Engineering Design & Detailing
Concept through to manufacturing-ready detail. CAD, DFM/DFA, parametric models, drawings and specifications you can hand straight to a workshop.
From multi-physics simulation to picometre precision
Independent engineering consultancy
PicoForm is the consultancy of Dr Ali Khaghani, a Chartered Mechanical Engineer (CEng, MIMechE) with a PhD and 18+ years turning hard physics problems into validated, buildable designs - from MRI magnets and space optics to superhard tooling and ultraprecision machining of optical freeform surfaces.
Teaching, supervision & research
Chartered Engineer and PhD, Visiting Research Fellow at Brunel University London. I teach computer-aided engineering, FEA and structural mechanics, supervise student projects, and run hands-on courses that connect classroom theory to how engineering is actually done in industry.
Industry experience
Academic affiliations & memberships
What I do
Whether you need a single analysis, a test programme, or someone to own a whole R&D thread, the work is hands-on and grounded in real physics - not a black box.
How I can help
From lecturing and supervision to hands-on short courses, I help students and teams build genuine engineering judgement - the kind that comes from having done the work, not just read about it.
Concept through to manufacturing-ready detail. CAD, DFM/DFA, parametric models, drawings and specifications you can hand straight to a workshop.
Structural, thermal and multi-physics FEA in ANSYS and ABAQUS; transient and steady CFD in ANSYS Fluent, including custom UDF/UDS coupling. Built from first principles and validated.
Materials characterisation by SEM, EDS, XRF and AFM, with fracture-mechanics, fatigue and residual-stress work feeding straight back into the models - plus electromagnetic (FEM) modelling of superconducting systems at 4 K.
Compliant mechanisms, ultraprecision and optomechanical systems, hydrostatic bearings, smart tooling. Where nanometres and microns actually matter.
Owning collaborative R&D from idea to outcome - technical direction, partner management, grant-linked work, and IP through to granted patents.
Most projects start with a short call to scope the problem and the fastest route to an answer.
Start a conversationLectures and labs in computer-aided engineering, FEA, structural mechanics and technical drawing - ANSYS, ABAQUS, SolidWorks and Creo. Delivery, demonstration and assessment.
Supervising undergraduate, MSc and PhD projects. I have co-supervised four postgraduates across smart tooling, fast-tool-servo design, air bearings and ultraprecision machining.
Hands-on FEA, CFD and CAE training for students or industry teams - building models from first principles, then validating them against real test data.
Joint research, grant-linked work, guest lectures and seminars. Three industry-linked research grants secured as Principal Investigator, with outputs transferred to partners.
Tell me the audience and the topic and I will put together a session that fits - from a single guest lecture to a full short course.
Get in touchTools & methods
A snapshot of the software and physical techniques I work with day to day.
Selected work
A few representative projects. Most carry NDAs, so detail is kept general.
Teaching & research
A snapshot of teaching, supervision and published research.
Medical devices · Siemens Healthineers
Built a validated 3D orthotropic FEA model of the superconducting coil assembly that coupled the electromagnetic Lorentz forces with the cool-down load case to 4 K. The results were used to assess strain and displacement against field-homogeneity limits, thermal-contraction mismatch between the coil materials, and stress margins across the assembly.
Superhard materials · Element Six
Designed stationary-shoulder FSW tooling, modelled shoulder-pin thermal interaction in ABAQUS, and validated it against tool-wear analysis. Resulted in two granted patents and tools now in commercial production.
Space · MDA Space
Ran survival and operational load cases for optical systems across three missions (SIRC, Proba3, Astroscale), and built a COTS qualification programme against ECSS space-grade standards using Zemax and Imatest.
Precision · Brunel (PhD/PI)
Designed, FEA/CFD-validated and prototyped a self-centring, self-locking chuck for diamond turning. Across 26 contact-lens mould inserts it held geometrical runout to a 16 nm standard deviation and produced a 4 nm Ra optical finish. Filed as UK patent GB201914672D0.
Oil & gas · Cameron (Schlumberger)
Ran structural and stress analysis, corrosion assessment and design optimisation of piping systems and pressure equipment, with compliance documentation to industry standards. Built automated parametric piping-spool models and an intelligent lifting-lug selection tool in CAD that cut repetitive modelling time on skid-mounted projects.
Structural / BIM · Ove Arup & William Hare
As a senior modelling specialist, led parametric structural modelling and supported FEA on major BIM infrastructure projects - the Leadenhall Tower, ADIC HQ Tower and Abu Dhabi International Airport - using Tekla and Revit. Developed parametric strategies adopted across the project teams to cut design-iteration cycles.
Teaching · Brunel University London
Taught four modules - Computer-Aided Engineering (ANSYS, ABAQUS, SolidWorks, Creo), Structural Mechanics & Materials, Technical Drawing and Foundation Project - to classes of around 80, covering lectures, lab demonstration, marking and pastoral support.
