Christopher Martin O'Hara

Mr. Christopher Martin O'Hara

Engineering & Design, Atlantic Technological University, Sligo, Ireland
+1
orcid

Biography

An I-Form researcher based at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Sligo. With extensive industry experience across a range of manufacturing and research-related projects, including the design of medical devices and public transport vehicles, moving later to a focus on the design and application of high-volume advanced manufacturing processes and tooling in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. His current research area is in the post-processing of metal additively manufactured (AM) surfaces for precision engineering applications, including biomedical implants. Past research was into smart injection mould cavities fabricated by metal AM, including conformal cooling channels, lightweight, and embedded industrial and novel sensors whilst developing post-processing strategies for the AM cavities. AM parts, vital in aerospace and medical devices, often suffer from dimensional inaccuracies and surface property challenges, impacting functionality. Surface roughness and material microstructure crucially affect performance under service conditions, influencing fatigue strength, friction coefficient, corrosion, and surface energy. This project compares Laser Surface Polishing (LSP), Electropolishing (EP), and Abrasive Fluid Polishing (AFP) for finishing PBF-LB-produced NiTi and Ti-6Al-4V parts, aiming to define a processing strategy for a range of surface finishes ranging from ultra-smooth to custom engineered rough surfaces.

Affiliations

Atlantic Technological University

Sligo, Ireland

Engineering & Design

University College Dublin

Dublin, Ireland

I-Form

Honors and Awards

honor

Max Rainey Prize

Queen's University Belfast & Denroy Group

Awarded each year to a Stage 3 or Stage 4 student on the undergraduate Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or Product Design Engineering pathways. The winner must achieve the highest mark in their individual research project on a topic related to polymer products or the development of polymer materials. Chris was the first recipient of the prize for his project entitled: Building and Validation of an Entry Level 3D Printing System for Bioengineering Applications.

Experience

No experience has been shared yet.