Professor Pankaj Pankaj

Professor of Computational Biomechanics and Deputy Head of Research Institute for Bio Engineering (IBIOE)

Email: 

Telephone: 

+44(0)131 6505800

Location: 

1/A104 Alrick Building

Engineering Discipline: 

  • Civil and Environmental Engineering

Research Institute: 

  • Bioengineering

Research Theme: 

  • Bioengineering
  • Fire Safety Engineering
  • Structural Engineering
  • Materials and Structures
Prof Pankaj Pankaj
Prof Pankaj Pankaj

Biography: 

Professor Pankaj obtained his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, masters from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and PhD from University of Wales Swansea. He is the Deputy Head of the Institute for Bioengineering at Edinburgh University. He established and leads the Edinburgh Computational Biomechanics research group. He has research collaborations with universities around the globe and his research has been supported by international organisations, the industry and UK funding councils.

In his role as International Dean for South Asia he provides leadership in the development of a strategy to shape activities, partnerships and priorities to enhance the University’s engagement with the region.

Research supervised by him has received a number of awards:

  • Best PhD thesis in In silico Medicine awarded by Virtual Physiological Human institute (VPHi) (Belgium) to PhD student F. Levrero-Florencio (2018)
  • DePuy Best Medical Engineering PhD, runners-up prize awarded by Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK) to PhD student F. Levrero-Florencio (2018).
  • British Orthopaedic Research Society's International Travelling Research Fellowship for Young Investigators awarded to Alisdair MacLeod for his PhD research (2016).
  • Best presentation award from the Scottish Committee for Orthopaedics and Trauma at their annual meeting to MD student C Scott (2015).
  • British Orthopaedic Association's Hip and Knee Reconstruction Fellowship awarded to MD student C Scott (2015).
  • Best Poster Award at the 2016 British Orthopaedic Research Society Meeting, for the study entitled \the changing microarchitecture of trabecular bone with high strain" (authors: Wallace, Manda, Sales, Simpson and Pankaj).
  • IMechE/Vicon prize for the best Medical Engineering Project awarded to MD student C Scott (2013).
  • Best Paper Award at the 2011 International Conference of Systems Biology and Bioengineering for the paper entitled “Computational Modelling of Magnetic Resonance Elastography Shear Wave Behaviour through Atherosclerotic Plaque with Disease Development" (authors: Thomas-Seale, Pankaj, Hoskins and Roberts).
  • Robertson Medal for the best research proposal from Carnegie Trust awarded to PhD student FE Donaldson (2008).
  • IMechE/Orthopaedic Research UK award for the best thesis in Medical Engineering awarded to PhD student ATM Phillips (2007).

Academic Qualifications: 

  • PhD University of Wales Swansea
  • ME Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
  • BTech Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Teaching: 

  • Finite Element Methods for Solids and Structures
  • Structural Mechanics 2B
  • Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

Research Interests: 

Computational Biomechanics and Numerical Modelling

You can watch this video on Media Hopper and on YouTube.

My principal expertise has been in the area of nonlinear computational solid mechanics. I have developed new constitutive models and finite element algorithms some of which are now part of finite element textbooks. One of the major successful application areas of my expertise is computational biomechanics. My research is highly interdisciplinary; my group has developed partnerships with clinicians and comprises of research students with backgrounds in physical sciences, engineering and medical sciences.

My group has been extremely successful in exploiting numerical methods and mechanics in the solution of real clinical problems. I continue to contribute to research on numerical simulation of the mechanical behaviour of construction materials at elevated temperatures and structures subjected to dynamic (particularly seismic) forces. My current research interests are:

  • Micro-mechanics of bone. We aim to develop techniques for prediction of bone mechanical properties from imaging for diagnoses and numerical modelling.
  • Development of models to predict time dependent behaviour of bone
  • Hip and knee joint modelling and evaluation of implant performance
  • Optimising fixation of osteoporotic bone fractures
  • Constitutive models of bone graft which is extensively used in revision surgery
  • Modelling of diseased arteries
  • Nonlinear homogenisation
  • Development of new plasticity models
  • Earthquake engineering
  • Micro-cracking simulation in porous materials
  • Novel open-source finite element code development for implementation on high performance computer systems

Specialities: 

  • Mathematical Simulation of the Mechanical Behaviour of Materials
  • Solid Mechanics
  • Orthopaedic Engineering
  • Computational Biomechanics
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

Further Information: 

  • Dean International (South Asia) for The University of Edinburgh
  • Deputy Head of the Institute for Bioengineering, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh