
- Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization
- International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
- Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
- AIAA Journal
- Computers and Structures
- Journal of Fluids and Structures
- Composite Structures
- Engineering Optimization
- Computer-Aided Design
- International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
- Applied Mathematical Modelling
- Aerospace Science and Technology
- Advances in Engineering Software
- Engineering Structures
Latest Publications
Multiobjective Optimization of UAV Winglet Performance Using Surrogate Models and CFD
Engineering with Computers, vol. 42, no. 1, 18Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Optimizing UAV Winglets: A Multiobjective Approach with Surrogate Models
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE]
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Automatic projection parameter increase for three-field density-based topology optimization
Structural and multidisciplinary optimization, vol. 68, no. 2, 33Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Design optimisation of floating offshore wind turbine mooring systems
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
- [ONLINE]
Efficient multiscale framework for reliability analysis of unidirectional FRP composites using onset theory
Contributions to Conferences: Papers- [ONLINE]
Prizes and Awards
Nominated for several teaching awards:
- Best Supervisor (Postgraduate Research) (2019/20) – runner-up
- Best Undergraduate Lecturer (2020/21) & (2019/20)
- Best Supervisor (Postgraduate Research) (2018/19)
- Excellence in Postgraduate Teaching (2017/18)
- Research
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Research Overview
Research Areas
Research Projects
Multiscale Reliability-Based Optimisation of Composite Materials
Improving the design of composite structures by combining multiscale analysis, uncertainty propagation, surrogate modelling and reliability-based optimisation.
Geometric Nonlinear Topology Optimisation
Developing robust and efficient methods for including geometric nonlinear effects in topology optimisation
Metamaterial Design and Optimisation
Improvement, or invention of metamaterial designs via optimisation
Aeroelastic Optimisation
Improving the structural design of aeroelastic problems by exploiting fluid-structure interaction
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Engineering.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Research Specialisms
- Aerospace Engineering
- Numerical Analysis
- Structural Mechanics
- Composite Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is , published under the licence.
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Engineering.
Current PhD Students
Craig MacNamara (started 2023) - Multi-Objective Design Optimisation of Floating Offshore Wind Systems
Simon Allen (started 2022) - Advanced Design of Fibre Reinforced Composites, using Multiscale Reliability Analysis and Optimisation
Former PhD Students
Mohammed Almutairi (2025) "Surrogate-Based Multi-Objective Optimisation of UAV Winglet Designs: Integrating Aerodynamic Performance and Structural Integrity through High-Fidelity Simulation"
Alicia Terrero-Gonzalez (2023) "Novel Nonlinear Pendula Devices for Wave Energy Extraction" (Lead supervisor - Prof. Marian Wiercigroch, joint with Curtin University)
(2021) "Computationally efficient geometrically nonlinear aeroelastic analysis methods for highly flexible aircraft wings"
(2020) "Efficient Multi-scale Reliability Analysis of Fibre Reinforced Composites"
- Teaching
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Programmes
- Undergraduate, 5 year, September start
- Undergraduate, 4 year, September start
- Undergraduate, 5 year, September start
- Undergraduate, 4 year, September start
Courses
Coordinator (100% teaching)
Coordinator (100% teaching)
Coordinator (100% teaching)
Teaching Responsibilities
Current
EG1012 Fundamentals of Engineering Materials - Co-ordinator (100% teaching)
EG15H1 & EG15H2 Fundamentals of Engineering Materials (Harbin partnership) - Co-ordinator (100% teaching)
EG4578 BEng Group Design Project - Supervisor
BEng & MEng Individual Projects - Supervisor
MSc Individual Projects - Supervisor
Previous
EG55P6/Q2 Engineering Risk and Reliability Analysis - Co-ordinator (100% teaching)
EG55M1/96 Finite Element Analysis - Contributor (50% teaching)
EG5565 MEng Group Design Project - Supervisor
- Publications
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Investigation and improvement of sensitivity computation using the area-fraction weighted fixed grid FEM and structural optimization
Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, vol. 47, no. 8, pp. 933-941Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE]
- [ONLINE] DOI:
Introducing loading uncertainty in topology optimization
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 760-768Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
A new hole insertion method for level set based topology optimization
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI:
Introducing uncertainty in direction of loading for topology optimization
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE]
Loading magnitude uncertainty in level-set based topology optimization
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
Engineering design optimization using services and workflows
Philosophical transactions of the royal society a-Mathematical physical and engineering sciences, vol. 367, no. 1898, pp. 2741-2751Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Error analysis of fixed grid formulation for boundary based structural optimisation
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE]
Two-dimensional fixed grid based finite element structural analysis
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE]