Contact
Biography
Summary:
Preetum graduated from the University of Nottingham with a First-class BEng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2016. He graduated at the top of his cohort with a degree average of 83%. As a result he received numerous accolades, including the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Best Student Award, for meritorious performance on the degree course.
Upon graduating, he worked for a year in the automotive industry as a Project Management Analyst on the Commercial Vehicle Transit Programme (V363MCA) with a focus on Project Planning and Materials Engineering.
In 2017, he embarked on an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Composites Manufacture at the University of Nottingham and is part of the Industrial Doctorate Centre (IDC) in Composites Manufacture based at the University of Bristol. His research is focused on the theme of 'Composites in Rail' supervised by Dr Michael Johnson. More specifically he is investigating the 'Lightweighting of Rail Vehicles' using FRP Composite Materials. Lightweight construction of rail vehicles is essential to meeting the current performance requirements facing the global rail industry today, these include the need for increased reliability, efficiency and capacity.
His research is composed of lightweighting the 'sprung' and 'unsprung mass of a rail vehicle:
• COMPOSITE MANUFACTURE: Investigation into a Hybrid Vacuum-Robotic Process for Forming Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics Composites - "The HyVR Process" for large car body structures, as part of a CIMComp Hub Feasibility Study.
• COMPOSITE DESIGN: Design and Development of a Composite Railway Axle for light weighting the 'unsprung mass', as part of the NEXTGEAR Shift2Rail Project.
In addition to his research, Preetum is also actively engaged in STEM outreach activities. He was most recently involved as the 88P Project Lead from the University of Nottingham in the 88 Pianist STEM Outreach Programme (2018/2019). This was the largest National STEM Outreach Programme to date, involving several Universities, over 2500 primary schools students and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The aim was to design, develop and manufacture mechanical finger extenders to play a piano. The result was breaking a 'world record' for the most number of people to play 1 piano. This record was set on 19th August 2019.
Professional Affiliations:
• Chartered Engineer registered with the Engineering Council (CEng)
• Professional Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (MIMechE)
• Professional Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (MIMMM)
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
• European Student Member of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE)
• Member of the Railway Industry Association (RIA)
Roles & Responsibilities:
• Assistant Exams Invigilator supporting examination provision across all Faculties of the University of Nottingham
• M3 UCAS Ambassador supporting open days and offer holder days
• Postgraduate Research Engineering Community (PGREC) Representative for the Composites Research Group
• Resident Tutor of Newark Hall, Jubilee Campus
Preetum is a part of the Composites Research Group.
Teaching Summary
Preetum is a Laboratory Demonstrator for the following Engineering modules:
• MM1EDP (Engineering Design and Design Project): teaching and supervising students learning to use SolidWorks CAD software package
• MM2MS2/MS3 (Mechanics of Solids 2 and 3): setting up and supervising students during mechanics lab classes (beam deflections & asymmetrical bending) and assessing structural design coursework
Research Summary
Preetum's research is focused on using Fibre Reinforced Composite (FRP) materials for lightweighting rail vehicles, with a particular focus on rail vehicle car body structures and the rail wheelset.
Supervisor: Dr Mike Johnson
Jul 20 - Dec 20: The Carbon Fibre Railway Axle (CaFiAx) Feasibility Study - Co-Investigator
Jan 20 - Apr 21: NEXTGEAR "Development of NExt generation of running GEAR" EU Project - WP3 Design of the Wheelset of the Future (Funded by Shift2Rail, Horizon 2020) - Co-Investigator
Jan 20 - Jun 20: Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) of Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Feasibility Study (Funded EPSRC Future Manufacturing Composites HUB) - Co-Investigator
Oct 18 - Oct 21: Manufacturing Large Composite Structures at Low cost - Investigating a 2-step hybrid process: Double Diaphragm Forming (DDF) + Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF)
Oct 17 - Oct 18: Composite Railway Axle Feasibility Study (Funded by Bombardier Transportation) - Co-Investigator
Selected Publications
MISTRY, P. J., JOHNSON, M. S. and GALAPPATHTHI, U. I. K., 2020. Selection and ranking of rail vehicle components for optimal lightweighting using composite materials Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 235(3), 390-402 P.J. MISTRY and M.S. JOHNSON, 2020. Lightweighting of railway axles for the reduction of unsprung mass and track access charges Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 234(9), 958-968