Rate My Professor Ronan O’Higgins

Professor Ronan O’Higgins is Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Limerick, where he also serves as a Professor in the Bernal Institute. He previously held the position of Head of the School of Engineering until September 2025, when he was succeeded by Professor David Newport. Over the course of his career at the University of Limerick, O’Higgins has advanced through roles including Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering, Associate Professor, and Professor. He has contributed to aeronautical engineering education as Course Director of the BEng Aeronautical Engineering programme and has been involved in initiatives such as the GECAS Women in Aviation Scholarship.

O’Higgins specializes in composite materials, with research interests in thermoplastic composites, innovative manufacturing techniques such as laser-assisted automated tape placement and autoclave processing, mechanical characterisation, fracture toughness, open hole tension characteristics, crack propagation in fibre-reinforced laminae, ballistic impact response of hybrid panels, viscoelastic modeling for polymers and nanocomposites, and welding techniques for carbon fibre-reinforced polymers like PEKK. He has produced 76 research outputs, featured in prestigious journals including Composites Part B: Engineering, Composite Structures, Materials & Design, and Polymer Testing. Notable publications include “Mechanical characterisation of carbon fibre–PEEK manufactured by laser-assisted automated-tape-placement and autoclave” (2015, 325 citations), “Comparison of open hole tension characteristics of high strength glass and carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials” (2008, 235 citations), “A study of the influence of processing parameters on steering of carbon Fibre/PEEK tapes using laser-assisted tape placement” (2019, 147 citations), “An experimental/numerical investigation into the main driving force for crack propagation in uni-directional fibre-reinforced composite laminae” (2014, 142 citations), “Ballistic impact response of Elium® thermoplastic composites reinforced with high-performance fibres in monolithic and hybrid configurations” (2026), “Comparison of welding techniques for carbon fibre-reinforced PEKK composite” (2026), and “Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®” (2025). O’Higgins is an inventor on patents assigned to the University of Limerick related to composite technologies. His work has significantly influenced the development of lightweight, durable materials for aerospace structures.