Dr Maria Parsa (Published name: Maryam Parsa) holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering – Heat & Fluids from the University of Hormozgan, Iran and an MSc in Thermal Power and Fluids Engineering (with Distinction) from the University of Manchester, UK. She also holds an MSc in Energy Conversion and Management (with Distinction) from the University of Nottingham, UK. Subsequently, she was employed as a doctoral researcher by the VEDECOM Institute, France to continue her studies for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the LAMIH Laboratory (UMR CNRS 8201), Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France, France. In 2018, she was awarded the Doctoral Prize Fellowship by Loughborough University, UK. In 2020, she was appointed to a lectureship at the Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering at Northumbria University.

Maria’s research is multidisciplinary (i.e., engineering, materials, colloid and interface science, biology) focused on experimental investigation of phase-change heat transfer and fluid flows of pure and complex fluids (i.e., nanofluids, biofluids) at all scales for important technological applications such as printing, coating, thermal management, biomedical and nanotechnologies. Her main research actvities are: 

• Evaporation driven self-assembly (e.g. Mechanisms of pattern formation from drying colloidal sessile droplets)

• Phase-change heat transfer (e.g. Evaporation and condensation of droplets on surfaces)

• Antibacterial coating

Current Teaching responsibilites: 

KB3018 - Foundational Engineering Approaches 1 [ Lead Tutor]

KB4044 - Thermodynamics 

KB6060 - Investigative Project [Lead Tutor]

Previous Teaching responsibilites: 

KB5005 - Fluid Systems

KB6004 - Sustainable Energy Systems

KB7068 - Research Methods

KB7052 - MSc Research Project

KB7056 - Advanced Practice

Administrative responsibilities:

Programme Leader for MSc Engineering Management, MSc Mechanical Engineering & MSc Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technologies - [Sep 2025 - present]

Year Tutor for Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Programmes (Level 6 - Final Year BEng) - [Sep 2023 - Sep 2025]

Year Tutor for Mechanical Engineering and Automotive Engineering Programmes (Level 4 - First Year BEng & MEng) - [Sep 2021 - Sep 2022]

EDI & Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team member at Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering - [Sep 2020 - 2024]