Rate My Professor Hari Arora

Professor Hari Arora is a Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Swansea University. He obtained his MEng in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London (2004-2008) and completed his PhD there in the Department of Mechanical Engineering on 'Blast loading of fibre reinforced polymer composite structures'. Between 2011 and 2013, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Mechanics of Materials Section and Soft Solids Group at Imperial College London on projects involving impact, nonlinear material behaviour, and fracture. In 2013, he received a Research Fellowship from The Royal British Legion and Imperial College London to investigate lung mechanics in the Department of Bioengineering and Centre for Blast Injury Studies, developing research on optimised injury protection via human body biomechanics characterisation in trauma scenarios. He joined Swansea University as Senior Lecturer in Engineering from November 2017 to February 2021, subsequently advancing to Associate Professor and now Professor in Biomedical Engineering. He leads the Biomedical Engineering Simulation and Testing Lab (BEST Lab), focusing research on soft tissue and tissue phantom mechanics for systems like the lung, cardiovascular, and skin across strain rates and disease/injury states.

Employing techniques such as digital image correlation, particle image velocimetry, high-speed photography, mechanical testing, and manufacturing methods, Professor Arora advances understanding of macro- and micro-scale behaviours. Recent efforts, supported by the Royal Society, EPSRC, and Welsh Government, include real-time digital volume correlation, automated image analysis, and personalised computational lung models to elucidate failure mechanisms for better disease and injury management. He explores materials for energy dissipation in extreme environments. Notable publications include 'A personalised computational model of the impact of COVID-19 on lung function under mechanical ventilation' (Computers in Biology and Medicine, 2024), 'Lung disease characterised via synchrotron radiation micro-CT and digital volume correlation (DVC)' (TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 2024), 'Experimental investigation of the air blast performance of hybrid composite skinned sandwich panels with X-ray micro-CT damage assessment' (Thin-Walled Structures, 2023), and 'Development of nanocellulose-hyaluronic acid bioinks for 3D bioprinting facial cartilages' (Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 2025). In experimental mechanics, he chairs the British Society for Strain Measurement (BSSM) since 2022, after serving as Co-Chair of its Conference Committee (2019-2022) and National Committee Member (2016-present). He collaborates with the Zienkiewicz Centre for Computational Engineering's Computational Biomechanics Group.