Dr Evangelos passed his PhD viva on the 5th June 2026 defending a thesis entitled, "Wear Behaviour of Tyre Tread Compounds." His examiners, Prof Georgios Mavros from Loughborough University and Dr Marzio Grasso from Cranfield University both commented on how enjoyable the viva discussion had been with such a well-prepared candidate.

Evangelos’ PhD project was funded by Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) in Japan. They are already looking to exploit the findings from the investigation in the development of next generation tyres with improved wear resistance. SRI have also agreed to fund a follow-on PhD to continue this strong collaboration with James’ group from September 2025.

James notes that "Evangelos has been a fantastic research student not only in the work he has done as part of his PhD, as is evidenced from the 12 different international conferences where he has presented his work. He has also helped many other researchers in the Soft Matter Group to develop a wide range of complex and challenging experimental and modelling techniques.”

Evangelos prior to starting his PhD was a first-class MEng Mechanical Engineering QMUL graduate. James had offered him a fully funded PDRA position to continue his QMUL journey. But after enjoying 8 years at Mile End, he has opted to join industry instead and he has become the sixth PhD alumni of the QMUL Soft Matter Group to join the world’s largest tyre company, Bridgestone. He has already started work at the company’s research centre in Rome from the start of May 2025.