Professor Ali Mehmanparast PhD, MBA, CEng, CMgr

• Master of Business Administration (MBA), Cranfield School of Management, 2019
• PhD in Structural Integrity, Imperial College London, 2012
• MEng in Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, 2008

Professor Mehmanparast received his MEng and PhD degrees from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London, followed by two years of post-doctoral research on energy structures. He also holds an MBA degree from Cranfield School of Management.

Before joining the University of Birmingham in 2026, he held academic positions at Cranfield University and the University of Strathclyde, where he managed two successive EPSRC-funded Centres for Doctoral Training that collectively trained over 120 doctoral graduates.

He has authored around 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters in the field of energy structures, and has organised and chaired multiple international conferences. He is an Editor for the Journal of Engineering Failure Analysis (Elsevier) and serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals, including Applied Ocean Research (Elsevier), Forces in Mechanics (Elsevier), and Materials at High Temperatures (Taylor & Francis).

Prof. Mehmanparast's research focus is primarily on the design optimisation, life extension, and integrity assessment of Offshore Renewable Energy structures. His work integrates advanced numerical modelling, experimental methods, analytical approaches, manufacturing innovations, and probabilistic techniques. He welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in any of these research areas.

Some examples of past and ongoing research projects he has led as Principal Investigator (Pl) or Co-investigator (Co-I) include:

• Offshore Wind Turbine Foundation Flange Study (funded by the Carbon Trust OWA Programme)
• Structural Design and Integrity Enhancement of Floating Offshore Support Structures (funded by the Supergen Wind Hub)
• Corrosion and Fatigue Protection of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures Using Additive Manufacturing Technology (funded by the Supergen ORE Hub)
• Improving the Fatigue Life Assessment of Offshore Wind Turbine Support Structures by Considering Manufacturing Imperfections (funded by EPSRC and Siemens Gamesa)     
• Assessment of Crack Arrest Behaviour in Modern Structural Steels (funded by EPSRC, TWI, and Lloyd's Register)
• Residual Stress Effects on Fatigue Life Assessment of Offshore Wind Turbines (funded by STFC)
• Co Tide: Co-Design to Deliver Scalable Tidal Stream Energy (funded by EPSRC)
• SLICJIP: Structural Lifecycle Industry Collaboration Joint Industry Project (funded by a consortium of 10 of the world's largest offshore wind operators and the Department of Energy and Climate Change)