Dr. Nicolas Michel Saba achieved his Engineer’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Manufacturing techniques and logistics) at the University of Kassel in Germany. After that, he worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Metal Forming Technology in the University of Kassel during the period 01.12.2006 to 31.03.2011, where he accomplished his Ph.D. Degree in the field of Metal Forming Techniques and Functionally Graded Materials. He supervised during this time the project A1 "investigation of plastic forming under the influence of locally and temporally variable temperatures and stress states" in frame of the transregional collaborative research center SFB/ TR TRR30 "Process-integrated manufacturing of functionally graded structures on the basis of thermo-mechanically coupled phenomena". In addition to that, Dr. Saba was engaged in the innovative project "Thermo-Mechanically formed gear wheels" in close cooperation with renowned industrial companies. Moreover, Dr. Saba was charged during this time with the establishment and the coordination of the international network "Swedish-German Center of Excellence on Hot Sheet Metal Forming of High Performance Steel, CHS2" that is dealing with thermo-mechanically coupled sheet metal forming processes. He was responsible as well for organizing the CHS2 international conference series. He organized the 1st and the 2nd International Conferences of this series which took place in October, 2008 in Kassel, Germany and in June, 2009 in Luleå, Sweden.

After his career in Germany, Dr. Saba joined the Faculty of Engineering (department of Mechanical Engineering) at the University of Balamand in Lebanon, his mother country, as an assistant professor in 2012. He was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 2018.

Research has always been a highly important factor for Dr. Saba since the day he started as a research assistant at the University of Kassel. He achieved a high level in working with Experimental setups resulting in producing functionally graded and tailored structures mainly for the automotive industry. He was developing innovative processes in corporation with the research and development department of a renowned automotive producer in Germany. He is currently working on his main field of research as well as on several topics in the field of mechanical engineering, e.g. he works on Renewable Energies, mainly on the improvement of the performance of wind turbines and their applications in Lebanon. In this context, he is the author of about 30 scholar articles and scientific contributions, published in international scientific journals and international conference proceedings.

Dr. Saba has also contributed to the development of the curriculum of mechanical engineering in the University of Balamand by offering several courses on the graduate level dealing with manufacturing techniques.
Dr. Saba research activities date back to 2006 where he started as a research assistant at the Chair of Metal Forming Technology in Kassel, Germany. He was working within the transregional collaborative research Center SFB/ TR TRR30 on the production of functionally graded structural components on the basis of thermo-mechanically coupled phenomena. He also worked on Tailoring techniques in Hot Sheet Metal Forming. He developed innovative processes leading to increasing passenger safety as well as weight reduction in the automotive industry. To elaborate shortly on this, Energy efficiency of car body structures includes, in addition to the obvious aspect of fuel consumption, an ultra-high level of passenger safety. However, with traditional manufacturing processes, an acceptable level of passenger safety results in an increased car body weight. The realization of ultra-high strength properties and, at the same time, improved structural weight could be achieved through the aforementioned tailoring techniques.

Dr. Saba has several publications in international journals and conference proceedings in his field of specialization. In addition to that, he integrated his knowledge gained in his field of research in his graduate courses, so that UOB students can profit from this innovative knowledge. In addition to his main research topics, he works currently on other research topics in mechanical engineering, e. g. the improvement of the performance of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) by implementing modifications on a Savonius VAWT through overlap and shielding as well as analysis of composite structures in specific loading conditions. In this context, it is to note here that the corporation with several professors in the department of mechanical engineering and the integration of their different specializations in joint projects is leading currently to several international publications.

Best presentation award: on the 8th International Conference on Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering ICMAE 2017. From 22 to 25 July 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic.