Umar Farooq

Materials Scientist and R&D Engineer with a PhD (Cum Laude) from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, and 14+ years of experience developing and validating advanced materials and engineering technologies for aerospace, space, and automotive applications. Expertise in space-qualified materials, lightweight structures, thermal protection, radiation/environmental durability, composite structures, sensors, electronics packaging, reliability, qualification testing, and manufacturing. Proven experience contributing to flight-qualified space hardware and industry-qualified automotive components, with a focus on reliable, and manufacturable technologies for demanding engineering environments.

Research Engineer (Grant Researcher, PNRR funded) at Chilab ITEM, Politecnico di Torino (2025-11 – Present)

• Developed MEMS and NEMS electronic packaging with industrial partner Vishay, including silver sinter die-attach processing on DBC substrates and AEC-Q100 Grade 1 thermal qualification (−40°C to +125°C).
• Performed cleanroom microfabrication, materials characterisation and reliability testing to support advanced electronic packaging research.

Industrial Doctoral Researcher at Politecnico di Torino, co funded by MISTA S.p.A. (2022-11 – 2025-10)

Industry-funded doctorate embedded within an automotive manufacturer's R&D department, translating research into industrial technologies.

• Developed an ionic liquid-functionalised MWCNT/carbon fibre epoxy nanocomposite for EV battery enclosures, achieving 803 MPa flexural strength and 88 GPa modulus.
• Investigated material formulation, composite processing and structure–property relationships through mechanical and materials characterisation.
• Designed and validated a COMSOL Multiphysics digital twin for high-current EV copper busbars, achieving less than 6% deviation from experimental results.
• Redesigned an automotive reed sensor using an SLS-printed spring-integrated housing, reducing activation distance by 60% while improving repeatability.
• Developed laser-induced graphene strain sensors on PEEK busbar insulation and evaluated performance under automotive environmental conditions (−40°C to +125°C; 5–95% RH).
• Fabricated sustainable laser-induced graphene conductive structures on bio-based lignin-coated flexible substrates, achieving sheet resistance below 100 Ω/sq.
• Prepared technical specifications, verification reports, validation documentation and root-cause investigations supporting automotive R&D and product qualification.

Senior Materials Engineer at Satellite Research and Development Centre (SRDC-L) (2010-03 – 2022-10)

• Led the development and qualification of composite satellite antenna reflectors from concept to flight, achieving 67% weight reduction, 99.9% reflectivity and successful mission deployment.
• Developed RF-transparent composite radomes for aerospace and ground-based systems, achieving 0.5–0.7 dB insertion loss through materials and structural optimisation.
• Optimised honeycomb sandwich composite curing, increasing bending and shear strength by up to 4–5 times compared with the baseline design.
• Developed carbon nanotube- and nanodiamond-reinforced ablative composites to improve thermal protection performance for aerospace applications.
• Investigated carbon-nanotube dispersion and fibre–matrix bonding in composite laminates using ionic-liquid surface functionalisation to improve composite performance.
• Supported development of satellite structures, composite components, coatings and manufacturing processes through experimental testing, materials characterisation and engineering validation.
• Led technical activities across multidisciplinary teams, mentored junior engineers and supervised undergraduate projects involving composites, advanced materials and coatings.

PhD (Cum Laude) in Sustainable Materials, Processes and Systems for Energy Transition – Politecnico di Torino (2026-02)

MS in Materials Science and Engineering – Institute of Space Technology (IST) (2014-12)

BS in Physics – Bahauddin Zakariya University (2008-03)