Stefan Szyniszewski

Dr. Stefan Szyniszewski is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at Durham University. He holds a Professional Engineer (PE) license in California and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His career includes academic roles at the University of Surrey and postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University, alongside industry experience with Bechtel Power Corporation and Areva.

Education: PhD (University of Florida, 2009), MSc in Simulation Techniques in Mechanical Engineering (RWTH-Aachen, Germany), BSc in Structural Engineering (Warsaw University of Technology). Research focuses on hierarchical structures, architected materials, and biomimetic design to enhance material functionality and resource efficiency. Key areas include 3D woven composites, cellular metals, and metamaterials for applications in energy absorption, vibration damping, and structural dynamics.

Research trends highlight innovations in metamaterials discovery via AI, stochastic modeling of material properties, and multi-scale simulations. His work bridges computational mechanics with experimental validation, aiming to create protean materials that adapt to dynamic loads. Notable achievements include a Third Prize from IOM3 (2018) and a Best Paper Award from IABSE (2008).

• Advising: Supervises PhD students (e.g., Anna Weatherburn, Yingpei Sun) and offers competitive studentships focusing on wind energy structures and damping optimization.
• Collaborations: Partnerships with institutions like Composite AMRC (Sheffield), ENSAIT (France), and TU Dresden (Germany).

Labs/Teams: Active in the Computational Mechanics Node at Durham, leading projects on hierarchical materials and structural dynamics.