ProfessorMaria Charalambides

Prof Charalambides, CEng, FIMechE, is a Professor in Mechanics of Materials in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. She is the head of the Soft Solids Research group. Prior to her appointment at Imperial as a Lecturer in 1997, she was a Research Associate in the same Department and a Senior Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, Middlesex.

Her published research includes material modelling and mechanical characterisation of soft polymeric solids and specifically foods, micromechanics models of particulate filled polymeric composites as well as cellular structures, experimental and numerical modelling of industrial food processes such as rolling, extrusion and cutting, development of inverse indentation methods material characterisation of polymers, and fracture and deformation in paint and adhesive coatings. She leads the Soft Solids research group. She is currently teaching Mechanics and Advanced Stress Analysis courses; she has lectured Mathematics and Composites Materials courses in the past.

Maria has published over 100 papers and has received funding from industry and RCUK . Her papers were selected as finalist for the 2013 Cahn Prize and Best paper for the IMechE Food Engineer Awards (2007 & 2011). She is the membership secretary of the British Society of Rheology and a Committee member of the Food and Drink Technical Committee of IMechE. Maria has a First Class B.Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London. She also holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, from Imperial College London, on the Delamination of fibre reinforced composites.

Watch Maria's inaugural lecture, "The Hard Science of Soft Materials":

The inaugural lecture of Professor Maria Charalambides
Watch Maria's Science Breaks talk, "Engineering Chocolate":

Science Breaks: Engineering chocolate