Rate My Professor Chris Ford

Dr Chris Ford is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, at Curtin University. He oversees the Mechanical Engineering Major for the BEng (Honours) degree and teaches key units including MXEN3003 Design of Mechanical Components, focusing on practical mechanical design and engineering analysis. His instructional role supports students in acquiring essential skills for mechanical engineering practice.

Ford's research expertise encompasses biomechanics of dental crowns and brittle coatings on compliant substrates, contact damage and fracture mechanics in porcelain/glass layers, optical coherence elastography (OCE) for tissue strain imaging, bone morphological influences on orthopaedic fasteners, and generative artificial intelligence in virtual learning environments. He has produced 22 publications, garnering 387 citations. Key works include 'Integrating Errorless and Scaffolding Learning Theories in a Generative Artificial Intelligence Supported Virtual Learning Environment: Demonstration and Validation' (2025), 'WIP: Impact of Generative AI on Learning: Foci and Parameters for an Assessment Tool' (2024), 'Influence of bone morphological properties on a new expandable orthopaedic fastener' (2016), 'Pull-out strength comparison of a novel expanding fastener against an orthopaedic screw in an ovine vertebral body: An ex-vivo study' (2016), 'Analysis of mechanical contrast in optical coherence elastography' (2013, Journal of Biomedical Optics), 'Measuring elastic contrast in tissue using OCT needle probes' (2013), 'Fracture susceptibility of worn teeth' (2012), 'Effect of wear on stress distributions and potential fracture in teeth' (2009), 'The role of skirt geometry of dental crowns on the mechanics of failure: Experimental and numerical study' (2008), 'Margin failures in crown-like brittle structures: Off-axis loading' (2008), and earlier studies on margin geometry, tapered coatings, contact damage in curved brittle layers, and bi-layer fracture modes (2004-2007). Ford co-supervised the PhD thesis 'Visualisation of Articular Cartilage Microstructure' (2016). His technical proficiencies include finite element analysis, mechanical testing such as pull-out strength and Hertzian indentation, and optical coherence tomography.