Dr Michael Okereke BEng, DPhil, PGCE, FHEA

Senior Lecturer

Dr. Michael Okereke started as a Lecturer in Engineering Mechanics at the University of Greenwich in August 2010 where he is currently involved in teaching, research and administrative duties.

His main research interests are: predictive modelling of engineering materials; impact testing and modelling; biomechanics and finite element model development. He obtained his DPhil (2010) in Engineering Science from University of Oxford. He also holds a first class honours bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Nigeria.

Prior to taking up his current position, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate (2007-2010) at the prestigious Impact Engineering Laboratory, University of Oxford. He has also worked as stipendiary lecturer in engineering science at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.

Since his employment in University of Greenwich, Michael has obtained funding for two internal university projects. He is currently first supervisor to a student funded by the VC PhD scholarship scheme.

Awards

Best Graduating Student, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Author Anderson Award for academic excellence 2002, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Research / Scholarly interests

Research Interests

  • Polymer Engineering
  • Impact behaviour of engineering materials
  • Computational modelling of mechanical behaviour of heterogeneous systems
  • Experiment design investigating impact response of materials
  • Finite Element modelling

Key funded projects

Vice Chancellor's PhD Scholarship: "Virtual Laboratory for Prediction of Impact Response of Advanced Composite Systems." Total Grant: £52,425. (2012). Status: On-going


Synopsis: With the continued improvement of computing facilities available to engineers, it has become possible to develop a virtual framework for exploring the design space within which many composite materials find practical use. This entails the development of "computational experiments." This project is aimed at: (a) development of a virtual testing framework for prediction of the response of advanced composites at impact rates (b) (b) Development of plasticity algorithm for predicting reliably the rate-dependent impact response of 3D reinforced and particulate composites and finally (c) (c) Experimental testing of advanced composites systems: The experiments are designed to generate model validation data, which will be compared against predictions from the virtual laboratory.

Research Capital Investment Fund (RCIF) Award: "Impact Testing Facility (Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar)." Total Grant: £22,580 (2011). Status: Completed


Synopsis: This project was funded from the RCIF stream for purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art impact testing facility described as the compression Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar apparatus – incorporated with a high speed infra-red camera for thermal studies at these impact rates. This equipment will support internationally recognized research on the dynamic behaviour of various engineering materials and their applications. The availability of such equipment will also boost the research and enterprise profile of the school of engineering and the university. Commercially, the equipment will provide material characterization services to industries in the Kent and London areas thus boosting the enterprise revenue generation to the university. Inter-school collaboration opportunities can arise by having such a test facility.

Recent publications

Article

Ghanizadeh Tabriz, Atabak , Viegas, Beatriz, Okereke, Michael, Uddin, Md Jasim , Arribas Lopez, Elena , Zand Fard, Nazanin , Ranatunga, Medhavi , Getti, Giulia , Douroumis, Dionysios (2022), Evaluation of 3D printability and biocompatibility of microfluidic resin for fabrication of solid microneedles. MDPI. In: , , , . MDPI, Micromachines, 13: 1368 . pp. 1-16 2072-666X (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13091368).

Economidou, Sophia , Pissinato Pere, Cristiane, Okereke, Michael, Douroumis, Dionysios (2021), Optimisation of design and manufacturing parameters of 3D printed solid microneedles for improved strength, sharpness, and drug delivery. MDPI AG. In: , , , . MDPI AG, Micromachines, 12 (2) ISSN: 2072-666X (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12020117).

Akpoyomare, A. I. , Okereke, M. I., Bingley, M. S. (2019), Generation of virtual geometric domains for woven textile composites. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Composite Structures, 236: 111624 ISSN: 0263-8223 (Print), 1879-1085 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111624).

Okereke, Michael I. and , Akpoyomare, Ambrose I. (2019), Two-process constitutive model for semicrystalline polymers across a wide range of strain rates. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Polymer, 183: 121818 ISSN: 0032-3861 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2019.121818).

Okereke, Michael I. and , Ling, Yuxiao (2018), A computational investigation of the effect of three-dimensional void morphology on the thermal resistance of solder thermal interface materials. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Applied Thermal Engineering, 142 . pp. 346-360 ISSN: 1359-4311 (Print), 1873-5606 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.07.002).

Okereke, Michael , Buckley, C. Paul, Akpoyomare, Ambrose I. (2017), The mechanism of rate-dependent off-axis compression of a low fibre volume fraction thermoplastic matrix composite. Elsevier Ltd.. In: , , , . Elsevier Ltd., Composite Structures, 168 . pp. 685-697 ISSN: 0263-8223 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.02.070).

Akpoyomare, A. I. , Okereke, M. I., Bingley, M. S. (2016), Virtual testing of composites: Imposing periodic boundary conditions on general finite element meshes. Elsevier Ltd.. In: , , , . Elsevier Ltd., Composite Structures, 160 . pp. 983-994 ISSN: 0263-8223 (Print), 1879-1085 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2016.10.114).

Okereke, Michael I and , (2016), Flexural response of polypropylene/E-glass fibre reinforced unidirectional composites. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Composites Part B: Engineering, 89 . pp. 388-396 ISSN: 1359-8368 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2016.01.007).

Book section

Okereke, Michael and , Keates, Simeon (2018), Computational mechanics and the finite element method. Springer. In: , , In: Seung-Bok Choi, Haibin Duan, Yili Fu, Carlos Guardiola, Jian-Qiao Sun (eds.), Finite Element Applications: A Practical Guide to the FEM Process. Springer, England (1) . pp. 3-25 . ISBN: 9783319671246 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67125-3_1) NB Item availability restricted.

Conference item

Alshahed, Osamh Sabri Mohammed Atia , Kaur, Baldeep, Bradley, Michael, Okereke, Michael (2023), Experimental and numerical study on gas-solid flow system of plastic pellets using recurrence quantification analysis of pressure sensor measurements. In: UKACM 2023 Conference (UK Association for Computational Mechanics), 19th - 21st April 2023, The University of Warwick, 19-21 April 2023 , . , (doi: https://sites.google.com/view/ukacm2023conference).

Okereke, Michael and , Akpoyomare, Ambrose I. (2017), A constitutive model for semi-crystalline polymers: A multiple viscoelastic relaxation processes implementation.. In: COMPLAS2017: XIV International Conference on Computational Plasticity: Fundamentals and Principles, 5-7 Sept, 2017, Barcelona, Spain , . , (doi: http://congress.cimne.com/complas2017/admin/files/fileabstract/a213.pdf).

Conference proceedings

Andrade, Adriano O. , Bourget, Julien, Costa, Samila, Pereira, Adriano , Okereke, Michael I. , Vieira, Marcus Fraga (2018), Ergonomic assessment of an active orthosis for the rehabilitation of flexion and extension of Wrist. Springer. In: , , In: L. Lhotska, L. Sukupova, I. Lacković, G. Ibbott (eds.), World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering 2018. Springer, Singapore , 68/2 . pp. 565-568 . ISBN: 9789811090370ISSN: 1680-0737 (Print), 978-9811090387 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-*******9038-7_104).