Talented PhD student, Mohammad Esgandari, has won an Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Innovation Award in the Transport category for his pioneering Partitioned Brake Pad concept. Mohammad represented the University of Birmingham and joined 16 winning finalists and sponsors at the prestigious ceremony on Wednesday 19 November at the Brewery, London.
The IET Innovation Awards celebrate the very best innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology. Currently in its 10thsuccessful year, the award ceremony attracts over 400 entries from 30 different countries. 16 categories span the breadth of the IET’s remit and are judged by a panel of 80 valued industry and academic experts.
Mohammad, who studied in the School of Mechanical Engineering with a studentship award from Jaguar Land Rover, originally developed the Partitioned Brake Pad concept as part of his PhD research in collaboration with the company. The Partitioned Brake Pad addresses the long standing issues of brake noise in automotive disc brakes, which costs the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) millions of pounds in warranty claims. The Brake Pad is capable of significantly reducing the brake noise and increasing the braking power by more than 30%. The innovation will have a significant impact on the environment too, as it will dispose less frication dust during the product-life cycle.
The concept was initially revealed in the EuroBrake 2013 conference, which is a major specialised conference on braking technologies. Presentations were also made during the development phases for the SAE Brake Colloquium & Exhibition 2013, BrakeNet Conference and EuroBrake 2014. The concept was very well received by the field professionals, as well as commercialisation offers from the part suppliers. The Partitioned Brake Pad currently has two patent applications in place in the UK and internationally.
When asked about his success, Mohammad said:
This is an incredible achievement and a great international recognition, especially in the broad category of Transport, where we competed with entries from railway, maritime and aerospace technologies. I feel so honoured to receive this award, and feel proud of presenting the University of Birmingham in this competition. I owe this success to Dr Remi Olatunbosun’s professional and kind supervision throughout my PhD. I dedicate this honour to him and express my most sincere gratitude.
Dr Remi Olatunbosun, Senior Lecturer and Head, Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory added:
It is a fantastic accomplishment to win the IET Innovation Award and a good example of what can be achieved with close collaboration between academia and industry. I am particularly delighted for Mohammad as he has worked incredibly hard to research and develop the Brake Pad concept. His determination and persistence convinced Jaguar Land Rover to back the idea by getting prototype samples made for testing. I very much enjoyed supervising his PhD and wish him many more successes in the future.