Supervision · Postgraduate
Co-supervised four postgraduate researchers on fast-tool-servo mechanism and flexure design, linear air-bearing slideways in MMC materials, and CFD/FEA methodology for ultraprecision machining.
Research · Principal Investigator
Secured three competitive research grants at Brunel - writing the proposals, managing funder relationships, delivering milestones and transferring outputs to industrial partners.
Publications · 9 papers · 3 patents
Nine peer-reviewed papers across freeform machining dynamics, hydrostatic bearings and precision clamping, plus three granted patents. Winner of the Heidenhain Best Oral Presentation at EUSPEN (AMRC Sheffield).
Lab
A growing set of engineering tools and calculators from my own R&D. This is where I share new work and the areas I am exploring, so expect it to keep growing.
Superconducting magnets
A 1D dynamic model of quench propagation in superconducting MRI magnets: hot-spot temperature, current decay and detection timing, with NbTi, MgB₂ and REBCO compared.
Coming soonElectric machines
A full analytical design of a permanent-magnet synchronous motor, from a power-and-speed spec through electromagnetics, losses, thermal and NVH to a complete reference design.
Coming soonThermal & energy
Builds a full building heat balance from fabric, ventilation, solar and internal gains, sizes plant on a worst-case design day, and predicts annual energy two ways: a quick degree-days estimate and a dynamic RC thermal network. Includes Part L compliance (BER vs TER) and CIBSE TM54 operational-energy checks, the same physics the major simulation tools solve.
Coming soonFreeform optics · micro-nano
My core research area. Interactive tools on freeform-surface machining dynamics and precision motion will land here as I build them.
In developmentResearch focus
Optical freeform surfaces, lenses and mirrors with no axis of symmetry, are what make compact cameras, head-up displays, advanced sensors and space instruments possible. The hard part is making them: cutting these shapes to nanometre-level form accuracy and an optical finish, in brittle materials like silicon and germanium, on a single-point diamond turning machine.
My PhD and the work since then ask one specific question: how much of the final surface quality is actually decided by the dynamics of the cut - the tool, the machine and the workpiece moving and reacting together - rather than by geometry alone? The short answer is: far more than toolpath planning usually assumes.
Dynamics · 2019, 2021, 2023
I built multi-body dynamic models of the slow-tool-servo (STS) and fast-tool-servo (FTS) cutting process and showed that interfacial forces and system dynamics - not just the programmed geometry - set the achievable form accuracy on freeform surfaces. That reframes toolpath planning as a dynamics problem, not only a geometric one.
Toolpath generation · Proc. IMechE Part B, 2019
From that insight I developed a toolpath generation method that builds machine and tool dynamics into the path itself. It was implemented in MATLAB and validated by cutting real silicon and germanium freeform workpieces in both STS and FTS modes.
Smart tooling · Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Tech., 2020 · Patent
I designed an adaptive precision chuck - a compliant, self-centring, self-locking mechanism - for holding contact-lens mould inserts during diamond turning. Across 26 mould inserts it held geometrical runout to a 16 nm standard deviation and produced a 4 nm Ra optical finish, and is protected by UK patent GB201914672D0.
Precision motion · 2018, 2023, 2025
Using CFD and multi-body dynamics, I designed air-bearing spindles and hydrostatic bearings made from metal matrix composite (MMC) materials - to give the stiff, well-damped, low-error linear motion that freeform machining depends on. In simulation the MMC designs reached higher resonant frequencies and damped vibration better than steel.
My research points to one destination: pushing ultraprecision machining of optical freeform surfaces beyond the nanometre, toward pico-scale accuracy. This is how I see getting there.
About
I have spent my career at the bench and in the simulation suite at once - building models from physical first principles, instrumenting and running the experiments myself, and iterating both until a design is genuinely validated. That has spanned MRI superconducting magnets at Siemens Healthineers, superhard tooling at Element Six, space optics at MDA Space, and precision-machine research at Brunel University, where I led grant-funded R&D as Principal Investigator.
As an independent consultant I bring that same hands-on approach to your problem, whether it is a one-off analysis, a test campaign, or a full R&D programme. No hand-waving, no black boxes - just clear engineering judgement backed by the numbers.
Work with meAbout
Alongside consulting, I am a Visiting Research Fellow at Brunel University London, where I completed my EPSRC-funded PhD and have taught since 2016. I lecture and run labs in computer-aided engineering, FEA and structural mechanics, supervise student projects, and hold Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).
What students get from me is the link between theory and practice: every method I teach, I have used to solve a real problem in medical devices, aerospace or precision manufacturing. I am available for teaching, supervision, guest lectures and short courses.
Invite me to teachGet in touch
A short description is enough to start. I will reply with whether I can help, a rough approach, and the next step. Initial scoping calls are free.
Tell me the audience, the level and the topic. I will reply with what I can offer and how a teaching, supervision or short-course arrangement could work.