John P. Dear

Prof. John P. Dear is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London's Faculty of Engineering, leading the Composites, Adhesives and Soft Solids (CASS) Group. He holds affiliations with the Mechanics of Materials Division and the Composites Centre. With a 35-year academic career, he specializes in structural integrity, manufacturing effects, and material behavior under extreme conditions. His research spans polymers, composites, and blast-resistant materials, with over 400 publications and 66 supervised PhDs.

Education: St John's College and Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University (BSc and PhD in Materials Science), followed by a Hertha Ayrton Research Fellowship at Girton College, Cambridge.

Research interests include composite materials, blast performance of laminated glass, creep life assessment, and high-strain rate material properties. His work integrates experimental and computational methods, with notable contributions to lightweight materials and failure criteria modeling.

Awards include Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2023), FREng, CEng, FIMechE, CPhys, and FInstP. He secured grants from EPSRC, ONR, and the European Commission, focusing on defense, aerospace, and medical applications.

Labs/Teams: Heads the CASS Group (8 academics) and collaborates on projects like structural applications of composites and additive manufacturing. Public talks include a Royal Society Discussion Meeting lecture (2021) and a 2013 Imperial College lecture on 'Materials at their limit.'