- AI methods for nuclear fuel manufacturing - Fast electronics for nuclear instrumentation

Dr. Manuel Bandala is a Senior Research Associate with a wide range of interests and experience. He began his research career by receiving a prestigious full scholarship from the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology in 2004 and completed his PhD in Microsystems & Sensors at the School of Engineering, Lancaster University. He was also the recipient of the Research Sponsorship Program by A7 Engineering Inc. (San Diego, CA).

Recently, Manuel led a successful application for developing embedded systems aimed at tackling fuel poverty in the UK (SR-IUK- 10049123, £80K). He has experience in developing technology for pipe inspection robots for the oil and gas industry, as well as technology for obstacle identification for safe aircraft landing in airports. Additionally, Manuel has designed fast-electronics systems for gamma/neutron detectors, which are currently being commercialized by Hybrid Instruments Ltd.

Currently, Manuel is working on developing systematic methodologies for producing Digital Twin solutions for the nuclear industry. This involves considering specific requirements and conditions unique to nuclear manufacturing processes. The objective is to create a parallel virtual environment of the IDR uranium conversion and pellet fabrication processes (AIRS-NFM, EP/V051059/1, £1.9M).