We are pleased to announce that Wenqi Wang has successfully passed his PhD viva with minor corrections, marking the completion of an excellent doctoral thesis entitled “The Effect of Loading and Environmental Conditions on the Mechanical Behaviours of Composite Materials”.

The viva examination was conducted by Dr Yueting Sun (University of Birmingham) as the external examiner and Dr Haibao Liu (Queen Mary University of London) as the internal examiner. Both are recognised experts in impact engineering, and their insightful feedback and constructive discussions are gratefully acknowledged.

Under the supervision of Dr Wei Tan, Wenqi’s research makes a strong and original contribution to the mechanics of carbon-based composites, particularly for offshore and harsh-environment engineering applications. His work goes beyond conventional ambient-condition testing by developing an integrated experimental–numerical framework that combines temperature-controlled impact experiments, full-field deformation characterisation, and high-fidelity numerical simulations to directly resolve impact-induced damage evolution and energy dissipation mechanisms.

A key strength of the thesis is its clear sustainability focus. By establishing mechanistic links between environmental exposure (including temperature and moisture), impact behaviour, and residual mechanical performance, the research enables improved lifetime prediction of composite structures. This supports reduced over-design and material waste, contributing to more durable and sustainable composite solutions for offshore, energy, and related engineering sectors.

The work also introduces water absorption rate as a physically motivated bridging parameter linking complex environmental conditions to multi-property degradation and impact performance, providing a unified and predictive framework that advances beyond the current state of the art.

We would also like to acknowledge the valuable input and support from Professor Vassili Toropov, as well as the wider research group, whose discussions and collaboration contributed significantly to the successful completion of this work.

Warm congratulations to Dr Wenqi Wang on this excellent achievement, and best wishes for the next stage of his career.