Michael Nieves

Biography

Biography

I obtained a first class Master of Mathematics degree in 2005 and PhD in Applied Mathematics in 2007, at the University of Liverpool (UoL).  I then held research posts at both UoL and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) before taking up a lectureship at LJMU in 2012. I am also an Honorary Fellow of UoL.

In 2017, I was appointed as a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the School of Computer Science and Mathematics (SCM), Keele University. I was also awarded a 2 year Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to lead a research project at the University of Cagliari, Italy, in the design of novel structured materials with various applications in civil engineering and the nuclear industry.

Research and scholarship

Research and scholarship

I am an applied mathematician who enjoys tackling a wide range of fundamental multidisciplinary problems in both solid and classical mechanics with practical relevance in industry and society. As part of the Centre for Mathematics Research, I primarily use mathematical modelling to design novel structured micro-materials capable of controlling the flow of vibrations and mitigating their effects, such as failure mechanisms. I also develop new asymptotic techniques that allow one to characterise the response of solids containing large clusters of small defects.

My research interests include:

1. Asymptotic analysis of singularly perturbed elliptic boundary value problems
2. Gyro-elastic metamaterials, design and earthquake protection applications
3. Waves and dynamic fracture propagation in flexural multi-scale systems and metamaterials

Concerning the area (1), I have recently published a research monograph describing a novel asymptotic approach that provides a new tool for mathematicians, physicists and engineers looking to model granular materials (see https://mjnieves.com/books/). More information about my research interests and activities can be found at https://mjnieves.com.

I secured major research grants from the European Commission to conduct research on the following projects:

1. EFFECTFACT: EFFECTive FACTorisation techniques for matrix-functions: Developing theory, numerical methods and impactful applications

Dates: Sept 2021 - Sept 2025
Budget: €1.82 million
Website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101008140

The aim of this project is to develop methods for solving matrix Wiener-Hopf equations encountered in problems of practical relevance within materials science, civil engineering, medicine and data science.

2. CAT-FFLAP: CATastrophic Failure in Flexural LAttice Problems

Dates: Sept 2017 - Sept 2019
Budget: €168, 277
Host: University of Cagliari, Italy
Website: https://mjnieves.com/project-cat-fflap/

On this project, I collaborated with engineers from academia and industry to develop a new breed of structured metamaterials with a view to enhancing the design of large-scale structures commonly found in civil engineering, preventing their catastrophic failure.

Teaching

Teaching

I am involved in postgraduate training activities, which includes the supervision of a postgraduate student at the School of Computer Science and Mathematics, who engaged in research related to the project EU H2020 grant MSCA-IF-2016-747334-CAT-FFLAP (see https://mjnieves.com/group/).

I am the module leader for the Year 4 modules:

• MAT-10049 Investigations and Problem Solving
• MAT-10051 Applied Mathematics 

and the Level 7 Masters module:

• MAT-40011 Analytic Functions

I delivered the short course "Understanding dynamic crack growth in structured systems with the Wiener-Hopf technique” during a summer school at the research programme "Bringing pure and applied analysis together via the Wiener-Hopf technique, its generalisations and applications”, University of Cambridge (for the lecture notes, please see https://mjnieves.com/projects/lecture-notes/). For the site https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/postgraduateresearch/researchareas/mathematics/#research-topics

Further information

Further information

• Website: https://mjnieves.com
• Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Nieves3

Publications

Publications

Research themes

Research themes

• Theoretical Solid Mechanics
• Multi scale modelling of nano and meta materials