Maria Lissner Dipl.-Ing., DPhil

Maria Lißner is a Mechanical Engineer, an Associate Member of Faculty and a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. Her research centres on designing lightweight structures that endure extreme environments, like crashes and impacts. Her current research interest is the detailed representation of interface characteristics across multiple length scales in heterogeneous materials, such as fibre reinforced polymer composites, adhesive joints, additively manufactured parts, and timber subjected to extreme loading conditions. By leveraging the advantages of additive manufacturing, she develops innovative experimental techniques and specimen designs for accurate evaluation of interface characteristics such as fracture energy. Insights derived from this are investigated to be transferred to materials such as composites. Coupling this with optimised design algorithms and enhanced computational power will boost precision, speeding up engineering design processes, assessments, and developments.

Maria obtained her DPhil in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, focusing on the rate-dependent mechanical performance of adhesively bonded interfaces in similar (metal-to-metal) and dissimilar (composite-to-metal) material combinations, following her Dipl.-Ing. degree in Mechanical Engineering with the specialisation in Lightweight Engineering from TU Dresden, Germany. During her doctoral and postdoctoral research in the Impact and Shock Mechanics Lab, she achieved significant advancements in, for example, innovative interface mechanics characterisation techniques, and dynamic interlaminar fracture mechanics analysis which support the design of lightweight systems in different industries, such as aerospace. In 2021, she got awarded the Maria Reiche Postdoctoral Research Fellowship by TU Dresden, to advance her research in additively manufactured polymer materials and their challenges and opportunities with respect to the rate-dependent mechanical performance of interfaces.

With her large international and interdisciplinary network, Maria advocates for more innovative research collaborations, promote sustainable industrial practices, and support the professional development of young researchers in the field of dynamic behaviour of materials. She is an active member of (i) the governing board of the DYMAT Association, Europe’s leading research association in dynamic behaviour of materials, (ii) the Association of German Engineers (VDI), and (iii) Femtec.Alumnae to contribute to facilitating knowledge exchange, promoting science among young researchers and advocating for increased gender diversity in engineering fields.

•    Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship (2024)
•    Recognition Award by the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford (2024)
•    Maria Reiche Postdoctoral Research Fellowship by TU Dresden (2021)
•    DYMAT best PhD Thesis Prize by DYMAT Association (2021)
•    OxTalent by University of Oxford (2018)
•    Femtec Career scholarship by Femtec.Network GmbH (2012)

• Investigating fracture and interface mechanics of heterogenous materials (e.g. composites, 3D printed polymers, adhesive joints, timber) in extreme loading rate environments, such as impacts and crashes.
• Exploring the influence of defects and features on interface mechanics, and multiscale modelling of interfaces and lightweight materials
• Developing tools for optimising interfaces and functionality understanding to improve component lifetime prediction and structural design.