Rate My Professor Christos Spitas

Professor Christos Spitas is Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Head of the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He leads research and educational efforts in advanced mechanical and aerospace engineering. Prior to this appointment, he served as Professor of Machine Design and Head of the Space, Industry and Transportation Cluster at Nazarbayev University. Before that, he was Professor of Embodiment Design and Head of the Product Engineering Section in the Department of Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology. Earlier in his career, Professor Spitas held various positions in industry, rising to Manager of Research and Development, working with clients including the European Space Agency (ESA), Thales, CERN, and Toyota.

Professor Spitas specializes in machine elements design and optimization, multibody dynamics, gear drive dynamics, and advanced manufacturing. His influential publications include 'Increasing the strength of standard involute gear teeth with novel circular root fillet design' (2005), 'Non-linear modeling of gear drive dynamics incorporating intermittent tooth contact analysis and tooth eigenvibrations' (2019), 'Experimental and analytical study of free-fall drop impact testing of portable products' (2012), 'Optimum gear tooth geometry for minimum fillet stress using BEM and experimental verification with photoelasticity' (2006), and 'Coupled multi-DOF dynamic contact analysis model for the simulation of intermittent gear tooth contacts, impacts and rattling considering backlash and variable torque' (2016). These contributions have enhanced design methodologies for mechanical components. He serves on the Scientific Committee for the 2025 International Symposium on Case Studies in Advanced Engineering Design hosted by UNNC and is a keynote speaker at the 15th International Conference on Transportation Technology and Education (ICTTE 2026), presenting on the future of aviation. Professor Spitas is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).