Rafael Sanchez Crespo
Postdoctoral Associate
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: PhD, The University of Northampton; MSc, Silesian University of Technology; Lic, Civil Engineering, National Autonomous University of Honduras
Rafael Sanchez Crespo was awarded a Licentiate degree in Civil Engineering in 2008 from the National Autonomous University of Honduras. He received two scholarships and two academic awards during his Civil Engineering studies. In August 2010 he moved to Poland as a postgraduate student funded by an Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window (EMUNDUS 20). He was awarded a MSc in Structural Engineering in February 2012 from the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland. In June 2012 he moved to Northampton, UK as a doctoral student sponsored by ThyssenKrupp Elevator and the University of Northampton, his thesis concerned the prediction of lateral vibrations in steel wire ropes in the elevator system caused by high rise building vibrations due to wind loading. He was awarded a PhD in Engineering in July 2016 from the University of Northampton.
In October 2016 he joined the Engineering Nonlinearity grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK (EPSRC) as a Research Assistant at Swansea University in the Aerospace Structures department, to work on problems considering rotor stator impact in rotating machinery.
Currently, Rafael is working in the topics of acoustic softening, energy generation and advanced manufacturing in engineering to apply theories of nonlinear dynamics. An experimental test rig is currently under construction to investigate the acoustic softening phenomena with different load sensors. He is supporting the Primary Investigator set-up the vibrations research laboratory facility in NYU Abu Dhabi.
His research interests include nonlinear dynamics, structural mechanics, mathematical modelling and simulation, rotating dynamics, experimental testing on site and laboratory facilities, and scientific software developer.