Ned Tobin

Ned Tobin is a Lecturer in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at South East Technological University, within the Faculty of Engineering. He teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervises research students at Masters and PhD levels. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to affordable and clean energy and industry innovation.

Education:

• BEng in Aeronautical Engineering, University of Limerick (2005)
• PhD in Engineering (Evaluation and Correlation of Rain-eroded Aircraft Coatings Using Surface Topography), University of Limerick (2015)

Research focuses on erosion mechanics, materials durability, and UAV-based inspection technologies. Key projects include mitigating erosion damage on wind turbine blades and developing sol-gel coatings for fouling prevention. Recent work emphasizes droplet impact analysis and deep learning for aircraft defect detection.

Awards:

• SETU Research Excellence Awards Nominee: Supervisor Award (2022, 2023)

Advising and grants: Active in supervising student research and leading the SOLOblade project (2024–2027) focused on nanomaterials for wind energy systems. Collaborates on interdisciplinary projects combining fluid dynamics, materials science, and aerospace engineering.

Labs/Teams: Involved in the Department’s wind energy and advanced materials research groups, contributing to test facilities for erosion testing and UAV-based inspection systems.