Dr. Wesley Cantwell is the Director of the Aerospace Research and Innovation Center (ARIC), the Associate Dean for Research, and a Professor of Aerospace Engineering. He received his B.Sc. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southampton and MSc and PhD degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College, UK. He then worked as a Research Scientist in the Department of Materials at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne for nine years and as a Lecturer/Reader/Professor at the University of Liverpool for eighteen years. During this time he directed a research team focusing on the impact behavior of lightweight structures. He joined Khalifa University in 2012 to direct the Aerospace Research and Innovation Center (ARIC). This research center is a joint effort between Khalifa University and Mubadala and supports the manufacturing operations at Strata, an aerostructures company located at Al Ain. Phase I of the ARIC initiative focused largely on manufacturing and automation in the aerospace industry. Phase II will expand on these initiative and include topics such as additive manufacturing and digital technologies.
