Angad Panesar

I am a Principal Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the University of Brighton, and my role encompasses course leadership, teaching on Mechanical Engineering course pathways and sustainable energy themed research. I am the Course Leader for Automotive Engineering courses, and I have managed and developed our portfolio of BEng and MEng courses, resulting in the five-year accreditation during 2020 by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. I was appointed as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2018, and as a Senior Lecturer I was awarded the ‘Inclusive Teaching Award 2017’, ‘Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning Award 2018’ and a further ‘Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning Award 2019’ at the University of Brighton.

I have 10 years research and development experience in energy recovery and energy storage, and more recently in sustainable fuels, via simulation and experimental methods applied to transport and stationary applications. I am a member of the Advanced Engineering Centre and the Thermal Efficiency Spoke of the Advanced Propulsion Centre. As a Research Fellow in Thermal Storage and Waste Heat Recovery, I was awarded the ‘Best Paper Award’ as the lead author from over 120 submissions at the ‘International Conference on Production, Energy and Reliability 2014’. As a Lecturer I was recognised as a ‘Substantial Speaker’ as the sole author at the ‘Thermal Management Systems Symposium 2016’. My new research projects include, ‘Carbon free fuel for green shipping’ via Doctoral Training Alliance and ‘Expanders for waste energy recovery’ via Santander Universities.

I am a recognised scholar who has presented at conferences in UK, Italy, Malaysia, India, USA, Portugal, Poland and Spain, and have authored 20 peer reviewed publications with a ResearchGate score of 17. My notable outputs include, sole authorship in high impact factor journals, such as in ‘Applied Energy’, for the work titled ‘An innovative Organic Rankine Cycle system for integrated cooling and heat recovery 2016’. I have also published via special issue journal invitations, for instance in ‘Energy’, for the issue titled ‘Towards low carbon energy systems: engineering and economic perspectives 2016’. I have operational experience on full-scale heavy-duty engines and waste heat recovery test facilities, including concept to commissioning of new test beds. My research outputs are the result of successful industry focused projects, these include, ‘Development of high-grade heat storage for integration with liquid air energy storage via Innovate UK 2018’, ‘Engine efficiency challenge via Advanced Propulsion Centre 2018’, ‘Utilizing low grade heat via Ricardo Plc 2016’ and ‘Libertine waste heat recovery unit via Innovate UK 2016’.

I received my PhD in Thermal Engineering themed research with the award of ‘Best Presentation in the Faculty 2013’ and a further ‘Best Presentation in the Faculty 2014’ from the University of Brighton. My specialisation was in ‘Waste heat recovery using fluid bottoming cycles for heavy duty Diesel engines’ at the Sir Harry Ricardo Laboratories. Academic impact of my research also resulted in my lead author conference paper being in the top quartile of over 170 submissions, and hence being chosen for publication in the International Journal of Engines (2013-24-0089).

I hold additional qualifications from University Alliance, Russell Group and Professional Institutions. I received my PGCert Merit in Higher Education from University of Brighton, MPhil in Mechanical Engineering from City University London, MSc Distinction in Mechatronics from Kings College London, GradWeld I from the Welding Institute Professional Division, BEng First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering with the award of ‘Best Overall Performance in Engineering’ and ‘Best Industrial Board Innovation Project’ from the University of Greenwich. During these qualifications my specialisations included, ‘Performance prediction of energy systems with expansion performed by twin screw machines’, ‘Investigation into the fundamental problem of inverse dynamics method using an instrumented robotic test-rig’, a collaboration with Royal Veterinary College, and ‘Design, manufacture and commissioning of an instrumented drop weight impact tester’.

In the school of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics at the University of Brighton, I have served as a member of the Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, School Education and Student Experience Committee, School Athena SWAN Committee, School Mitigating Circumstances Committee, and School Board, to address sector wide priorities in Higher Education, such as, skills development, attainment gap, gender equality and student engagement. I also hold certification in ‘Management, Leadership and Business’ from Roehampton University London and in ‘Development through Philosophy’ from City University London.

My notable responsibilities spread over 5 years, prior to the decade long experience at the University of Brighton include, teaching Engineering Drawing and Design as Hourly Paid Lecturer with City University London, knowledge transfer and compressor testing as Intern Engineer in the US energy sector with Electratherm Inc, teaching Engineering Design and Make as Course Facilitator with Smallpeice Trust, and administration and operation of university residence as an Advisor with three Higher Education Institutes, for my this service, I received commendation and bronze award from the University of Greenwich.

My research interests cover the wider theme of sustainable energy production, conversion and storage, with a strong focus on waste heat recovery, thermal energy storage, high efficiency engines and renewable fuels. At the systems level, this includes, heat to power technologies, fluid bottoming cycles, energy recovery expanders, working fluids, concentrated solar power plants, molten salt thermal batteries, compact heat exchangers, liquid air energy storage systems, NOx/CO2 emissions, heavy-duty engines, split cycle engines, carbon free fuels, ammonia combustion, process integration, techno-economic evaluations, exergy analysis, hazard and operability studies, research methodology to improve technology readiness level, and system wide modelling, optimisation, control and validation. I have investigated most of these research strands via simulation and experimental methods as part of knowledge transfers, industrial consultancies and research grants.

I have been invited speaker and session chair at international conferences, such as ‘Experimental and Computational Tools for Combustion Optimization in Marine and Automotive Engines 2016’ and ‘European Conference on Renewable Energy Systems 2019’. I have acted as a reviewer for funding bodies, high impact journals and international conferences, for instance EPSRC, Energy Conversion and Management, and Heat Powered Cycle Conference.

My expertise in improving the technology readiness level of energy systems has resulted in industrial impact via development and delivery of continuous professional development courses for global engineering companies, for example BorgWarner Inc 2016. I have also co-delivered accelerated course in ‘Powertrain thermal management 2015’ via Training and Development for automotive engineering professionals, ‘Cryogenic waste heat recovery 2016’ consultancy via Green Growth Platform innovation voucher for Dearman Engine Company Ltd and ‘Free piston expander testing 2016’ consultancy via Department of Energy and Climate Change for Libertine FPE.

My pedagogy focuses on developing cross disciplined, multi-skilled and solution focused engineering graduates with ingrained fundamental principles. To pave the way from the theoretical concepts to practical engineering for diverse and large cohorts, I have implemented various methods in my practice, these include problem based learning, reverse engineering, puzzle based learning, conscious inclusivity, practice based learning, feedforward plans, peer based learning and real world case studies. I have taught a range of subjects including, Energy Systems, Renewable Technologies, Aircraft and Automotive Systems, Instrumentation and Testing, Thermodynamics, and Engineering Design, Innovation and Management.

I have presented my pedagogic works such as, ‘Student Centred Teaching and Learning Approaches to Enhance Student Experience 2019’ at the Pedagogic Research Conference, and ‘A Hybrid Teaching and Learning Cycle in Engineering Education 2018’ at the Learning and Teaching Conference at the University of Brighton. To enhance employability, I have recently introduced a theme of energy engineering projects linked to industrial challenges and supervised dissertations on this, and have implemented aircraft and automotive simulators as virtual learning tools.

My supervision interests in the broad theme of energy engineering via simulation and experimental methods are aligned with my research interests in energy recovery, energy storage, advanced engines, sustainable fuels and low carbon transport. I welcome correspondence from potential PhD and Post-Doctoral applicants, and new academic and industrial collaborators.