Anthony is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Limerick (UL) and has over 20 years of experience in the fields of advanced polymer composites and mechanical design-build-test activities. Before joining UL as a lecturer, Anthony was a lecturer at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Dublin City University (Spring semester 2004) and held postdoctoral research roles at the Structural Dynamics Group at Oxford University, UK (2004-2007) and at the Irish Centre for Composite materials hosted at the University of Limerick (2009-2015). Anthony joined UL as a lecturer in the School of Engineering in 2015 and took up the position of Course Director for the BE and ME in Aeronautical Engineering in 2021.

Anthony’s research interests relate to advanced engineering materials for applications in offshore renewable energy devices such as floating wind platforms and also in aerospace applications. His PhD was in relation to “corrosion-fatigue of superduplex stainless steel weldments” for offshore renewable energy applications.

At the Structural Dynamics Group at Oxford University (3 years), Anthony led the design, build and test of a full-scale 15-person grandstand simulator which inspired a strong teaching and research interest in mechanical design-build-test type activities. He then took up a postdoctoral research position at the Irish Centre for Composites hosted by UL studying the effect of extreme temperatures on fatigue cracking in metallic-composite structural connections for aerospace applications.  

Since 2015, his research as an academic has focused on the development, evaluation and application of sustainable polymer composites (SPCs) in next generation large marine vessels and next generation offshore renewable energy devices such as floating wind and tidal platforms. He has specific interest in the durability of SPC’s, development of advanced manufacturing methods, development of accelerated test methods and advanced tooling with the aim of accelerating the industrial adoption of next generation SPCs in offshore renewable energy devices and aerospace components.

Since 2017, he has been the recipient of research funding with a net value to UL exceeding 2.2 M€. Funding has been received from the European Commission (EC) and the Irish State (Enterprise Ireland). Anthony was awarded two Horizon 2020 research grants, the first as a partner in FIBRESHIP (€11M grant agreement 723360, Engineering, production and life-cycle management for the complete construction of large-length FIBRE-based SHIPs). Deemed one of the most innovative projects for European ship building, the overarching aim was to develop and increase the use of polymer composite materials in large marine vessels. The second award was as a partner in FIBREGY (€8M grant agreement 952966, Development, engineering, production and life-cycle management of improved fibre-based material solutions for structure and functional components of large offshore wind energy and tidal power platform) which aimed to develop and increase the use of sustainable polymer composite materials in offshore floating wind and tidal power platforms. Through these projects, Anthony has collaborated extensively with major industrial and research institutions in Spain, France, UK and Denmark.

• Sustainable Polymer Composites (Aerospace Materials and Structural Integrity)
• Design (Mechanical Design, Design-Build-Fly)
• Prototype, Build and Test (Prototype-Build-Test, Design-Build-Fly)

My teaching is research led focusing on advanced engineering materials namely sustainable polymer composites (SPCs) and Design. My teaching is influenced by UDL principles and learning outcomes are fully aligned with the UN SDGs. I am one of the module leaders for the Design-Build-Fly and Prototype-Build-Test modules within the Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering programmes respectively. Within the constraints and requirements of a design brief, students must innovate, make design decisions, prototype and test subsystems before building and testing their final designs. Students not only develop their engineering analysis skills by realising their own designs, but they also develop strong communication, teamwork and leadership skills promoting the development of UL graduate attributes.