Mostafa is a research fellow at the University of Southampton with an interest tribology. His primary research involves material analysis of microstructural alterations prompted by tribological conditions in steel bearings such as white etching cracks due to rolling contact fatigue. This research contributes to the enhanced understanding the material integrity of bearings across diverse operational scenarios.
Mostafa obtained his MSc in Sustainable Energy Technologies in 2017 and completed his PhD in 2022, both at the University of Southampton. His PhD, conducted in collaboration with Schaeffler Technologies, focused on elucidating the formation mechanism of dark etching regions and white etching bands in bearing steel due to rolling contact fatigue through multiscale analysis ranging from atomic to micro-scale. Mostafa has been involved in other projects, one of which involves the analysis of bearing and seal performance within a propellant pump designed for cryogenic applications using liquid oxygen for lubrication. A thorough examination and modelling of pertinent factors such as heat generation and wear characteristics of different materials was utilized to optimize both design considerations and operational parameters to enhance the overall performance of the system.
Throughout his research career, Mostafa has received multiple prestigious awards including the IMechE Mission of Tribology (2019), STLE best young presenter award (2021), IMechE Tribology Bronze medal (2022), IOP Innovation in Tribology (2022), Schaeffler FAG Innovation Award (2022) and Doctoral College Research Award (2023).
Mostafa is an active member in the IMechE tribology group and devoted to promoting tribology to industry and academia to benefit the wider engineering community.