Dr Raj Ladani, is a Senior Lecturer and Program Manager of Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering at RMIT. Dr Ladani holds a Bachelor of Engineering and PhD in Aerospace Engineering. Dr Ladani coordinates and delivers undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and had supervised 20 PhD students, with 9 completions to date. In addition to course coordination and teaching, Dr Ladani is involved in the research of aerospace materials and structures. He is an integral member of the Composite Research Cluster in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include among other things: nano-reinforced composites, multi-scale and multi-functional composites, fracture and fatigue, additive manufacturing, and finite element modelling of structures. Dr Ladani has broad knowledge and research expertise in the field of composite materials having previously held research positions in this area of research. Dr Ladani has published over 80 scientific articles, including book chapters, journal papers and peer-reviewed conference papers

Awards and recognition:

• 2025, STEM College Learning and Teaching Award for Excellence
• 2025, STEM College ADVC LTQ Citation - Top Course with >1000 Enrolments (OENG1250)
• 2024, STEM College ADVC LTQ Citation - Top Course with >1000 Enrolments (OENG1250)
• 2024, STEM College ADVC LTQ Citation - Top 5 Course (AERO2562) Highest mGTS 
• 2023, Royal Aeronautical Society - Excellence in Research Award for Publication
• 2021, Victoria Fellowship, Physical Sciences, Victorian Government.
• 2021, STEM College Early Career Researcher Research Excellence Award, RMIT University.
• 2020, School of Engineering Early Career Researcher Award, RMIT University.
• 2019, RMIT Award for Impact and Collaboration Team Award, The Multifunctional Composites Research Group, RMIT University.
• 2019, Executive Dean’s Research Excellence Award, RMIT University.
• 2017, School of Engineering Award for Best PhD Thesis in Aerospace Engineering, RMIT University.

Industry Experience and Research Collaboration-

• Advanced Composite Structures Australia (ACS-A)
• Boeing Aerostructures Australia
• Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG)
• QinetiQ
• National Composites Centre (NCC)
  
  Professional interests:
  Technical Committee, International Conference on Composite Materials
  Technical Committee, International Conference on Mechanical Behaviour of Materials