Daniele Dini: Head of Tribology Group, Imperial College London
Professor Daniele Dini, D.Phil., CEng, FIMechE, MASME and FHEA holds a post as a Professor in Tribology. Prior to joining Imperial College in 2006, and after receiving an M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico di Bari (Italy) in 2000, Professor Dini studied for a D.Phil. in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford (2004).
Professor Dini is Head of the Imperial College Tribology Group, one of the largest tribology groups in the world (about 60 full time researchers). Its mission is to perform world-leading research, support the application of tribology in industry and train the next generation of tribologists. In 2008 the Group was awarded the annual Imperial College Rector’s Research Excellence Award which recognises an outstanding research group in the College. He lead the advanced modelling research within the Tribology Group and collaborate closely with its experimentalists. His passion for research and mentoring has been recognised at Imperial College by a Medal in Research Supervision (2012) and two other Teaching awards. His current individual research portfolio supports a team of 16 researchers focused on studies related to the modelling of tribological systems and materials. Most of these projects are multidisciplinary and range from atomic and molecular simulation to the modelling of machine or biomechanical components. His industrial collaborators include: Afton Chemical, Bosch, BP, Caterpillar, Element Six, Ford, Rolls-Royce, Shell, SKF, Tenaris, Toyota, Volvo. He has academic partners at various institutions: Politecnico di Bari, Politecnico di Milano, Universities of Swinburne, Warwick, Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Salento, Saarland, Michigan Ann Arbor, Sao Paulo, KIT, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics.
Professor Dini’s research centres on the application of advanced modelling strategies to applied mechanics, materials, physics, chemistry, biomechanics and structural integrity, with a particular focus on tribology. It consists of three basic elements: (i) development of advanced numerical tools for the solution of tribological and related problems, including molecular dynamics simulations and fluid and solid mechanics solvers (ii) development of multi-scale strategies to couple molecular-, meso- and macro-scale solvers, (iii) application of advanced numerical tools, both at a fundamental level to understand the underlying mechanisms governing tribological behaviour and for practical use in design, troubleshooting and virtual testing. His work is published in major international journals in the fields of tribology, solid mechanics, computational and experimental material science, soft matter physics, physical chemistry and biomechanics. Professor Dini has published over 140 journal papers presented a number of keynots and invited talks and contributions at conferences on these subjects since 2003.
Professor Dini is the recipient of a number of awards, including: the Tribology Trust Bronze Medal awarded by the IMechE (2004); the Jacob Wallenberg Foundation Award (Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science, 2007); three best paper awards: Thomas Bernard Hall Prize (IMechE 2008 and 2010) and the K.L. Johnson Award 2012 (ASME); Teaching Excellence in Engineering Education (Imperial College London, 2014). He has also been elected a Fellow of the IMechE in 2014 and is the recipient of the prestigious EPSRC Established Career Fellowship, awarded in 2016. In addition to his contribution to the academic community through his published work, he is also Assistant Editor of the International Journal of Solids and Structures and member of the editorial board of Tribology International and other internationally reputed journals and national (e.g. IMechE) and international (e.g. STLE) committees.