Aircraft Sustainment and Repair

Rhys Jones is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Monash University where he is also Head of the Centre of Expertise in Structural Mechanics. With over 450 publications, Professor Jones has made significant contributions to the fields of aircraft structural integrity, fatigue life extension, thermo-elastic stress analysis; fatigue assessment and fracture mechanics; computational mechanics; aging structures; repair technology; Supersonic Particle Deposition and composite materials. Professor Jones is internationally acknowledged, together with Dr. Alan Baker, as having played a pioneering role in the development of advanced composites to extend the operational life of Military and Civilian aircraft and played a leading role in transferring this technology to the US as part of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Aging Aircraft Program.

Alan Baker is a Senior Research Consultant in Advanced Composite Structures - Australia and Honorary Research Fellow, Aerospace Composite Structures in Aerospace Division, Defense Science and Technology Group. He has edited and contributed to several books, chapters in books and many scientific papers on composites and composite repair technology. He co-edited and extensively contributed to the highly popular books Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures and Advances in Bonded Composite Repairs for Metallic Aircraft Structure. Dr. Baker has over 40 years of experience in advanced composites including 10 years in the Rolls Royce UK Advanced Research Laboratory; he is particularly recognized for pioneering work on bonded composite repair of metallic aircraft components for which he has received several major awards.Neil Matthews is the Head of Research

Neil Matthews is the Head of Research and Technology at RUAG Australia, and holds a Master of Aircraft Design from Cranfield University (UK) Neil has been involved in Aircraft Engineering sustainment for the nearly 40 years both as a serving Air Force Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force and then in the commercial military aviation industry. Neil has been pioneering the use of SPD for aircraft sustainment since 2004 and has co-authored journal papers and been an invited speaker on this technology both in Australia and internationally on a number of occasions.

Dr. Victor K. Champagne, Jr., FASM is recognized internationally as one of the foremost authorities on Cold Spray. He has held numerous positions throughout his career at the US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA. In his 36 years of materials research and development experience, he has been responsible for the advancement of emerging technologies for the Department of Defense. One of his most significant achievements, was the establishment of the ARL Cold Spray Center, which he led for over twenty years, and is devoted toward research, development and implementation of Cold Spray. Dr. Champagne has over 100 journal publications and 13 patents in cold spray technology. Currently, he is continuing to make extraordinary advances in Additive Manufacturing and the transition of technology into commercial applications. Working closely with industry, research institutes and academia his ideas have been translated into practical use and transitioned into the commercial sector and his achievements have been recognized across the globe.