Dr Rostand Tayong joined the University in November 2019 as a Senior Lecturer in Automotive Engineering. Prior to this position, he was working on composite materials at the University of Bristol as a Research Associate since 2014. His research activities encompass Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Materials testing and characterisation, Acoustics and Vibration using analytical and numerical methods.

After engineering study in Acoustics and Vibrations at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs du Mans (ENSIM) in France, Rostand received a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Acoustics from the well-known Ecole Centrale de Lyon (France). He completed his PhD in Acoustics of porous media at the University of Burgundy (France) with a thesis entitled “Acoustical properties of systems incorporating Micro-Perforated Panels (MPP) and absorbing materials under high sound pressure levels of excitation”. His PhD thesis and various post-doctoral positions afterward aimed at investigating inhomogeneous, perforated and complex media when subjected to various mechanical conditions and excitations including high sound pressure levels.

Rostand has been the Principal Investigator (PI) for some Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) projects which aimed at characterising 3D Woven Composite materials using ultrasound methods and he was awarded many grants and prizes including the young scientist grant 2012 from the European Acoustics Association (EAA), the international young scientist grant 2012 from the International Noise Control Engineering (INCE, InterNoise) and the 2018 best presentation at the Early Career Researcher Event organized by the Research Centre in Non-Destructive Evaluation (RCNDE) in Nottingham (United Kingdom).

Rostand is an official Mental Health Supporter and devotes his time to helping people struggling with mental health issues. In his spare time Rostand enjoys sports activities including football, table tennis, walking and running. He also enjoys reading and baking.

• Defects characterisation in woven composite materials
• Porosity and voids inclusion characterisation in Unidirectional composites
• Acoustic and vibration in Micro-Perforated Panels
  Sound absorbing materials
• Features detection in complex/multi-layered media
• Finite Element methods for characterising complex media
• Finite Element methods for characterising inhomogeneous media
• Analytical methods for characterising complex and composite materials

• Co-organiser (along with Prof Jean-Pierre Hermann) of Rio’Acoustics 2015
• Co-organiser (along with Prof Robert Smith) of the “NDT and SHM requirements for Aerospace Composites” workshop held on the 9th and 10th February 2016
• Co-organiser (along with Prof Robert Smith) of the “NDT requirements for Automotive Composites” workshop held on March 2017