Simon Bickerton

Biography

Simon Bickerton is a Professor within the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Director of the Centre for Advanced Composite Materials at the University of Auckland. He gained his PhD in 1998 from the Centre for Composite Materials, University of Delaware. From 1999 to 2011 he served as an academic staff member within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2012 he took extended leave from the University of Auckland, taking up a position with the BMW Group, Munich, Germany. There he worked within the department responsible for manufacture of structural carbon fibre parts, with a focus on the BMW Project i (the fully electric BMW i3, and hybrid i8) and the latest release of BMW’s 7-series sedan. Simon returned to his academic post at the University of Auckland in 2015, with his research diversifying into thermal and mechanical performance of wireless charging systems. He leads the Mechanical Integration and Protection team within the IPT Highways programme at the University of Auckland, and has produced more than 200 publications to date in the field of composite materials manufacturing and performance.