Declan is a Lecturer in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s, and a Chartered Engineer with significant industrial experience. Upon graduating with a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s in 2008, he undertook a role as Stress Engineer with Williams F1. As well as an enhanced understanding of structural analysis, this gave him first-hand experience of CAE software and the challenges and limitations which it presents. The drive to help tackle these problems and be part of future simulation solutions brought him back to Queen’s to undertake a PhD, focussing on integrating simulation more effectively into the overall design process.
Graduating with his PhD in 2013, he then returned to industry as a Composites Structural Analyst and later Senior Structural Engineer in the Composites R&D Group at B/E Aerospace (now Collins Aerospace), leading the structural design of lightweight composite aircraft seating components. His passion for research once again brought him back to Queen’s as Lecturer in 2017, to pursue his research interests in next generation Design/CAE systems, Composites and Crash/Impact Simulation.