Dr. Omar Kassim Ariff

School of Science, Engineering and Environment

Photo of Dr. Omar Kassim Ariff

Contact Details

Newton Building - Room UG11

Please email to arrange an appointment.

Current positions

Lecturer in Aircraft and UAV design

Biography

I completed my Bachelor’s degree (with 2nd class upper honours) in Aeronautical Engineering from City University, London in 1998 and proceeded to do a fully funded direct PhD program at the UK Defence Academy, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, completing it in 2005. There, I specialized in Guidance and Navigation of Anti-air Missile Systems.

At the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, I focused on guidance, navigation and control of small scale UAVs for his post-doctoral research from 2008 to 2011, and was involved in two UAV development projects. The first was the stabilization and control of a mini vertical take-off and landing UAV, and the second was a 7kg weight class fuel cell powered UAV design and development.

During my term as a Contract Senior Lecturer from 2011 to 2014 with Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, I focused on the application of UAVs to agricultural applications, beginning with a multi-rotor UAV development program for use in oil palm plantations, followed by UAV design for oil palm plantation monitoring using hyperspectral imaging devices.

Areas of research

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS - Fixed Wing) Performance Enhancement, Non-conventional UAS configurations, Transformational Flight and Personal Air Mobility, Aerospace systems integration

Teaching

Aircraft design, Unmanned Aerial Systems design

Research Interests

  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and their applications,
  • Dynamic Soaring,
  • Autonomous Aerial Hard Docking,
  • Missile guidance, navigation and control

Qualifications and Memberships

Qualifications

  • PhD – Anti-Air missile guidance algorithms based on principles of differential geometry Jan1999–Sep 2004 (UK Defense College of Management and Technology) Cranfield University, Dept. of Aerospace, Power and Sensors (Cranfield Bursary funded).
  • B.Eng. (Aeronautical Engineering) City University, London Aug1996-Jul 1998 Result: 2nd Class Hons.Upper Division Specialisation: Structural dynamics and Aeroelasticity.

Memberships

  • Advanced DiplomaComputer Studies Jul 1991-Jun 1993 Oxford University (Distance Learning) Member of AIAA, RAeS.