My current research mainly has three focuses: i) Additive metal manufacturing (3D Metal Printing)for high performance with nano composites ii) Precision measurement and machining of variety of materials such as metals, composites and optical materials, iii) Influence of machining/manufacturing induced microstructure changes and defects on mechanical properties, failure and fatigue life. Details are listed below:

• Production of 2D nanosheet based composite and investigation of their properties. 3D metal printing with nano composites.
• Precision measurement and machining such as lapping, polishing, grinding and milling of a variety of difficult to cut materials such as Inconel, KDP etc.
• Microstructure changes and defects of composite materials introduced from machining/manufacturing processes and the influence of microstructure changes and defects on material mechanical/electrical/thermal properties, crack initiation, orientation and propagation, fracture failure and fatigue life, especially under extreme working conditions such as high rotational speed and high temperature.

My PhD study in Advanced Manufacturing Technology Research Laboratory (AMTReL), Liverpool John Moores University (AMTReL was evaluated as Grade 5 in RAE 2008) was funded by Overseas Research Students Awards and an EPSRC project. My thesis title: “Assessment of Vitrified CBN Wheels for Precision Grinding”. My research in this period include:

• Grinding theory investigation including mechanics, tribology and material science
• Grinding experiments with on-line process monitoring using acoustic emission system, inductive sensor, power meter and replica technique etc.
• Grinding process simulation with Matlab

I  spent 3 years in my MPhil  in Shenyang, China. My thesis title is “Analysis on Lapping and Polishing Pressure Distribution”. A CIRP paper was published during this period.