Staff profile

Martin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at Durham University. Previously he was a lecturer in Civil Engineering at the University of Surrey and before that he was the Mary Ewart Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. He completed his PhD in 2018 with the Advanced Structures Group at the Cambridge University Engineering Department, supervised by Prof. Keith Seffen. Martin obtained his Master of Applied Science degree (research-based) in Structural Engineering from the University of Toronto, supervised by Professor Jeffrey Packer, and undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo. Prior to undertaking his PhD, he worked in industry, leading research and development work on new blast and ballistic protection systems for Explora Security Ltd. He also spent a brief period as a structural engineer at Expedition Engineering.

Martin’s research interests are in structural mechanics, specifically the mechanics of thin shells. Currently he is investigating how localised features form during the large deformation of thin shells and the influence of these features on subsequent mechanical behaviour. Examples include the generation of creases and folds during the collapse of thin-walled structures, the post-buckling behaviour of shells, and the mechanics of origami and kirigami. He is also interested in topics related to blast-resistant design, particularly the development of new energy-dissipating blast protection systems.

Prospective Research Students

If you are interested in studying for a PhD on a topic within my research interests, please get in touch with me to discuss.

There are a range of competitive scholarships available through Durham University for UK, EU and overseas students. Please see here more information about studying for Research Degrees in Engineering at Durham University.

• Structural Mechanics
• Shell Mechanics
• Buckling/Post-buckling of Thin-Walled Structures
• Origami/Kirigami
• Blast Resistant Design

• 2023: EPSRC New Investigator Award: Mechanics and Design of Kirigami-Based Energy Dissipating Devices

Journal Article

• Walker, M. G. (2024). Folding Auxetic Polygonal Kirigami Tubes. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 16(12), Article 121012. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4065372
• Sinha, P., Walker, M., & Mukhopadhyay, T. (2023). Non-invariant elastic moduli of bi-level architected lattice materials through programmed domain discontinuity. Mechanics of Materials, 184, Article 104691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmat.2023.104691
• Taffetani, M., & Walker, M. G. (2022). Axisymmetric ridges and circumferential buckling of indented shells of revolution. Physical Review E, 105, Article 065003. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.105.065003
• Sadik, S., Walker, M. G., & Dias, M. A. (2022). On local kirigami mechanics II: Stretchable creased solutions. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 161, Article 104812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2022.104812
• Seica, M. V., Packer, J. A., Walker, M. G., & Gow, M. I. (2022). Mitigation of blast effects through novel energy-dissipating connectors. International Journal of Protective Structures, 13, 236-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/20414196221074058
• Walker, M. G. (2020). Mechanics of generically creased disks. Physical Review E, 101(4), https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.101.043001
• Walker, M. (2020). Mechanics of generically creased disks. Physical Review E, 101, Article 043001
• Walker, M., & Seffen, K. (2019). The flexural mechanics of creased thin strips. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 167, 192-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2019.03.016
• Walker, M. G., & Seffen, K. A. (2018). On the shape of bistable creased strips. Thin-Walled Structures, 124, 538-545
• Walker, M. G., & Seffen, K. A. (2017). Localization in thin metallic annuli due to diametrical extension. AIAA Journal, 55, 3980--3989. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J056082
• Seica, M. V., Krynski, M., Walker, M., & Packer, J. A. (2011). Analysis of Dynamic Response of Architectural Glazing Subject to Blast Loading. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 17(2), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.1061/%28asce%29ae.1943-5568.0000035